The MDM and the various categories of mobile devices
The MDM (Mobile Device Manager) is an increasingly useful and necessary tool for companies using modern devices that streamline and make the processes more effective. It can be used to carry out operations in a more secure and automated manner and to manage collaborator services. The most renowned MDM are able to manage an enormous variety of devices and operating systems: from iOS smartphones – for an executive – to a rugged Android PDA dedicated to a production process, to the Windows kiosk windows used to manages company employee access.
The dedicated Android devices – COSU – and their features
There are several device management policies that the main MDMs are able to offer, including:
- BYOD (Bring Your Own Device): if employees do not have use of a corporate phone, a profile is installed with the corporate tasks and applications
- COBO (Corporate Owned, Business Only): is the policy where the company deploys devices to its employees with features and applications dedicated to corporate business, without the possibility of using any another device. It is the approach that was adopted by many companies with the arrival of BlackBerry.
- CYOD (Choose Your Own Device) is the model applied when the company allows employees to choose the mobile device to be used from a number of limited options. In this case, the company purchases the devices and deploys them to its employees, who can use them both for business and personal purposes.
- COSU (Corporate Owned Single Use): this refers to dedicated devices, designed for a specific use, including: sale kiosks, terminals for store, warehouse and production activities, rugged tablet etc.
The COSU category is expanding rapidly and is drastically revolutionising business processes, the services offered and company activities. These devices have specific characteristics focused on their designated use, including:
- sturdiness and resistance
- specific hardware components (e.g barcode readers, aerials, cradle anchoring mechanisms)
- dedicated features and applications
and this is why the manufacturers of these types of devices integrate Apps, features and specific SDK within the operating system.
The management of this particular category of devices normally only requires a subset of the vast variety of the features that an MDM is able to provide, in particular:
- configuration of the standard features of the device (including date and time, language, lock screen, standby)
- configuring the network on which the device will be used
- allowing the updates of Apps, operating systems + SDK
- setting the device lockdown feature, i.e. to restrict access to the Apps, the device settings, protect the device by disabling the reading of USB data and by encrypting the information stored
- reading the device file system and the download of files
Customised MDM for dedicated Android devices
These features must be managed by means of a portal that is simple to profile, flexible and easily controllable, so as to better manage the many and often critical, functions that these devices are required to carry out. The device activation and management process, with respect to the more complex businesses and enterprises (for example warehouses with a significant number of operations managed by different devices, or services such as self-scanning or point of sale operations with often fairly complex and articulated rollouts), must be defined with the support of a highly skilled team, that works alongside the company to achieve simple, functional management which allows you to activate the desired features within the timeframe and in the manner desired.
Smartilio is the ideal solution, because it provides:
- an MDM conceived and focused on dedicated Android devices (COSU) which groups the management of the aforementioned features into profiles which are easy to apply to devices which can be categorised using various criteria of aggregation
- a cost effective MDM, as it only performs the specific functions necessary for these devices in a simple and lean manner, nothing more
- a team with almost 10 years of experience in the sector, capable of activating both small and large projects, providing an assessment service and supporting the customer in the definition of the staging, updating and device monitoring processes
