In recent years, digital devices such as smartphones, laptops, and other peripheral devices have become ubiquitous in many organizations across the globe. Companies benefit from the flexibility and mobility provided by these digital devices, but they also have to contend with the additional administrative work the IT admin has to perform to manage it all.
Furthermore, automation is becoming increasingly common around us. In fact, this era may even be called the Dawn of Automation by some. In addition to automating device management, the concept has also evolved to the point where users and administrators everywhere are sighing in relief. The vast number of devices managed by IT admins makes device management an extraordinarily difficult job. Consider the thought of taking care of hundreds, if not thousands of devices. Sounds far from easy, doesn’t it? Are there solutions powerful enough to meet modern business needs in regards to device management? This is where Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions like Scalefusion come into place – to simplify Device Management with Automation.
1. Managing devices in an automated fashion
It is certainly a lot of work, moreover, a tedious and incredibly time-consuming procedure for an IT administrator to enroll and configure every mobile device (Smartphones, tablets & desktops) used in a corporate environment one by one. However, with Scalefusion Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution, the IT administrator can enroll these mobile devices in bulk securely, regardless of their operating system – Android, iOS, Windows 10 & macOS devices as long as it supports bulk environment infrastructure. Whether it is Apple’s DEP (Device Enrollment Program), Samsung’s KME (Knox Mobile Enrollment), Windows 10 (Windows Autopilot) or Google’s ZTE (Zero-Touch Enrollment); Scalefusion supports all of them.
Programs for automatic enrollment
It is almost always the case that employees who acquire Company-owned devices are subject to some level of device management. They get enrolled in the device management portal (Mobile Device Management solution) as soon as they connect to a network automatically. It is not unusual for corporations such as Apple, Google, and Samsung to offer their own additional services (like bulk device enrollment, custom APIs integration, allowance of granular settings configurations, etc.) for enrolling and deploying configurations to en-masse devices and end-users in a corporate environment.
A. Device Enrollment Program (DEP)
The Device Enrollment Program (DEP) is a service provided free of charge by Apple that simplifies the process of enrolling and deploying Apple devices by an IT administrator in a managed manner (either for corporate usage or school usage). DEP can only be utilized in case the device is compatible with DEP enrollment and an Apple Business Manager account is in place.
B. Apple Business Manager
IT administrators in any corporate vertical can access and avail of Apple services through Apple Business Manager – enrollment of Apple devices, and distribution of apps and books from this platform for free. So, how do you enroll your devices in the platform? You can actually do it yourself if you have the necessary information (MDM public key and managed Apple id), or you can contact the reseller. In the absence of specified information, you may add devices using Apple Configurator. Basically, ABM is an amalgam of DEP and Volume Purchase Program (VPP). DEP primarily pertains to the deployment and configuration of mobile devices, while VPP is centered on purchasing licenses for applications in bulk and assigning them to multiple users at once. After being unified, they are collectively known as ABM.
Scalefusion’s ABM integration with MDM empowers the organizations to maximize the potential of their managed Apple devices as well as improve the end-users productivity and performance to a marginal extent. Scalefusion automatically enrolls an added Apple device into the ABM portal if Scalefusion is selected as the default device server. The device gets enrolled automatically when connected to a network, and the predetermined policies assigned to the device are pushed automatically to it.
C. Android Zero-Touch Enrollment (ZTE)
Using Scalefusion’s Android Enterprise Device Management, businesses can streamline and simplify bulk configuration and deployment of Android devices to minimize IT hurdles no matter the strength of the organization. Organizations’ IT admins can easily and efficiently onboard corporate-owned Android devices in mass numbers with Google’s Zero-touch enrollment, without having to configure each device individually. It enables enterprise configuration to be applied to the devices from the very first boot. As a result of the easy online configuration, the devices can be shipped with predefined policies, which enables the employees to get started with these managed devices right away.
D. Knox Mobile Enrollment (KME)
Scalefusion, in addition to Samsung Knox’s security features, provides enhanced security as well as ease of enrollment for Samsung Knox devices.
With Scalefusion, IT admins can enroll Knox devices using Samsung KME. The bulk configuration of Samsung Knox devices is accomplished when the predetermined corporate policies by IT admins are reflected on the end-users devices during the first boot (straight out of the box). The IT department is thus freed from manually configuring any device, thanks to automation. End-users can connect to the Internet and immediately get started using a managed device that is pre-provisioned and shipped directly from the warehouse.
Using any of the above enrollment methods, the mobile devices can be enrolled and configured in bulk in an automated fashion via Scalefusion mobile device management solution. As a result of deployment, IT admins can utilize the Device profiles feature on the Scalefusion dashboard to push corporate policies and a predetermined set of applications and configurations to ensure seamless ready-to-use devices for the end-users.
E. Windows Autopilot
Today, business entities are moving towards an infrastructure that incorporates modern technologies, including Windows autopilot, maintained user preferential requirements, and ease of use, but one of the most overlooked aspects of such infrastructure is the cognitive IT load.
A critical role for IT teams in Windows 10 deployments is the configuration of devices using MDM for security and usability. It takes IT, teams, several hours to provision devices for work/education. Therefore, a program that allows the configuration of Windows 10 devices without touching them is crucial.
Scalefusion’s Windows 10 autopilot program empowers IT admins to streamline the provisioning process and simplify the remote set-up of devices. IT admins can pre-configure Windows10 devices with the Scalefusion Windows Autopilot procedure to ensure that the devices are set up for productivity the first time they are booted by the end-users (out-of-the-box).
Scalefusion Windows Autopilot utilizes the OEM-optimized version of Windows 10 in new devices and eliminates the need to create custom images and drivers for every model of the device used in the business for deployment to ensure the success of the business deployment. Once deployed, these Windows 10 devices can be managed using the Scalefusion MDM solution with predetermined device profiles and policies as configured by the IT admins, thus reducing IT cognitive workload to a great extent.
2. Scheduling Reports
Trends and analytics are essential when managing a large device inventory. The IT departments are hampered by the necessity to monitor and map each individual device’s performance, creating potential errors that can hurt operations and productivity without automated trends & analytics. This is quite a bit of legwork in accessing and navigating each report manually, but finding anomalies in a precautionary measurement is critical. With Scalefusion, you can quickly generate reports for a large device inventory such as data usage, app version, device inventory, unlock attempts, device vitals, sim swaps, etc.
Automation of reports can be easily accomplished with Scalefusion’s numerous options:
- Receive the report for a specific date range over mail.
- Manually select the options/reports based on the details required.
- Monitor the reports on the Scalefusion dashboard any day and anytime.
- Download the CSV file of any reports for offline viewing or future references.
In using this feature, IT administration could cut down on the time used to access these numerous reports manually, and automating them over a specified timeframe would function as an automatic reminder for Scalefusion console, in case they are forgotten or the IT admins are consumed with other activities.
3. Automation for device tasks
There are several manual tedious device-related tasks that an IT admin has to perform manually, especially for public-facing devices such as digital signages or kiosks or for all the managed corporate devices in a business environment. In many cases, it is unmanageable to perform these tasks manually – for example, rebooting the device, switching the user profiles, clear app data, publish apps, etc., when devices are dispersed in multiple locations. The automation of these processes can help not only to save manual IT efforts but also ensure greater accuracy and eliminate potential oversight by automating the workflows that imitate the admins’ action path.
Based on device groups and policy configurations, Scalefusion Workflows assist administrators to automate recurring tasks. Scalefusion Workflows provide IT teams the capacity to pre-plan and perform routine tasks efficiently on all the managed devices, resulting in reduced time spent on recurring device management tasks. Similarly, platforms like Woo Sell Services streamline service-oriented operations by automating processes such as quote approvals, service progress tracking, and customer communication. This allows businesses to focus on delivering exceptional services while improving overall efficiency.
4. Remote Commands
It is no longer the case that mobile devices owned by the employees are used exclusively for personal purposes by employees; they are much more widely used for work-related tasks as well. Enterprises across the globe are implementing strategies and policies like BYOD, COPE, and CYOD for controlling redundant IT costs and improving productivity. IT administrators are having to spend several man-hours troubleshooting and provisioning these devices since the adoption of these Enterprise Mobility Strategies.
Moreover, when it comes to the deployment of customer-facing Android kiosk devices or corporate-liable devices, IT administrators often find it difficult to maintain, manage and monitor a large fleet of deployed devices and make frequent on-site visits to perform certain commands or tasks on all the mobile devices spread across the globe. These processes are time-consuming and expensive.
While PowerShell scripts and Command Prompts can invoke commands on the desktop, Android does not have the capability to invoke such a command execution interface, even virtually.
With the Remote Command feature introduced in Scalefusion MDM, this gap can be bridged. With this feature, IT administrators can issue commands remotely to manage Android devices. The IT admin can interact with managed Android devices by using remote commands, such as the launch of activity in an app, installing applications, deleting files, or even launching files, to execute a specific task.
Closing lines…
The entire idea of Device Management in a business infrastructure is to implement and utilize a reliable solution that can empower the IT admins to manage devices fleet easily during each stage of the device’s lifecycle.
Furthermore, using automation with this seemingly never-ending task of managing devices is emerging more as a necessity instead of an additional feature. IT admins can simplify and enhance their automated device management experience with Scalefusion MDM, a solution that can improve efficiency dramatically, perhaps making your life easier.
