With the increasing demand for digital devices to systematically control businesses, the demand for high-quality devices is also increasing to streamline working in harsh environments. Samsung, Panasonic, and other mobile manufacturing companies have manufactured rugged devices in bulk. According to research, the rugged device market will grow from 7.2 billion dollars to 15.8 billion dollars in the next ten years. The primary reason for the increased growth of these devices is their durability to withstand high temperatures and utilize digital devices in outdoor work. Rugged devices are used in multiple industries to enhance working conditions and worker communication.
What are Rugged Devices?
Rugged devices are industry-specific devices that perform dual functions. These devices perform all the operations of regular smart devices with rugged materials to enhance their durability and enable devices to deliver continuity of work in harsh environments. You can use these devices in industries involving challenging environments, especially outdoor workplaces. It typically includes construction sites, manufacturing units, the logistic industry, and mining areas where temperatures are very high and devices are highly exposed to dust, moisture, shocks, and drops.
Rugged devices are water and dust-resistant and awarded with various ratings. These devices have high readability even in bright light and have long battery life for consistent working. These devices are certified by multiple organizations to comply with industry standards.
Why Rugged Device Management is a Challenge?
Rugged devices are designed to meet different business needs, including semi-rugged general-purpose devices and highly customized hand-held rugged devices. This wide range of options often makes it challenging for IT to efficiently configure, monitor, manage, and track devices at scale. Here are some serious issues you might face with your rugged devices if not correctly utilized:
Security
Security is always a priority for every organization, as it is the backbone of businesses. Inadequate device management may expose businesses to numerous security threats like data breaches, device loss, malware, and ransomware installation with malicious apps. End-users might open a file or link with malicious content and the risk of a company data breach increases. It will let your productivity low, and your business will bear loss.
Bulk device configuration
Without a mobile device management solution, enterprises must manually install applications on each rugged device, which might take hours to operate all applications properly. Then, you also have to manage the security features on each device to comply with security standards. But still, there can be some lacking due to human error.
Device tracking
Rugged devices are mainly used at outdoor stations like construction sites and for logistics purposes. It becomes difficult to track all the enterprise device locations continuously, leading to severe issues like device or data loss. Without device management, it is also difficult to communicate with workers and provide them with remote support.
Repair and maintenance
Repairing and maintaining a large quantity of rugged devices can be costly. IT teams must move locations to check the devices and troubleshoot issues physically. It might take a long time to travel, so downtime becomes very high.
Bulk device monitor and management
Device management can be troublesome for large enterprises where the number of devices is in the hundreds. Monitoring and managing a fleet of devices with a device management solution is possible. Admins cannot control and manage all devices together without device management and comply with industry standards.
Effectively manage your rugged devices with a strong MDM solution
Managing rugged devices with an MDM solution is the most appropriate way to organize business operations with lower costs. Remote management of rugged devices enables the back-end team to support workers in the field and troubleshoot device issues. It also helps to establish a connection with them as they have to work at places where they need support all the time. MDM also ensures they comply with security measures set by the authorized departments.
AirDroid Business MDM is designed to manage and control the Android devices fleet for all sizes of businesses, which is the most affordable and flexible. It possesses all the features to meet the company’s endpoints and ensure smooth deployment, configuration, remote management, and security of enrolled devices. It also offers a 14-day free trial to the evaluable customers to understand all its features. Here are some essential features of AirDroid Business MDM:
Quick deployment
AirDroid Business provides various options to deploy devices smoothly, for example, Android Enterprise(AE) Enrollment, Zero-Touch Enrollment, enrolling via a USB connection, or scanning the QR code. The auto-enrollment method also enables enterprises to install the package on the device. After complete installation, the device will automatically enroll into the management system.
Enhanced security policies
AirDroid Business enables businesses to secure devices through various customizable security measures like strong password policies, multi-factor authentication, remote wipe, remote lockdown, app whitelisting and blacklisting, and web filtering.
Track your device in real-time
AirDroid Business enables logistics and other industries to track device locations in real time. It helps them to verify that the devices are at their required positions. It also allows enterprises to remotely wipe data on the devices if lost.
Centralized monitoring and management
Admins can use AirDroid Business to monitor and control a fleet of devices from a central location using the Admins console. They can monitor device activities and take actions from the dashboard, such as keeping an eye on the device’s usage, data usage, available storage, battery capacity, and temperature, ensuring all devices are working properly and minimizing downtime.
Empower IT with remote troubleshooting
IT teams are empowered to provide instant resolutions to any technical problems. They can remotely control the devices and check the issues on them. After diagnosing, they can troubleshoot issues without physical existence. It helps them reduce the downtime and improve productivity. The Black Screen Mode of AirDroid Business enables admins to display a black screen on the end-user devices while the display is visible on the admin’s panel.
Application management
The app management feature helps businesses fully control and manage app access on devices, including enterprise apps and Google Play Store apps. Admins are able to configure, deploy, and manage business apps over-the-air with rich rollout options.
Kiosk mode
Kiosk mode ensures limited and controlled device usage, locking Android tablets into single-app mode, whitelisting websites, and blocking unauthorized network access. You can also select multiple kiosk-mode apps to run on these devices.
Timely alerts and notification
AirDroid Business helps business administrators set alerts for specific device indicators to manage things to ensure business continuity. IT admins can get alerted in time once the device is on/off, in low battery, data usage out off, or high battery temperature.
Conclusion
The use of rugged devices in various industries is increasing with the demand for high durability to ensure continuity. Rugged devices have protections with multiple materials to withstand high temperatures and other environmental factors like water, dust, and shocks. It is more crucial to manage enterprise-owned rugged devices systematically. Enterprises cannot handle a fleet of devices manually. MDM solutions are the best support for enterprises to ensure smooth and efficient device management.