Device Management & Dedicated Experiences on Android Devices
Mobile phones have entered our lives in a way only the most visionary minds could have imagined, making themselves indispensable for our daily lives. The number of smartphone users in the world today is 3.5 Billion, which translates to 44.69% of the world’s population. There are more mobile phones and wireless subscriptions than people in the world. In fact, there will be 6.83 billion smartphone subscriptions by 2022. The mobile industry will contribute $4.8 Trillion to the world’s GDP.
The need for high computational power and growing usage of connected devices has stimulated the convergence of mobile and cloud technology. This union has further been leveraged by the steady growth in BYOD and a significant shift to the cloud. As smartphones become popular in the workplace, it is a challenge for many employers to draw a clear line between a “work device” and a “personal device.”
Hence, different employers are taking different measures to address this issue. Some employers permit employees to use their own mobile devices whereas others provide devices with pre-installed software that keeps personal and work profiles separate.
This blend of work and personal use on a single device raises several privacy and employment related issues.
Device Management – An Intro
Business and The immense growth of the mobile workforce and BYOD trend within the enterprises is pushing the mobile device management (MDM) market. It’s set to grow from $4.3 Billion in 2020 to $15.7 Billion by 2025.
Mobile Device Management software allows IT to automate, control, and secure administrative policies on smartphones, tablets, or any other device connected to an organization’s network. MDM is a core component of enterprise mobility management (EMM), that includes mobile application management, enterprise file sync, access management, and share.
The following features are the backbone of a good MDM solution:
Access Control Features – Access control is one of the key MDM features. As employees access business data through their mobile devices, an organization should ensure that they are accessed by only the approved employees.
Remote Updates – Nowadays, many MDM solutions now allow remote troubleshooting of devices. It is possible to install or uninstall any program remotely. Using this feature, an organization can find out and repair issues remotely with business-critical mobile devices without inspecting the device physically.
Remote Wipe – The corporate data stored on your mobile device gets out of your control in the case of a major security breach or a missing device. Your organization needs to be able to delete the classified data from a computer remotely in such a situation. Modern MDM solutions, no matter where the system is will remove business data.
Device Location Tracking – A company should also be able to monitor the location of a mobile device. Usually, the MDM solution is supported by the mobile’s GPS that controls and always lets the organization know where the devices are.
Cool Innovations and Products in the Market
The world has now entered an era of mobile phones with superior functions. They are now smarter, faster, and better. Over the past decade, there have been significant changes with respect to mobile security and management.
Below are some cool innovations and products in the market.
Device Management Platforms
The device management platforms optimize the functionality and security of mobile devices within an enterprise. Through the device management platform, custom policies can be applied to the devices. This helps the IT department to monitor, manage, and secure employees’ mobile devices and maintain the desired level of control.
Here are some excellent MDM solutions with their pros and cons.
Dedicated Kiosk Mode apps
Dedicated Kiosk Mode is for locking the user to a certain set of apps. Everything else is blocked. The Kiosk mode helps in monitoring, and remote admin. It also supports various features of digital signages , interactive kiosk systems, information panels, and video kiosks.
App Lockers
The app lock is perhaps the most elementary version of security apps. It sits above other apps and prevents access without a password. So, if the phone is left unlocked but has an app lock on the Facebook app, nobody gets to access it. Furthermore, some apps even hide the app from the main screen, so the person looking into the phone does not even know about the availability of the app on the mobile. Some app locks even take a photo of the person who is trying to break-in.
Here is a bunch of applocks in Google Play for Android phone owners.
Mobile Device Management Use-cases
Following are some major MDM personal and enterprise dedicated experiences,
Enterprise Use
IT Challenge – How can data be prevented from intentionally or accidentally leaking to unauthorized people?
Solution – There is a dedicated home screen that lets the employee use a device in a secured manner. For instance, when devices are distributed among employees for testing by a company, they can only view or access certain content. They would not be able to view/access any other confidential data on the device.
Educational Institutions
IT Challenge – Every student has unique requirements, and it is the responsibility of an educational institution to meet them accordingly. So, when sharing a device for knowledge, how does an institution make sure that the student does not explore any unwanted information.
Solution – Different kiosk modes are created, and every mode can be customized as per every individual student’s requirement. An MDM solution locks down and hides all the unintended apps making sure that a student stays focused.
Parental Supervision
IT Challenge – With children having to spend so much more time on devices, it is important to draw boundaries around what they can access. It might be an important school project or a movie on Netflix, every parent wants to manage the screen time of kids. It is difficult when every child in the house has a unique requirement.
Solution – A parent can create different profiles as per the need or the age of each child. For example – Kid rhymes can be accessible for a toddler in the YouTube app but at the same time, the teen cannot view or access the same app. The screen accessibility can also be timed. Another example is that of the banking app that can be only accessed by an adult.
Retail
IT Challenge - A shopper’s mobile is the quickest way in which retailers can display a piece of information. It is also the quickest method to apply AR or VR like images and graphics on to a real-world situation. However, there is every possibility for the shopper/consumer to be distracted due to the availability of other apps.
Solution – With an MDM solution, either the mobile screen can be locked in a single app or other apps can be locked individually. It is also possible to monitor the behaviour of the shopper or the response of a consumer with respect to an app.
Android Device Management
Devices running the Google Android operating system are secure and very flexible. It is adaptable to any business, in any industry.
With hundreds of device manufacturers, and apps to choose from, Android-powered devices deliver mobile technology that empowers and meets customer demands.
Android mobile device management solutions like MySecureMe and Kiosk Mode applications like SecureMe empower the admin to manage, control and secure company-owned devices. These solutions support a wide range of enterprise and retail scenarios. They also can be easily used by a parent on their android phones to manage their kids’ screen time.
Future Thoughts
The world is going crazily mobile and organizations are somehow trying to keep pace with the latest mobile technology innovations.
The behaviour of enterprise solutions will change based on how employees use them, taking their workflows on different types of projects into consideration. Employees have become increasingly mobile and their work styles across multiple time zones have phenomenally changed. Various security mechanisms are integrated into mobile applications depending on the position of an employee within the organisation, where they are located at a certain point in time, and how the app is used.
Of course, the concept of mobile is changing, and is not confined to just smartphones. Users are inclined to use upcoming devices such as smartwatches, smart glasses, wearables and what not! To help all the forthcoming mobile devices, MDM will extend its horizon while fostering a cohesive and efficient integration with existing resources and operations.
MDM is growing as an extremely agile solution that will maintain security controls such as remote device/data wiping, authentication of users, encryption, and safeguards against viruses. On the other hand, a smooth switch between devices would also be enabled for workers using more than one device.
In the coming years, MDM will play a gigantic role in holding the mobile workforce, computers, and organisations in a seamless synergy. There is no doubt that the very essence of device management will be impacted by the trends and advances in AI, Automation, AR/VR, Analytics, and IoT.
About the Authors
Harish Pagunta is an experienced product management and marketing expert with over 6+ years of experience. Harish is a certified scrum master, is also certified in Google Analytics, Google Ads and Mobile Ads. He has a keen eye to strategy in products and to build innovative features that have better user engagement. He dwells into user journey & behavioural analytics and has a good background in making products successful in the market. Harish is very passionate about technology, mobile and products that solve real customer issues.
Venkat Vakiti has over 13+ years of experience, an impressive record of delivering multiple technology products and solutions. He is a specialized Technical Lead/Architect and is involved in the design & development of innovative business solutions on all things mobile. Venkat is a multidomain expert, has a knack for technology, loves to learn and leverage new technologies, and is extremely skilled at user acquisition. A technology solutions leader who can deliver innovative solutions that can make the world a better place.