2020 was a roller-coaster ride. A year that none of us anticipated but all of us had to endure. The year brought upon many challenges that were not foreseen and organizations, as its people had to adapt to the circumstances to make the most of it. One such unprecedented event that turned out to be the new normal was remote working. The discussion around mobility has always been around but 2020 was the real game-changer. Organizations- small and large turned to remote working and remote employee enablement became the biggest priority, especially in the first half of the year. As the initial hesitation was minimized and work settled so to speak, the next target was to make remote working as productive and secure as possible.

Scalefusion MDM has always been at the forefront of making mobility transformation smooth and streamlined and 2020 was no different. Looking back at the year, we churned out some amazing features across all four platforms that we support and introduced some key features that were incremental to the remote working phenomenon and will continue to be.

In this article, let us have an overview of the features and updates that the Scalefusion team launched in the year 2020.

2020 Features for Windows 10

For Windows 10, we introduced Azure AD-based enrollment to streamline the device onboarding process earlier in the year. We also added Windows Autopilot based enrollment to configure Windows 10 devices straight out of the box, something which is extremely crucial in the remote working era. 

Read more: Windows Autopilot based enrollment

Considering the high demand for modern management, we provisioned application management for managed Windows 10 devices. This included integrating the Windows Business Store with Scalefusion for easy deployment of apps on Windows 10 devices managed with Azure AD. For enterprise applications that are not available on the Windows Business Store, Scalefusion also made the Enterprise Store available to push APPX Bundles or MSIX Bundles. The Windows Business Store does not enable distribution of Office 365 Apps, to facilitate the same,we have now provisioned the installation of Office 365 apps on managed Windows 10 devices via the Office Deployment Tool (ODT).

For managing the content on the Windows 10 devices, Scalefusion introduced an array of settings that can be configured on the Chrome and Edge browser. This helps in securing browsing on unknown, public and shared networks. 

Furthermore, FileDock support was added to enable IT admins to upload and publish any document on managed Windows 10 devices.

To resolve the device issues for remotely operating Windows 10 devices, Scalefusion MDM now launched the Remote Control support using which IT admins can take control of remote devices, navigate and perform actions to resolve issues faster and create support tickets within the integrated ITSM tool.

Read more: Remote Support for Windows 10

Maintaining device and data security is the key component of device management. To facilitate the same, we introduced the following policies for Windows 10:

• Windows BitLocker

Full volume encryption is designed to protect data by providing encryption for the hard disk volumes on managed Windows 10 devices.

• Windows Information Policy (WIP) aka Enterprise Data Protection (EDP)

To protect corporate apps and data on managed Windows 10 devices by making it inaccessible for copying, sharing and accidental data leak even on unknown networks, without impacting the end-user experience.

• Installing Certificates to the managed devices

The process of deploying Digital Certificates by automatically provisioning digital identities onto devices for easy authentication is facilitated by Scalefusion via Certificate Management. The types of certificates that can be pushed via Scalefusion MDM include Identity Certificate, CA Certificate and Chained Certificates. Certificate for pushing Enterprise Wi-Fi settings was also enabled. 

• Configure VPN profile for Windows 10 devices

To secure the corporate data and apps when employees work remotely by connecting to unknown public or shared networks, IT admins can now configure VPN settings on managed devices and route the traffic to corporate data and apps via a secure, private network.

• Windows Hello 

To replace passwords with strong two-factor authentication, Scalefusion integrated Windows Hello that allows users to access managed Windows 10 devices with a user gesture such as biometric authentication. 

• Windows Defender

IT admins can now configure and push various Windows Defender policies such as scanning, real-time monitoring, signature updates and cloud protection on managed Windows 10 devices to ensure security from malware threats.

Other Settings Introduced for Windows 10

Scalefusion MDM in the year 2020 also enabled OS update management for managed Windows 10 devices to control the update rollout. Additionally, there were several enhancements to the Windows Whitelisting policy such as auto accepting user accounts, auto launching app with parameters and adding file explorer UWP App. Moreover, considering the dynamic needs of modern enterprises, Scalefusion also introduced support for Custom Settings (CSP) for Windows 10 devices to allow IT admins to create and push CSPs on managed devices via Scalefusion.

Explore: Windows 10 Device Management

2020 Features for Android

Android device management has always been the core offering of Scalefusion MDM ever since its inception. In 2020, we were able to enhance the Android features starting with support for Android 10. There were several enhancements on the QR code page for searching sorting and IT admins can also duplicate devices in one go for easy management. Along with public and private apps, IT admins can now also push Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) on managed Android devices.

On kiosk devices, IT admins can now display the blocked apps and track device usage based on Screen ON/OFF events. There were certain Wingman based feature enhancements for kiosk devices for an absolute silent setup (on supported OEMs) and extended security with settings such as Disabling Home/Recents key, Disabling USB Debugging and Safe mode. IT admins can also configure whether to apply the policies immediately after enrollment or would activate the clients before the policies get applied using Device Activation/Approval flows.

To ensure the safety of the driver fleet using Android devices, speed-based locking of apps has been introduced to lock the apps when the device moves past a certain speed threshold.

Explore how it works

For security, Certificate Management was enabled for managed Android devices where devices could be authenticated via digital Identity Certificate, CA Certificate and Chained Certificates. Certificates associated with Enterprise Wi-Fi can also be pushed via certificate payload. 

Read more: Certificate Management for Android

To enrich the content management feature, the file/folder options view was introduced along with the support for sub-folders and related enhancements.

On the Remote Troubleshooting end, the Remote Cast session can now be initiated from the device screen in the dashboard, powered by a shortcut for easy access. The IT admins can now download a folder with FileSync during an on-going Remote Cast session. Support for Remote Control on all Zebra devices was made available

2020 Features for iOS

For iOS device management, Scalefusion launched a couple of prominent features. This includes geofences, where IT admins can create virtual boundaries for physical locations and receive alerts whenever a device moves in or out of a geofence. 

On the security end, Certificate Management for iOS was introduced to push digital certificates for easy authentication and identity verification on managed iOS devices. To enable IT admins to leverage settings that are not available on the Scalefusion dashboard, Custom Payload was introduced. IT admins can now create their own setting configurations and push them on the managed iPhones and iPads via a Custom Payload.

Read more : Custom Payload for iOS

2020 Features for macOS

The support for macOS management was launched in the year 2019. In 2020, we added enhancements to the same, primarily for security. Certificate Management was introduced along with the provision to push Enterprise Wi-Fi-related certificates. Support for Active Directory and LDAP Payloads has been introduced using which an IT admin can configure AD and LDAP policies on the managed devices. For application management, support for installing private enterprise apps by uploading and pushing PKG files was introduced. 

To secure the corporate data on managed macOS devices, support for FileVault has been introduced. This leverages the built-in Full Disk Encryption program for macOS and encrypts the disk to prevent unauthorized access to the data and documents. The encrypted disk can only be accessed by presenting an appropriate password.

Read more: Full Disk encryption with FileVault

To enable the IT teams to configure policies that are not currently available with Scalefusion macOS management, the ability to push Custom Settings was also introduced.

2020 Updates to the Scalefusion Dashboard

The dashboard went through several UI enhancements to make device management as easy as possible for the IT admins. This includes enabling viewing of full device information, data filters for device information and preconfiguring of custom fields for a device before enrollment. 

Support for SAML-based sign up using Okta and PingOne IDP integration was introduced and so was G Suite based access. JIRA service desk was integrated on the dashboard within the Remote Cast and Control section. 

Support for Pushy was introduced as a fallback in case FCM was not working. OpenStreetMap was integrated and IT admins can choose to switch between Google Maps and OpenStreetMap.

Explore all integrations to the Scalefusion dashboard

New Reports Introduced in 2020

In 2020, Scalefusion put forward multiple reports to streamline IT operations. IT admins can now leverage the following reports to strengthen control on managed devices: 

1. Device Inventory Report
2. Account Activity Report
3. Data Usage Report Enhancement
4. Geofence logs Report
5. FileDock Analytics Report 
6. Application version Report for windows
7. Report to download device availability data
8. SIM call history
9. Remote Cast related Reports
10. Application usage Reports for Android
11. Device usage Report for Android
12. Battery History Report for Android

Explore all Reports

Updates to Groups in 2020

To simplify the management of a large device inventory, groups play an important role in the Scalefusion dashboard. In 2020, we took it up a notch by providing several enhancements to the groups on the Scalefusion dashboard. This includes creating subgroups for device and user groups, logical separation of Groups and SubGroups, enabling the movement of devices in bulk between groups/subgroups, removing devices from groups in bulk and introducing GroupWise submenu options. 

2020 Updates to Content Management/FileDock

Content Management is an integral part of device management, more specifically when employees work remotely or the organization has a large fleet of unattended devices running as digital signage. In 2020, we added touch analytics to enable screensavers and presentations and extended a shortcut to start presentations on-demand. IT admins can now define primary and additional target locations for publishing content and rename files within FileDock.

New Workflows Introduced in 2020

In 2019, Scalefusion Workflows was introduced to automate recurring IT tasks and help boost IT productivity. In 2020, we’ve added a couple of new workflows to the list such as:

• Publish App workflow- To automatically send a push for publishing an app on a device, at the scheduled time and date.

• Switch Presentation workflow- To dynamically switch presentations on your selected device groups, based on a specified start time and end time.

Updates to Eva Communication Suite in 2020

In 2020, Channel Management was introduced for iOS devices (previously available for Android) as well as BYO devices. New features such as message broadcasting, forwarding and flagging were introduced. 

For iOS devices, VoIP calling functionality was launched along with image transfer and any file sharing within Eva Messenger.

For Android devices, users are now offered the provision to open the dial pad & dial the extension when a call is in progress. Other set of features launched for Android include call recording for SIM based call and contact sync with phonebook.  

Explore all features of Eva Communication Suite

Closing lines…

Needless to say, 2020 was a year of teamwork for us and we are extremely delighted to have launched these features to help our customers to ‘up’ their device management game. The Scalefusion technical roadmap for 2020 looks exciting and we can’t wait to introduce more and more features that align with the goals of comprehensive device management across all platforms, irrespective of the device type. Here’s to a bright year ahead!