It is not a surprising fact that Android is the world’s leading mobile operating system. A majority of people worldwide prefer Android Devices due to their affordable pricing and a wide variety to choose from. According to a recent report, Android is the leading mobile OS worldwide with a market share of almost 70%. As the corporate world adopts enterprise mobility, businesses are relying heavily on the use of mobile devices to stay connected and manage remote operations.

Android devices are being deployed on organization-wide levels and employees are also using their personal Android devices for work. Such large-scale adoption of Android devices to manage diverse corporate requirements makes it essential for businesses to streamline their Android device management.

In this article, we will walk you through the challenges of largescale Android device deployments and how Scalefusion simplifies Android Device Management for businesses.

What is Android Device Management?

Android Device Management is the process of provisioning, deploying, managing and monitoring an enterprise’s Android devices. To keep up with the current trends of remote working, enterprise mobility and  BYOD management, IT admins are required to manage their Android devices remotely. 

As employees use their company-owned or personal (BYO) Android devices to work from various locations, it is mandatory for businesses to protect their devices and corporate information with stringent policies. Managing multitudes of Android devices that are dispersed in various locations is a complex IT responsibility. It is important for IT admins of businesses to identify the potential challenges in managing their Android devices to plan a mitigation strategy.

Challenges of Android Device Management

To manage your Android devices effortlessly, IT admins must be prepared to address the following challenges:

• Provisioning hundreds of Android devices remotely
• Securing Android devices against cyber threats such as malware
• Preventing employees from downloading untrusted apps or browsing malicious websites
• Ensuring a secure and encrypted connection to the corporate networks
• Distributing business apps and corporate files on your employees’ devices
• Pushing apps and content on your public-facing Android kiosks
• Quickly troubleshooting Android device errors remotely
• Monitoring your Android devices constantly to keep a track of the device usage, performance and compliance checks
• Performing routine IT tasks without fail such as OS updates, app updates, device reboots, etc.
• Compartmentalizing employees’ personal and corporate data on their personal devices
• Managing custom Android devices such as rugged devices, interactive kiosks, POS systems, etc.

Simplified Android Device Management with Scalefusion

Scalefusion is a mobile device and endpoint management solution that helps you get started with your Android Device Management the right way. It is a comprehensive platform that allows IT admins to configure extensive features that simplify largescale deployments.

Let’s dive deeper to understand how Scalefusion offers complete lifecycle management of your Android devices:

1. Enrollment

In order to start managing your Android devices with an MDM solution, IT admins need to first enroll all the devices, whether company-owned or BYOD with the MDM console. Scalefusion offers multiple enrollment options to simplify bulk Android device enrollments.

• Zero-touch Enrollment

You can provision your devices with corporate policies and make them shipping-ready with Android Zero-touch Enrollment. This allows over-the-air (OTA) enrollment of your Android devices with Scalefusion and enables an out-of-the-box experience with minimal employee intervention.

• AFW# Enrollment

Enroll your fresh out of the box or factory reset Android device in bulk using the AfW# enrollment method. Your employees can simply tap on the screen 6 times, or scan a QR code to enroll their Android Enterprise Ready devices with Scalefusion.

• ROM Enrollment

Scalefusion also partners with OEMs to offer Scalefusion as a built-in application. Your employees can leverage the out-of-the-box experience with pre-provisioned devices that get automatically enrolled with Scalefusion on powering.

• QR Code/URL Enrollment

Allow your employees to enroll their devices with Scalefusion with just a QR code scan or by visiting the enrollment URL. The pre-provisioned policies and applications are automatically pushed on the devices once enrolled saving both, employee and IT time.

• Samsung KME Enrollment

Scalefusion offers bulk enrollment of Samsung Knox devices with the Samsung Knox Mobile Enrollment (KME) method. This method helps IT admins automate a few enrollment steps making bulk enrollment and OTA Scalefusion app installation easier.

2. Provisioning

As a business, you may need to deploy your Android devices in versatile use-cases. However, no matter how you deploy your Android devices, provisioning them with the right business apps and content is crucial. Scalefusion offers the following app and content management features, along with extensive security policies for your Android devices.

• App Management

Scalefusion enables you to not only silently install or uninstall applications on your Android devices but also configure app permissions and schedule app upgrades. You can distribute public apps from Google PlayStore, Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) and also in-house apps with Scalefusion Enterprise Store.

• Content Management

You can securely push content files of diverse formats on your employees’ Android devices or your public-facing kiosks. Scalefusion provides a custom application called ‘FileDock’ to help you share content files instantly.

• Corporate Security Policies

Securing corporate data on your Android devices is a crucial yet complicated task. With newer business trends such as enterprise mobility and BYOD management, securing corporate data has become even more complex. Scalefusion offers extensive security configurations to protect your Android devices, corporate data and networks.

1. Passcode policies to prevent unauthorized devices access

2. VPNs to enable an encrypted network connection to employees

3. Safetynet Attestations to validate the integrity of BYO-devices

4. Certificate management for device authentications

5. Website allowing or blocking to prevent users from browsing malicious sites

6. Location-tracking and Geofence-based policy applications

3. Deployment

Once the MDM-managed Android devices have been provisioned with enterprise-specific policies they are ready to be deployed on various fronts. For remote use by employees or custom deployments in the form of POS systems, digital signages and much more.

• BYOD Management

With Scalefusion you have the choice to manage your Android devices either fully or partially by creating work profiles. Full device management is ideal for company-owned devices. It helps businesses gain granular control of their Android devices and data security. To ensure a smooth BYOD implementation, Scalefusion allows businesses to create work profiles and apple policies selectively to these profiles. With this, the functioning and privacy of the employees’ personal devices are not hampered. All the corporate policies and restrictions are applied specifically to the work container.

• Rugged Devices

Scalefusion lets you manage not only your commercial Android devices but also Rugged Android Devices. Several major industrial sectors have on-site teams that work in harsh conditions such as construction, mining, logistics, etc. Scalefusion lets you manage your Rugged Android Devices such as Zebra devices and provision them with OEMconfig apps. IT admins can push apps, business content, secure their Android Rugged devices and troubleshoot them remotely.

• Kiosk Software

Businesses can lock their Android smartphones and tablets into the Kiosk Mode to obtain purpose-specific kiosks. IT admins can configure the single-app kiosk mode, or lock Android devices in multiple selective apps with the multi-app kiosk mode. With this, businesses can turn their regular Android devices into diverse dedicated devices such as POS systems, digital signages, interactive kiosks, etc.

4. Management

A vital process in managing Android deployments is to constantly track device usage and monitor compliance with enterprise policies. Scalefusion lets businesses obtain a close view of their remote devices with several device monitoring capabilities.

• Track Real-Time Locations

You can track your dispersed Android devices at all times with the help of GPS-based or IP-address-based location tracking. Scalefusion also lets you take a step ahead and set Geofence-based compliance policies to ensure your fleet stays within defined regions.

• Monitor Device Vitals

You can obtain comprehensive device reports based on a variety of vitals such as data usage, battery consumption, device inactivity, app versions and much more. You can also generate specific reports for a particular period by scheduling them from the Scalefusion dashboard.

Alternatively, Scalefusion also provides a platform summary of your Android devices with DeepDive analytics. You can gain useful insights on an inventory-wide level to identify potential issues and track compliances.

• Automate Tasks & Compliance Alerts

It is practically impossible for a single person to manage so many diverse IT tasks. Scalefusion lets you automate redundant IT activities such as OS and app updates, device reboots, and installing or deleting apps. You can create pre-defined Workflows on the Scalefusion dashboard to execute IT activities at a given time and frequency.

IT admins can also leverage Remote Commands which helps them save on-site efforts. Remote Commands lets you seamlessly deploy activities and view instant outputs on your devices. Launch services, files, install or delete apps remotely.

• Remote Support

Technical errors need to be taken into account when deploying Android devices on a large scale. The inability of IT teams to resolve Android device issues quickly can lead to extended device downtime and loss of revenue. Scalefusion lets IT admins connect with remote Android devices with its Remote Cast & Control feature. This lets IT admins mirror the user’s screen on their dashboard and resolve issues virtually. You can also leverage FileSync to transfer files instantly during a Remote Casting session. Scalefusion helps IT admins quickly identify device errors and generate context-aware ITSM tickets.

5. Retirement

Managing organization-wide Android deployments is one aspect. But what happens if an employee leaves the organization? Scalefusion lets you remotely wipe the corporate data off your Android devices. This can also prove especially beneficial in events of device loss or theft.

Closing Lines

Android devices are a great choice for businesses of all sizes. They offer flexibility, easy compatibility and are available in a wide variety at economic prices. However, deploying Android devices without managing them with a suitable Android Device Management solution can be hazardous for your business. Scalefusion MDM offers extensive features to streamline your Android Device Management. To be prepared is half the battle won.