Two MDM Vendors Make Tablets Into Purpose-Specific Devices

As connectivity improves and handheld devices proliferate, companies are increasingly looking to use them for purpose-specific applications like retail point of sale or order-entry systems. The challenge is locking the devices down. Two mobile device management (MDM) providers have both recently unveiled new products and upgrades they say will help organizations do just that.

AirWatch has made upgrades to its Android and iOS agents. Now available for Android 3.1x are the following applications:

For users of iOS 4.0, AirWatch has also redesigned its MDM Agent UI. It now provides a central view of device information, including compromised and enrollment statuses, and a message center that lets users view Apple Push Notification Service messages, as well as compliance notifications that have been sent to the device. The upgrade can also capture and transmit total data usage and minutes used, detect when location services are disabled and prompt users to enable the services, according to the company, which counts GE, Lowe's and United Airlines among its customers

Soti has announced new technology that will let corporations manage security policies across Android devices, regardless of the manufacturer. Its MobiControlincludes help desk tools with real-time remote control, a secure content locker, silent installation of applications and updates, policies for controlling access to corporate email, device lockdown/kiosk functionality, and remote wipe of corporate data or the full device.

Next: Mobile Device Management in the Field

Security and the ability to track devices were what prompted Soti MobiControl customer ChowNow to start using the software. The company, which offers restaurants the ability to create an out-of-the-box online ordering app, began using the MDM product about a year ago. Co-founder and CEO Christopher Webb said company executives wanted to ensure that the ZTE tablets shipped with their ordering software arrived at the restaurants and that usage could be tracked.

ChowNow mostly works with small restaurants and independent chains like Ground Round, said Webb. "So we had to come up with a solution on how every restaurant could use our [product], regardless of whether they have a tablet or not," he said. "We drop-ship them, and they don't have to do anything but plug [the tablet] into the wall, and the orders flow in." Since some restaurants have Wi-Fi networks but many don't, Webb said ChowNow uses Sprint to connect the tablets to its network.

When tablets were shipped out without MobiControl, "We had no idea what's going on inside that restaurant," Webb said. "We didn't know if owners were downloading Angry Birds or checking email, so we'd like the tablets to do nothing but run our software to accept orders."

The company began using Soti for security purposes--if a tablet gets stolen or the ChowNow app hasn't been set up and connected to Sprint's wireless network, the devices can be tracked. "Restaurants are for the most part very old school," said Webb. "If they have a computer, it's usually in the back office, and that doesn't help when orders come in. Most of them don't have tablets. Our goal is to create a system that's self-sustainable and doesn't rely on the restaurant supplying everything."

Customer restaurants pay $89 a month for the ChowNow service, which includes the tablet and app, Webb said. The company also looked at AirWatch, but Soti has the "best feature set," he said.

ChowNow worked with ZTE and Sprint to give input into Soti's feature set. Webb said he likes the geofencing feature, which enables ChowNow to restrict every tablet so that if it leaves the restaurant, the company is notified. "An alert goes off and we can get in touch with the restaurant manager, and we can track the physical location of all these tablets," he explained. Additionally, ChowNow is constantly updating its software. Because hundreds of restaurants around the country are using the system, it wants to be able to do the updates automatically at midnight without having to contact every customer.

"The other thing we're able to do is switch wireless networks," Webb said. "So if the Sprint network has a weak signal, we can switch over to a restaurant's Wi-Fi, if they have it."

Webb said the only negative he has noticed is that Soti is trying to "do too much with everyone. It tries to be on all platforms, so it holds you back a little bit on some of the more modern features." Soti is focused on having full functionality on Microsoft products and features, he said, but MobiControl could be "further along and could be easier to use if they abandoned some of their Microsoft support."

For example, Soti has chosen to support legacy standards, "so when you do that you have to ... dumb down some of the product," Webb said. "You can't push the boundaries of what you're able to do today."

He said that doesn't really affect ChowNow, but there are "a couple of things here and there that would be a little easier to use, such as the way the dashboard functions and the way email alerts work."

The Soti announcement is significant because it indicates the company is focusing on Android devices, and that's where MDM vendors can differentiate themselves, noted Chris Hazelton, research director, mobile and wireless, at The 451 Group. Apple devices, unlike Android, have software built in for management purposes, while Android provides limited management and security APIs for MDM vendors to leverage. This means OEMs need to develop their own APIs in order for MDM vendors to build tools to manage their devices, he said. This creates inconsistencies, however, since each OEM adds functionality in different degrees and forms. "What Soti is doing is going a little further in that they're accessing APIs on these Android devices," to add in the remote control and silent installation and software removal capabilities, said Hazelton.

"I've not been able to confirm if there are other MDM players out there that can do this. There are 80 to 100 companies that do some aspect of mobile device management," he said. Right now, the challenge with Android is it's not as pervasive in the enterprise as iOS is, Hazelton added, so investment in MDM for Android devices isn't as prevalent--although he said that will change.

Besides AirWatch, other MDM players include MobileIron, Fiberlink and BoxTone.

Soti is "doing something unique. They're going out to OEM device vendors and are deeply integrating with makers like Samsung and ZTE," said Hazelton, "and they're essentially providing very in-depth remote control capabilities as well as app-management capabilities so they can silently install and uninstall applications on Android devices." Another feature Soti has added is the ability to turn a device into a kiosk.

"This is interesting because you have companies that may deploy an Apple iPad, and they have to physically cover the home button because they don't want employees or customers to go to the home screen of iPad," Hazelton said. "But with an Android device, Soti can basically turn that into a kiosk, and unless you have an administrative password you can only go to six apps or one app and that can all be done over the air."

The key issue with MDM is that no matter where an employee is or if the device is connected remotely over wireless or Wi-Fi networks, "you're able to remotely control and remotely view and take pictures, like screen capture, and take video of these devices and help that user and any future users with device problems," said Hazelton. "So this is something that will be very, very helpful for help desks to troubleshoot and help users of mobile devices over great distances over the network."