Device management in the retail business
A typical case of efficient MDM usage in the retail business is the management of merchandisers’ mobile devices.
Merchandisers are responsible for the product appearance on store shelves. They travel from one store to another according to their daily schedule and their work “in the field” is supported by corporate-owned tablets running the field service management software.
Their tablets must be up-to-date, error-free, and require regular IT maintenance. Workers must not be able to use their tablets for non-business purposes (gaming or social networking), so the tablets should be properly locked.
Mobile device management systems efficiently solve all these tasks.
Benefits of Headwind MDM
The installation of Headwind MDM (Enterprise edition) on the tablets of the product distribution company improves the overall productivity of merchandisers:
– Mobile devices are remotely managed by using a central console;
– Tablets are locked, only required applications are installed and access to device settings is limited;
– Business software is always up to date on all devices;
– The device status can be controlled in realtime;
– Users’ locations can be tracked and compared with the planned daily schedule.
As a result, implementation of the mobile device management system spared up to 4-8 hours of use by unskilled staff (merchandisers) and up to 1-2 (average) hours of use by qualified engineers per month per device.
Implementation workflow
IT staff is always happy to automate their duties. However advantages of the mobile device management are not always clear for linear managers. Are benefits of the MDM system worth the license costs?
The implementation starts with a free trial. Once the server is deployed on the company’s premises, and the IT manager configures the environment, a group of few employees is selected for the testflight. These people are working together with the IT staff and Headwind MDM support team to reveal the configuration issues and fine tune the MDM software. At the same time, real productivity increase could be demonstrated to the management.