Once upon a time, Windows OS dominated workforce mobility, but Android has really stepped up its game. Now, enterprise mobility leaders are watching as Android Enterprise slowly but surely becomes the dominant platform. Android represents a commitment to innovation and has been a driving force behind many of the advancements in the industry’s technology. This title is well-deserved, especially when it comes to workforce mobility, for a number of reasons:
Technology Built for the Worker
Windows devices have traditionally been bulkier, heavier, and utilitarian. As Android continuously pushes the envelope for innovation, hardware vendors have been aligning the look and feel of their devices to represent Android’s preference for slim, comfortable devices with a smaller footprint. Sleeker than the devices that have been popular in the past, the look and feel of Android enterprise devices deliver on what workers are looking for in their technology – especially Millennial workers.
Android enterprise devices are designed to mimic the technology that workers use in their everyday lives without sacrificing rugged IP ratings, making them more intuitive to operate, more comfortable to use, and more durable than the bulky devices of the past. Hardware developers on the Android platform have clearly devoted a lot of energy to making sure the devices are not only powerful, but ergonomically-designed and comfortable to use. Rather than workers adapting to use bulky, heavy technology, these devices are built around the user.
Flexible Form Factor for Any Application
Android OS offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to workforce mobility. Hardware vendors are able to create virtually unlimited form factors to suit application needs and requirements as they arise. These form factors can help with ergonomics, worker safety, injury risk reduction, and improved efficiency.
Case in point: workers regularly suffer overuse injury from repetitive motions when using heavy devices. Zebra saw this need and created the MC3300, which is a rugged mobile computer that is configurable for many unique uses and offers form factors like:
- Pistol grip
- Turret with rotating head
- Straight shooter 0o scan
- 45o scan
Locked Down Enterprise-Grade Security
Until recently, the main criticism warehouse workers and operators had for Android was that it was simply a consumer-grade operating system and didn’t have the capacity to be used as an enterprise device. This is no longer the case, however, as Android enterprise devices offer much better performance than its consumer-grade operating system. Businesses can now select, deploy, and manage Android devices to meet elevated enterprise requirements.
Android also has a unique set of enterprise security features to help protect your operation:
- Device lockdown: Enterprise Home Screen creates a single-purpose mobile computer that prevents certain users from accessing sensitive business applications and downloading personal social networking apps and games.
- Peripheral and feature lockdown: Some mobile computers have features that could pose risks, such as a USB port that could allow users to copy sensitive data. This enterprise security feature restricts user access to those peripheral interfaces.
- Government-grade granular data encryption: With this feature, you can encrypt the entire internal drive, data from an SD card, or you can choose the data you prefer to encrypt and minimize the impact that encryption has on your device’s performance.
- MX security updates: Rely on a dedicated internal team to monitor reported Android security issues and related patches, and be notified via email immediately, with a link to download the new Android MX image and the security patch.
Protects Your Business Operations for the Long Term
One of the biggest reasons workforce mobility operations are switching over to Android enterprise devices is because of the longevity and support they offer. Zebra Mobility Extensions (MX) provide enterprise-class security, data capture support, superior wireless connections, and mobile device and application management.
This added layer of features come pre-installed on Android enterprise devices, and help to streamline your deployments and increase your ROI. Zebra mobility extensions are also capable of running two or more versions of Android, so you can protect your business against obsolescence, security breaches, malware, and device mismanagement.
Interested in learning more about Android enterprise devices for workforce mobility? Contact us today!
