In November, CWSI became the first Irish Managed Service Provider (MSP) validated as a zero-touch enrolment reseller, and joins many other partners across the world on the official partner page.
Why is zero-touch important?
CWSI began to engage with Android Enterprise back in 2017, and with the number of Android devices shipped for business use forecast to increase from 276M last year to 306M in 2022 (IDC), our goal to take all of the hard work out of Android management continues to progress as we expand our Android Enterprise offering with this new capability.
As CWSI’s Android expert, Jason Bayton, explains “With zero-touch the device can be shipped directly from the reseller to the end user with no need for IT to get involved. This saves the business money from an administrative perspective, minimises lost productivity and makes life easy for even the least technical of employees, providing a truly out-of-box experience.”
What is zero-touch enrolment?
Normally when provisioning an Android Enterprise fully managed device utilising managed Google Play accounts, we’d make use of a few standard provisioning methods –
- NFC, which is useful in situations where connectivity may be limited and all devices are in one location. We can either use a “master” device to transfer the provisioning payload via a bump, or potentially write that payload to an NFC tag which can be affixed to a static location.
- QR code, which allows us to tap on the Android Welcome screen 6 times and initiate a QR reader. Most EMM solutions offer QR code enrolment, so it’s very easy to source or generate one which can be shared or posted up on the corporate intranet for simple, remote provisioning
- EMM token, which makes use of an identifier such as afw#setup input where a Google account would normally be added to the device during setup.
All of these methods are relatively simple and straightforward, but they don’t offer a true out-of-box enrolment experience, and should the device be wiped (intentionally or otherwise) devices will need to be manually provisioned once more.
Zero-touch allows CWSI as a reseller to assign devices to Google’s zero-touch portal, where customers can create configurations for enrolment to a number of EMM solutions. When the device checks in with Google’s servers immediately upon gaining a WiFi or network connection, it will see it is registered as a zero-touch device and will automatically begin provisioning. This applies both to devices new out of the box and after a factory reset.
The process is as simple as:
- The customer places an order for devices through CWSI
- CWSI processes the order and creates a customer account within the zero-touch portal
- CWSI adds the devices to the zero-touch portal
- The customer may login to the zero-touch portal, create and assign configurations and begin the rollout
- Devices may be shipped directly to end-users without IT needing to touch the devices in any way
CWSI will also assist with the creation and management of the zero-touch configurations on request or as part of our managed service offering.
Expanding the CWSI offering
Zero-touch enrolment is the perfect addition to our Device-as-a- Service (DaaS) solution, offering true out-of-box enrolment for a wide range of Android devices to suit any budget and requirement and removing budgetary and operational barriers to rolling out your next enterprise mobility project.
Our Device-as-a-Service solution enables clients to transition their mobile hardware costs from capital to operational expenditure with one simple, affordable monthly fee, and streamline their operational support structure. Total cost of operation over a 24 month period is typically 20 to 30% lower than purchasing devices outright.
The service includes full device lifecycle management, extended warranties, next-day replacement service, insurance options and the ability to flex estate size up and down based on business requirements.
Look out for more information about our Android Enterprise services in the coming weeks or contact us for more information about deploying and managing your Android estate.
