Mobile Security
Appurity delivers an enterprise and bespoke secure device build
Background
Doddle: Doddle is the first and last-mile technology platform used by leading businesses in global logistics, from Amazon to Vietnam Post and Australia Post to Yamato Logistics. Doddle’s solutions power better delivery and returns experiences for consumers, and more efficient and sustainable processes for parcel carriers and posts.
Appurity: Appurity is a team of cross-platform mobility consultants specialising in cyber security solutions for mobile devices and apps. Appurity’s experts are trusted by several leading technology partners including Apple, Google (Android Enterprise), Samsung, Lookout, Absolute (including Netmotion), BlackBerry, Ivanti (MobileIron) and Microsoft. Appurity’s expert knowledge on leading technologies helps their customers to develop secure, efficient, and productive mobile solutions and strategies.
Doddle originally engaged Appurity to build a mobile infrastructure for its technology and users in store, and implement a wireless solution for the Doddle warehouse. Appurity also developed the Doddle logistics and “neighbour” app as part of their early projects.
Since then, Appurity has been managing the Ivanti Neurons for UEM (formerly MobileIron Cloud) ecosystem for Doddle’s devices.
“Working with Appurity has been seamless. Every part of the project was delivered on time, with a good plan in place, every step of the project was communicated to us. Appurity was clear on costing from the beginning. The price we paid for the solution was exactly as quoted – no hidden costs, no overrun. The working relationship couldn’t have been smoother.”
IT Director | Doodle
The challenge
Doddle’s client, Morrisons, is a UK retail giant which operates almost 400 sites across the UK. Within these stores, Doddle enables Morrisons to offer parcel pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) services for its customers to collect and return their online shopping delivered by partners such as DPD and Amazon. All of these services are managed on handheld devices by Morrisons’ staff in-store.
Doddle engaged Appurity for an upgraded mobile solution for their client. The existing fleet of devices that Doddle relied on were reaching end-of-life and running on an older OS version, making device management difficult and limited. Therefore, Doddle required a new fleet of devices for use across all their client’s sites, complete with an updated mobile management solution, security controls and a system for reprovisioning and upgrading devices as required. Doddle also needed their new devices fully secured, with a solution that minimises the risk of user error, and the ability to restrict the devices so that they were rendered useless if stolen.
Before the project, when a device was broken or offline Doddle were facing lengthy reprovisioning times. Therefore the solution also needed to provide distinct operational benefits for Doddle and their client – improved processes for device reprovisioning and the ability to fix, upgrade, and manage firmware remotely, securely, at speed and at scale.
“Appurity truly are technology experts. We’ve worked with many partners in the past who have looked to us for technological support and expertise or to fill gaps where their knowledge was lacking. Appurity provided everything. They know the ins and outs of Android Enterprise, and can relay information to us. It’s refreshing and unusual in the project world to find a partner like Appurity.”
IT Director | Doddle
The solution
Appurity procured a fleet of new Samsung XCover Enterprise Edition devices for Doddle. The Appurity team configured and built the devices using their Gold Build Standard, which included reviewing the security posture of Doddle’s current infrastructure to deliver a bespoke and secure device build, as well as providing full documentation of the device build and configuration process for the Doddle team. The devices were enrolled with Ivanti Neurons for UEM (MobileIron) and then delivered to each individual site. Knox Enterprise Firmware-Over-The-Air (E-FOTA)is enabled across all devices, and Appurity supplied all asset information to ensure that Doddle had a complete register of which device was sent to which retail sites.
Appurity’s solution additionally enabled Doddle to update a wireless 4G solution, with IoT SIMs provided by Doddle’s chosen provider, in tandem with the device refresh, to provide a complete upgrade to the systems used across its estate.
Outcomes
Operational costs fell away overnight, increasing footfall and profit.
Knox E-FOTA
Doddle realised operational gains from managing device firmware through Knox E-FOTA. Before the upgrade, managing firmware for the client was a difficult operational task, which included sending support to any out of 380 locations for fixes or replacements. Hardware upgrades are now controlled fully remotely. Thanks to the Appurity solution, Doddle have been able to upgrade these devices from Android 11 to Android 12 seamlessly, enabling all devices and sites to remain on a sustainable, current system.
Operational gains
This project has improved several of Doddle’s operational processes, providing tangible benefits. Since the delivery of the project, the transaction volumes across this retail estate have almost doubled. During the busy pre-Christmas period transactions are up 40% year-on-year.
Devices take much less time to fix. Alongside an upgraded wireless solution delivered by an external technology partner and enabled by the Appurity upgrade project, Doddle’s uptime across the estate has increased from 80% to 98%. Before the upgrade, approximately 320 stores were live at any given point in time, with approximately 80 experiencing issues. Now, 395 out of 400 sites experience uptime, with the others being brought back online quickly.
These operational enhancements mean that Doddle can reduce their service commitments significantly, run up-to-date security patches seamlessly, and have the peace of mind that all new OS and hardware is effective and working.
Profitability and cost effectiveness
From the moment the upgrade was deployed, the profitability of this estate and client increased. With the improved operational processes in place, running costs for this estate have reduced by over 80%.
Security
Using Ivanti Neurons for UEM (MobileIron) for device management secures the devices for Doddle and helps limit the risk of user error. Doddle has a mature Ivanti estate with a proven reliable infrastructure. Their security policies are applied at a granular level, ensuring that devices can only be used for their intended function. The solution ensures that if a device is stolen it calls back either to the client or Doddle, rendering them useless for use outside of the specified scope.
Android Zero-touch
Before the Appurity device refresh was implemented, device fixes and deployments were slow. When a device was registered as broken, Doddle would need to replace or fix the device, test it, and ship it. On average, this process would take about a week – sometimes longer.
To enhance their security posture Doddle were interested in exploring how Android Zero-touch could help streamline some of their work processes. The team understood and liked the concept of Zero-touch, but hadn’t tried implementing it before the Appurity project. The Doddle team required an experienced Android partner with the expertise in Android Enterprise and Zero-touch required to confidently implement a solution that could be carried forward by internal teams with ease.
Doddle engaged with Zero-touch through Appurity for the first time. The process proved simple: devices are automatically aligned with a chosen mobile device management platform, shortening provisioning windows. Doddle realised the benefits of Android zero-touch almost overnight. Working at volume, zero-touch eliminates so much of the time and resources involved with thorough mobile device management.
Before the upgrade, Doddle needed 6-12 days to get new devices sent out to sites. Now, with zero-touch, devices get provisioned efficiently and quickly, speeding up the build process dramatically. With security policies set, Doddle also has the peace of mind that their devices are protected. Provisioning times have reduced from 6-12 days to 48 hours – the only day in getting devices into the hands of end-users is logistical.