Forum Discussion
ZTE Enrollment Profiles Issue
I don't think ZTE is necessary or even valuable for Zebra devices in this situation. I cover this in my recent article:
I've pulled in the relevant section here:
Enrollment that Fits the Reality of Rugged
- Use Android Enterprise Device Owner (AEDO) with a barcode-driven process (e.g., Zebra StageNow). It’s fast, repeatable, and minimizes user taps and mis-taps on the floor. Wi-Fi credentials can be encrypted in the barcode rather than shared haphazardly and manually entered by end users into the Setup Wizard. More granular control over initial network connectivity is also afforded as compared with the limited options available through DPC extras if using the designated AEDO QR method.
- Avoid Zero Touch Enrollment (ZTE) for rugged Wi-Fi-only devices. ZTE is not "Zero Touch" as it realistically pushes many touches (and possible errors) to end users. There is overhead and maintenance to unenroll and re-enroll devices into the portal as they go in and out of repair. Enterprise-grade devices are often covered under repair contracts due to the nature of the environments they’re used in. This means they are going in and out of repair relatively frequently, and ZTE portal management ends up causing more bottlenecks than the steps it’s otherwise designed to free up. StageNow barcode flows are fewer steps and far more reliable for DCs and stores.
Yeah can underline that for Zebra devices as well, depending on the frequent of repairs (we had not so many in our use case but this can be very different in a warehouse or somewhere else). Also it always needs the involvement of the reseller after repair to put the devices back to your ZT account and you might also need to reassign the relevant configuration to it.
So, i also recommend for enrollment and wiping, use a StageNow profile instead everything else i posted below, outside of knowledge of Intune possibilities ;)
I do agree that ZTE isn't always an option for handheld scanners. But when sending in one for repair, you don't need to remove it from your ZTE portal. You just need to make sure no profile is assigned to it.
Upon return, you just need to reassign that profile. There is no need to delete it completely.
Thats not entirely true.
Ofc you can do that but in case of PCB swap (Zebra did this quite often on our end), IMEI/SNR will change so, you have to delete the old one latest you get to know that and ask reseller to add the new one.
And as the old PCB with your IMEI could already be repaired and re-used, your ZT-assignment could cause trouble to others. Thats why, from my knowledge, Zebra requests to remove devices from ZTP and not just removing the config.
And yes we had such cases with Zebra as well (also with Lancom for Switches as a side note) and could cause a lot of trouble, so i really recommend to do it as stated before to be friendly also to other customers who might get your old PCB.
oooh yes ofcourse. How could i've missed that. You are completely right. Thanks for correcting that! PCB's can indeed be replaced.
Wasn't aware that it was adviced by Zebra to do it that why, but i'm not familiar with their repair processes. Will have to ask them to see how they handle this. But makes sense what you say.
Apologies for being so short sighted on this one 😅
