Albert is a chain of supermarkets and hypermarkets and one of the three largest Czech retailers. It operates several thousand rugged endpoint devices in its stores and warehouses. In addition to the standard mobile terminals in warehouses and stores, these include tablets at self-service checkouts and information kiosks to check product prices. Managing thousands of devices manually is virtually impossible, Albert needed a reliable solution to this situation.
With Workspace ONE/AirWatch, Albert gained a reliable and secure solution for managing thousands of endpoint devices across the country. This not only ensures the stable operation of all warehouse processes and some other systems in the stores, but also allows for remote management from a single location. In addition, thanks to the cooperation with VMware partner, only one person on the customer’s side oversees everything, significantly reducing the operational costs of the entire system.
Responsible retail network
Albert is a chain of supermarkets and hypermarkets owned by the Dutch group Ahold Delhaize. It is one of the three largest Czech retailers. More than 330 Albert stores across the Czech Republic serve over four million customers every week. These are handled by 20,000 employees, making the company one of the largest private employers in the country.
Albert is a responsible company which wants to be a good neighbour wherever it operates. It wants to be a guide for its customers in their food choices and inspire them to live a healthy lifestyle. In 2021, Albert won the EFQM Global Award, the highest award for outstanding quality, in competition with companies from all over the world. The jury appreciated the company’s clearly defined development strategy, its emphasis on selling quality products that support a healthy lifestyle, as well as taking care of its employees and promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions.
Thousands of end devices across the country make management more complex
The entire retail market is heavily influenced by the consumer preferences, with customers easily shifting to competitors thanks to the dense network of retail outlets. Often, details such as a temporary shortage of certain goods or a malfunctioning self-service checkout are sufficient. Albert must, therefore, respond progressively to market developments and technological opportunities, including the digitalization of warehouse management and stores. Ensuring a simple yet functional endpoint management system across all stores and warehouses is thus a key element for the stable operation of the sales chain.
At its stores and warehouses, Albert operates several thousand resilient network devices that can be accessed by a substantially higher number of employees. Even though managing such a large number of devices manually was extremely challenging, Albert did not use any mass management tool. The consequence was the high IT requirements, the time and personnel requirements and, of course, the resulting high costs for the overall configuration and management of these devices. Albert needed a reliable solution.
“Reliability of end devices in warehouses and stores is crucial. This is a complex system, the failure of which would mean a significant slowdown of the entire warehouse process, but also the operation of the stores themselves, higher error rates and ultimately customer dissatisfaction. That’s why when we decided to switch to new devices, we wanted to solve their central management as well.” says Lukáš Žinčovský, IT Mobility Consultant at Albert.
Simple yet functional management
When switching to new endpoint devices, Albert approached System4u, a VMware partner, with its problem of providing convenient central management. Several options were considered, but in the end, the choice fell to the VMware Workspace ONE solution. “We have many years of good experience with Workspace ONE, especially with its multiplatform nature. Plus, it works well for robust devices, too.” says Ladislav Blažek, technical director of VMware partner System4u.
“We assessed Workspace ONE and found it to be the best option. Besides, it came recommended by our parent group, which has had a positive experience using it,” says Lukáš Žinčovský.
Zebra’s standard rugged mobile terminals (barcode scanners) now account for the largest number of the several thousand terminals. They are used both in central warehouses and directly by almost all employees in stores. In fact, the device is used for virtually all tasks that employees do – including, for example, new orders for goods. Operational requirements are increasingly common in store operations and Albert does not want employees in stores and warehouses sitting in the office in front of a computer.
In addition to mobile terminals, Workspace ONE is also used for tablets at self-service checkouts and in price control information devices. In all cases, these devices operate on Android operating system.
The integration of Workspace ONE meets Albert’s requirements for easy management of resilient devices on a network with limited Internet access, ensuring that these devices are used purely for work purposes. In addition, the devices are operated in a limited, kiosk mode. This is largely in multi-user mode, as multiple users are switched on a single device in a shift operation.
Moreover, everything is ready for quick device replacement in case of hardware failure – after restoring factory settings, automated enrolment and configuration of the device will take place with the help of MDM. In cooperation with Google Zero-Touch technology, the devices are prepared as fully managed, i.e. fully managed by the company. The security of the data stored on the device is guaranteed by system restrictions and enforced memory encryption.
Albert uses the Workspace ONE Launcher on all managed devices to set up kiosk mode, making only predefined apps available on the device while unifying the look and feel of all devices. Another important feature of the Workspace ONE Launcher is to restrict end-user access to device settings and prevent any configuration changes.
No more endless manual setup of thousands of devices
With Workspace ONE, Albert gained a reliable and secure solution for managing thousands of resilient endpoint devices across the country. This not only ensures the stable operation of all warehouse processes and some other systems in the stores but also allows for remote management from a single location. In addition, thanks to the cooperation with VMware partner, only one person on the customer’s side oversees everything, significantly reducing the operational costs of the entire system.
“Thanks to our cooperation with a VMware partner who knows all the deployed technologies in detail, we have obtained a guaranteed quality of the implemented solution, as well as a total post-implementation service with an available team of certified technicians with detailed knowledge of the entire environment. In addition, a partner can ensure easy addition of the new features that Workspace ONE brings,” says Lukáš Žinčovský.
Previously, an internal IT department or service partner had to personally visit every warehouse or store across the country – hundreds of locations – and manually install everything. Now the vast majority of tasks can be done remotely. Updating applications, distributing new ones, changing settings, or anything else can be done quickly and reliably, allowing for more frequent adjustments as required by the operation.
“We assesed Workspace ONE and found it to be the best option. Besides, it came recommended by our parent group, which has had a positive experience using it.”
“We are now saving on device management because the vast majority of things are handled remotely, meaning individual sites do not have to be visited in person. We also have a perfect overview of all the devices, and we know where they are. They often move between stores and warehouses and we can now find them remotely,” says Lukáš Žinčovský, IT Mobility Consultant, Albert
The ability to quickly resolve any issues on-site is also important to the customer, and Albert uses Workspace ONE Assist for remote user and device support. With Workspace ONE Assist, the device can be accessed remotely at any time from the UEM console and the problem can be quickly resolved without the need for an administrator to be physically present. Assist enables real-time troubleshooting, whether the equipment is in the warehouse, on the shop floor or in the office. This approach maximize the use of the equipment without having to take it out of production, send it to a technician and then send it back to its original location after the intervention. A smoothly running warehouse system also helps to avoid unnecessary food waste.
With this step, Albert underlines its position as a responsible retailer that inspires customers to lead a healthy lifestyle, save time and improve the environment around us.
