In today’s fast-changing technology landscape, most people have experienced some form of VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality)—primarily in entertainment or games such as Pokémon Go. Beyond these, there is a third technology,MR (Mixed Reality), which facilitates the interaction between the real and virtual world. HoloLens from Microsoft offers the most comprehensive mixed reality experience with uses in various industries to efficiently manage/design/deliver projects. It is immersive, efficient, and allows users to interact with 3D images of holograms while the hardware is easy to wear, untethered, and WI-FI enabled.
Industries are using it in innovative ways to build efficient processes and to better understand on-site issues by visualizing and interacting with 3D models. In the future, HoloLens is bound to disrupt the way we design and visualize industrial solutions. At the same time, organizations will require a secure, trusted, and intuitive solution to manage their HoloLens devices deployed in the field.
Further in this article, we will explore what IBM offers in terms of managing HoloLens. IBM’s unified endpoint management solution, MaaS360, supports all kinds of Windows devices – Laptops, Desktops, Tablets, Surface Hub. Supporting HoloLens in its device portfolio contributes to MaaS360’s status as a leader in the UEM space. To strengthen this leadership, the MaaS360 team is eagerly awaiting HoloLens2 and working internally to support it as soon as it’s released.
How to securely manage your HoloLens device?
MaaS360 by IBM supports enrollment of HoloLens using the same simple MDM enrollment process as followed for Windows 10 laptops and desktops. Additionally, MaaS360 supports OOBE (Out-of-Box Enrollment), with which a HoloLens device would be automatically enrolled as soon as a user logs-in and joins into Azure active directory.
Once enrolled, HoloLens devices can be managed as simply as you manage your Windows 10 devices. HoloLens starts appearing in the Device Inventory page in the MaaS360 portal, after which time administrators can perform various actions or set company specific policy on the devices.
Actions supported on HoloLens device
As noted, the MaaS360 platform can be used by administrators to perform various actions on enrolled HoloLens devices. Administrators can Locate or Send a direct message to devices deployed in the field. Remote Wipe, Selective wipe, Change Policy, Change Rulesets, Distribute Application are other supported actions for HoloLens. Administrators can also use MaaS360 to upgrade HoloLens to enterprise edition.
VPN and Wi-Fi configurations
MaaS360 provides an easy interface to configure an organization’s specific VPN and Wi-Fi settings for distribution through policy. Admins can push these WiFi and VPN profiles to managed HoloLens devices, thereby ensuring that devices are always connected via secure network.
Multi-user profile management
Using MaaS360, your administrator can configure shared user settings for multiple user profiles on HoloLens. Administrators can specify storage capacity threshold for profiles to be automatically deleted and free up space on your device.
Windows Hello for Business
Users can easily log-in to their HoloLens devices using Windows Hello for Business, which is configurable through the MaaS360 portal.
Updates management
Using the MaaS360 portal, admins can configure update settings for devices. For example, admins can specify date and time for automatic updates, as well as disable public updates from Microsoft. Instead, administrators can specify the intranet update service or WSUS URL to download updates.
Security policies
MaaS360 supports various security policies for HoloLens devices. Administrators could configure these, as per their organization’s need:
- Allow/Disallow Developer unlock
- Allow/Disallow Manual unenrollment
- Allow/Disallow Cortana
- Allow/Disallow Location
- Allow/Disallow Telemetry
- Allow/Disallow Bluetooth
- Enforce device encryption using BitLocker
- Define passcode settings: Minimum number of character sets, Length of passcode etc
- Enforce browser restrictions: Accept cookies, Allow search suggestions in address bar
- Enable smart screen filter warnings
Compliance rules
MaaS360 supports compliance rulesets for HoloLens as well. Administrators can create rule sets on various device attributes, eg. Enrollment, OS version, Encryption level etc. They can also configure the enforcement actions e.g. Sending Alerts to admin or Remote wipe, when device goes out-of-compliance (OOC) By configuring compliance rules, admins ensure that appropriate remedial actions will be taken in case of OOC.
Wrapping up on HoloLens
For all of the above HoloLens capabilities discussed, there is plenty of additional documentation to get step-by-step instruction for your own implementation and deployment purposes. MaaS360 offers a 360-degree approach to efficiently and effectively manage HoloLens devices. If you have more questions on HoloLens, please, do not hesitate to reach out to myself or your IBM account representative.