How to Get the Most From Your Internal Mobile Device Lab

• Learn how to better manage your internal mobile device testing lab.
• Increase the ROI of your mobile device investment by giving access to all of your employees, no matter their location.
• Increase the quality of your app through more testing, using the devices you already own.

If you are like the vast majority of companies around the world today, mobile has become a big part of your business. As mobile grows, so does the emphasis on development and quality of your mobile site and/or mobile applications. Mobile testing is now required to keep these sites and apps running at a quality level that users have come to expect. As mobile demand increases, most companies need to seriously evaluate the most productive approach to meeting and even exceeding those user expectations.  This starts with a commitment to better testing and improving your organization’s efficiency by accessing a mobile device lab.  From purchasing devices and testing internally, to using simulators and emulators, to where possible, leveraging real cloud devices, the options for mobile, Web and hybrid testing can be overwhelming.

Testing Options

As we mentioned in a previous blog post, simulators and emulators have been around a while and can do part of the job. However, they miss the important connection between software and hardware. In their recent comparison between Real Devices and Emulators, Guru99 talks about the time to use emulators versus real devices.  “Emulators can be considered as very suitable for the initial stages of application development. However, to avoid the costly scenario of releasing a business-critical application with defects, enterprises need to ensure that they perform the major part of their mobile testing on real devices before the application goes into production.”

When you are ready to scale your testing and potentially decrease costs, you may decide to take the plunge and purchase your own devices, creating an internal mobile device lab.  Managing internal devices has benefits as well as challenges. Owning mobile devices means having complete control over your devices, choosing the testing approach that works best for your company and maximizing your investment in the devices. While this all sounds like owning real devices is the easy option, the question to consider is are you truly getting the most ROI from these devices?

ROI on Internal Devices

Let’s start by evaluating if you are getting the most return on the devices you have already purchased.  If you have multiple offices, you have likely purchased duplicate phones.  With global offices, those devices are being used part of the day and sitting idle the other part.  Is there a better way to utilize that down time? What happens when a support ticket comes in over night and your support team doesn’t have access to that device? How do you make devices available 24/7 and shared across your entire organization? This is where Kobiton Device Lab Management (DLM) comes into play.

We speak with companies every day that are looking for a more effective way to utilize and manage their internal mobile devices. Some have set up an organized lab already, but a large portion have devices in desk drawers or locked in closets, using a spreadsheet to manage their inventory.   And when you consider the maintenance internal devices require, keeping them accessible, updated and charged, it quickly becomes clear that managing an internal device lab can be extremely difficult, cumbersome, and resource intensive.

Device Lab Management (DLM)

Kobiton DLM allows your organization to more effectively utilize your internal devices.  By connecting devices to the Kobiton cloud, teams across locations are able to access and use internal devices, increasing productivity and reducing the need to own duplicate devices. Without any additional coding or development, internal devices are plugged in and ready to centralize testing activity and improve collaboration across organizations.  Internal devices connected to the Kobiton platform are now accessible for teams 24/7, regardless of location, all for a flat monthly fee.  Better testing on real devices, whenever you need from wherever your team want it, increases team’s ability to create and publish high quality apps, faster.

If you have internal devices, wouldn’t it be smart to leverage them more effectively before making an investment in more devices or turning to a cloud device farm? If you have a dispersed workforce, doesn’t it make sense for all your devs and testers to access your devices? Would you rather use your budget to buy new devices instead of duplicate devices for other locations?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, Kobiton Device Lab Management could be your solution. Our goal is to allow you to leverage the investment you’ve already made. Better utilization of the resources and investment you’ve already made is just the beginning of releasing the great products your current and future users expect.

To learn more about Kobiton, click here, or get started with a no-commitment free trial today.