Android Enterprise Recommended is a validation programme offered by Google for devices, vendors and partners launched in February 2018. The program currently focuses on devices, MSPs, Carriers, and EMMs and will continue to expand over time.
The goal behind Android Enterprise Recommended devices is to provide a simple, Google-recommended list of devices that meet a set of elevated enterprise-grade requirements. In doing this, there are benefits for both organisations choosing devices for business and the OEMs that take part.
Devices submitted for certification will be thoroughly tested against Google’s established best practices and common requirements. Some of those include:
.. and more. The full list of requirements can be found here.
This certification process is per-device and per OS version rather than per-OEM, meaning each individual device an OEM releases will need to be tested and certified. This is important as an OEM can release devices targeting many audiences, such as HMD Global with their Nokia 1 and Nokia 2 or Samsung with their Galaxy J1; these are not intended for enterprise use and as such wouldn’t make sense to suggest otherwise with an OEM AER badge.
When buying devices for enterprise use, organisations need only look for the Android Enterprise Recommended badge to know the devices have been thoroughly vetted against the above (and more) best practices and requirements from the company that develops Android and the Android Enterprise solution. It’ll help to ensure organisations align expectations (and potentially budgets) accordingly to ensure the devices being considered will:
Since the introduction of Android Enterprise Recommended, over 70 additional devices (Jan 2019) have been added to the line-up, including from Sony, Nokia, Zebra, BQ, Motorola and more. There are, and will continue to be, more added on a regular basis.
More information can be found on this dedicated article.
Just as AER for OEMs set out to create a benchmark against which devices should meet or exceed in order to guarantee a consistent, reliable experience for management, AER for EMMs aims to do something similar.
To summarise the requirements for EMMs:
The requirements are described in-depth in the glossary here, and an overview is available here.
In a nutshell, Google are going to validate EMMs who demonstrably put Android Enterprise front-and-centre over legacy management, have a healthy install base and can lean on excellent product knowledge, useful collateral and confidently sell the solution to the market. The obvious difference when compared to AER for devices is that it isn’t purely about feature support as such, even though that certainly forms part of the wider validation, but the whole experience of working with an EMM.
Validated vendors will receive their own badge for marketing and promotional purposes to demonstrate heightened compatibility with Android Enterprise.
More information is available on this dedicated article.
The Android Enterprise Recommended MSP programme validates managed service providers against a set of requirements and recommendations around knowledge, ability and drive.
It’s fine having recommended devices and solutions, but without a competent partner with proven ability to advise on devices, deploy chosen solutions and provide ongoing support, it would be all too easy to end up in a situation where customers aren’t fully, or properly, leveraging devices and services.
In order to qualify for the programme, MSPs must have a minimum number of validated experts within their organisation, a proven track record of successful deployments and more.
The full list of requirements can be found here with an overview here.
Validated vendors will receive their own badge for marketing and promotional purposes to demonstrate heightened compatibility with Android Enterprise.
Finally Android Enterprise Recommended for Carriers was pegged for launch later in 2018.
The known requirements and recommendations were sparse, mentioning only support for zero-touch, however intended to change soon enough to include:
Given Carriers the world over are critical in the deployment of devices and services to many organisations, it makes sense that they would form a piece of the puzzle.
Well known for unnecessarily delaying updates, filling ranged devices with carrier-related bloatware and more, the AER for Carriers programme could have hopefully helped not only improve the experience with devices, but also general interactions knowing organisations should be able to talk Android Enterprise with carriers who actually know what it is.
Unfortunately Google dropped all references to AER for Carriers publicly, and hasn't really moved it forward up to now, 2022. As AER moves towards a product-badge in the near future, Carrier AER will not be coming back.