MOBILE TECHNOLOGY: INTERVIEW ZEBRA DNA INTERVIEW The perfect software tools for the hardware Tobias Abendroth, Regional Sales Manager DACH at Jarltech Europe GmbH, talked to Jürgen Zimmermann, Manager Sales Engineering DACH at Zebra Technologies, about the tools within Zebra DNA. TOBIAS ABENDROTH, JARLTECH Regional Sales Manager DACH, Jarltech Europe GmbH JÜRGEN ZIMMERMANN, ZEBRA Manager Sales Engineering DACH, Zebra Technologies Zebra is renowned for its innovative hardware and is a global leader in many sectors. However, what often goes unnoticed is what makes Zebra’s devices truly innovative – and that is the software they have access to. With its device software solutions known as »Zebra DNA«, Zebra stands at the forefront of the market. Zebra DNA comprises three main areas: »Mobility DNA« for mobile computers and tablets, »Scanning DataCapture DNA« for scanners, and »Print DNA« for printers. Some of the DNA software tools are pre-installed on new devices, and there are dozens of additional tools that can be installed later. Tobias Abendroth: Hello Jürgen, I’m excited to talk to you about Zebra DNA. Can you tell me how many software tools there are for each of the three categories – »Mobility DNA«, »Scanning DataCapture DNA«, and »Print DNA«, and how many of them come pre-installed on Zebra’s mobile computers, scanners, and printers? Are these the basic tools that most companies need? Jürgen Zimmermann: Hello Tobias, I’m pleased to answer your questions. In total, we have over 250 individual software solutions across the three categories. This includes apps, cloud services, desktop applications, plus additional capabilities within the devices. The vast majority are free. However, only particularly crucial or es- sen tial ones are pre-installed. The tools a customer needs or could benefit from depend significantly on the use case of the devices. One can envision our DNA tools as a toolbox. Depending on the project, I need different things. Of course, I can drive a nail into the wall with pliers, but it’s better with a hammer. The challenge is knowing the tools and their functions to use them correctly. Some tools overlap in their capabilities, partly by design and partly due to historical reasons. For example, updates to our printers can be applied using either »ZDownloader« or alternatively through »Zebra Setup Utilities«. Tobias Abendroth: The toolbox is a great metaphor for the DNA tools. Now tell me, why should I purchase additional DNA soft- ware tools if the most essential tools are already installed on the device. Jürgen Zimmermann: Firstly, it’s important to mention that all pre- viously free tools will remain free in their cloud-based home. Only the new or previously paid services continue to require a license. Let’s consider a customer using a Mobile Device Management (MDM) system to manage their Zebra Android devices, which serves them well but lacks Zebra-specific capabilities. The Zebra DNA Cloud can be used for this customer as a kind of add-on. For instance, if the customer’s MDM doesn’t provide the ability to remotely control the devices, this can be achieved through our DNA Cloud. General ben- efits of cloud-based software can also be a reason for adoption. There’s no need to maintain and manage a server, and there’s no requirement for self-version-control. Tobias Abendroth: What other benefits does the DNA Cloud offer? Jürgen Zimmermann: To answer that I need to distinguish between the vision and the current state. In its current state, the DNA Cloud is a platform where more and more Mobility DNA tools find a second home. Additionally, new capabilities that we didn’t have before or only provided for other platforms are now integrated there. This in- cludes, for example, wireless management of Android versions – LifeGuard OTA. It’s a capability we’ve built into our devices and servers we provide so that MDMs can offer it. Until now, only some major MDMs have done this, but now the customer can do it using our means, even if their MDM doesn’t support it or they don’t have one. When I refer to MDMs, I’m also including EMMs or UEMs, inter- changeable terms for our purposes. Our focus is on a user-friendly interface – something often overlooked in our industry. The DNA Cloud can be operated by anyone with IT affinity – even without training. Currently, it can be used as manage- ment software for Zebra Android devices and is particularly appeal- ing to customers with a small IT department. As a vision, the DNA Cloud is a unified interface where more and more tools from our en- tire DNA will be available, regardless of the product group they were created for. If our toolbox was previously a collection of good tools that were visually and tactically different, the DNA Cloud is the path to a tidy, unified toolbox. Tobias Abendroth: That’s every craftsman’s dream, to stick with the metaphor. Tell me: Is acquiring the software worthwhile for small companies with fewer devices? 8 www.jarltech.com