Extremadura is one of Spain's 17 autonomous communities and is located in the southwest of the country. In order to increase economic growth and the quality of life of the people in the region, the focus is on digitalization. Great progress has already been made here.

In 2021, Spain approved the program to digitize the education system, worth almost one billion euros. The government and various initiatives are working to improve the general digital infrastructure and access to the Internet in order to promote economic development and the standard of living of people in the regions. The Autonomous Community of Extremadura has also been working intensively for years to promote digitization in the education sector.

Important initiatives and projects in this area include the provision of nationwide broadband Internet to enable fast Internet access in rural areas as well. In addition, the digitization of administration and education is to be driven forward. Promoting digital skills and integrating information and communications technologies (ICT) into the education system are important priorities for Extremadura. Initiatives have been launched to equip schools and teachers with the necessary resources and to develop digital learning platforms.

Reliable partner wanted

In implementation, the project is a mammoth undertaking, especially in such a large region. More than 27,000 tablets with the Android operating system must be equipped with WiFi, VPN and the right apps for daily use and for all requirements. Successful implementation requires a reliable partner to manage the large number of devices clearly, uniformly and centrally. An additional hurdle was posed by the 7,000 end devices that had already been purchased with a predecessor mobile device management system. Support was terminated by the previous manufacturer and, in addition, the necessary qualitative standards could no longer be met. When the licenses expired, a new solution was needed.

A mobile device management for all cases

There were some challenges in the implementation and management of the mobile devices that those responsible in the Extremadura region had to deal with. For example, a large number of devices were distributed shortly before the pandemic, but were 'unusable' when they returned. Stored user names and passwords made it impossible to unlock the blocked devices in order to continue using them in everyday school life. The only option was to have the manufacturer reset the devices to factory settings, but this meant additional costs. In order to be more flexible in the future, a system was needed that could be self-managed and at the same time was independent of manufacturer, type and operating system.

With these requirements, the tender process was initiated and a management system for mobile devices in the Extremadura region was sought. The decision was quickly made in favor of Relution. Although the responsible education department of Extremadura has not yet been able to test the full scope of the MDM, it is surprised by the great ease of use, especially in the education sector. The intuitive handling of Relution stands out and is of great importance, since not all users have an in-depth technical knowledge.

Excellent price-performance ratio

In addition, the very good price-performance ratio was convincing. The flexibility of being able to determine the storage location of personal data opens up many possibilities. For example, the Spanish region did not opt for the on-premises variant - storing the data in its own infrastructure - but for data protection-compliant operation in an encrypted European cloud.

Numbers, data, facts

• Relution licenses used in the Spanish region of Extremadura: 27,000

Photos and logo: istockphoto: monkeybusinessimages / Relution GmbH