Offline Field Inspections on Shared Tablets
Ridgeline Power's field engineers inspect 1,200 remote assets per day using Pega Mobile Client on shared rugged tablets. The current app is online-only. Engineers lose inspection notes and photos when connectivity drops in rural areas. They need to create inspection cases offline, capture up to 40 MB of photos per case, look up 3,500 assets, and sync later. The 6 a.m. sync window supports 200 engineers. Devices are shared between shifts and can be lost. Location data is sensitive. The business wants offline worklists limited to assigned inspections, server-side validation before case resolution, and a clear indicator when data is pending sync. The security team requires remote wipe and encrypted local storage. The team is concerned about duplicate inspections if two engineers edit the same asset offline.
1. Design the offline-enabled case type and synchronization approach for assigned inspections, asset lookup, notes, and photos. Address conflict handling.
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Enable offline for the inspection case type and preload only the engineer's assigned worklist plus the asset reference data needed for lookup. Do not download all 3,500 assets unless the size is proven acceptable. Store notes and photos locally with a pending-sync state, and show that state clearly in the UI. Sync through Pega Mobile Client in bounded batches so the 6 a.m. window is not overwhelmed.
For conflicts, do not rely on last-write-wins for inspection results. Treat notes as append-only entries and validate on the server before resolution. Add a version or timestamp check for editable fields. If two engineers submit an inspection for the same asset offline, detect the duplicate at sync and route both to a supervisor rather than silently merging. Server-side validation must run before the case can be resolved.
2. What security controls and tests are required for shared tablets, sensitive photos, and location data?
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Require per-user authentication even on shared tablets, with a short offline session and device registration. Use MDM or Pega mobile controls for remote wipe and encrypted local storage. Limit offline data to what the assigned work requires, purge synced photos and location details after confirmation, and prevent one shift's cached data from being visible to the next user. Use an offline access group with only the needed roles.
Test lost-device remote wipe, shift change with cached data, offline login after a timeout, sync after a wipe, and photo retention after case closure. Verify that location data is not exposed in logs or reports to unauthorized roles. Include these tests in the mobile release checklist so a future app update cannot silently disable encryption or session controls.