Technology for Construction Field Crews: Working Smarter From the Jobsite
Updated: Aug 28
Updated August 2026: I originally published this story in March 2025 about a field technology project I completed for Huntzberry Civil Construction, which was operating as Huntzberry Brothers at the time. Since then, both the company and its technology environment have changed significantly. What started with helping field crews use managed iPads and B2W from the jobsite eventually became part of a much larger technology transformation.
I have kept this article focused on that original project because I think there is value in showing where the journey started. Technology projects do not always begin with replacing an entire environment. Sometimes they begin with identifying one part of the business that is taking too much time and figuring out how technology can make it work better.
For Huntzberry Civil Construction, one of those opportunities was out in the field.
The Problem Was the Workflow, Not the Field Crew
Construction crews spend their days where the work is happening. For Huntzberry Civil Construction, that meant employees were regularly working away from the office, but some of the processes they depended on were still tied to it.
Field employees needed to submit timecards, job information and equipment usage. At the time, that could mean driving back to the office at the end of the day simply to complete paperwork and get information into the company's systems. It worked, but it was taking time that could have been spent on the job.
Huntzberry Civil Construction was interested in using B2W and iPads to change that process. Rather than purchasing a group of tablets and trying to figure out everything else afterward, we started by looking at what the employees actually needed to do from the field.
They needed more than B2W. The devices would need cellular connectivity, access to company email and Microsoft Teams, job specific applications and a secure connection back to resources that were still located at the office. The company also needed to maintain control of the devices after they left the building.
That changed the project from simply purchasing iPads into building a managed field technology environment.
Building the iPads as Business Devices
I helped Huntzberry Civil Construction select the iPads and brought the company owned devices into Apple Business Manager. I then used Mosyle mobile device management to fully manage them.
The Apple accounts associated with the devices were set up as company managed accounts using company email addresses rather than building the devices around employees' personal Apple accounts. Apple now refers to these organization controlled identities as Managed Apple Accounts.
The iPads were also configured differently from the way someone might set up a personal tablet at home. Employees could not simply install whatever applications they wanted. The applications needed for work were centrally managed and deployed, which allowed Huntzberry Civil Construction to maintain much better control over what was installed on its field devices.
B2W was one of those applications, but it was not the only one. I also deployed Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Authenticator, along with other job specific applications the crews needed.
Teams became particularly useful for communication between the office and the field. Foremen could access jobsite drawings and other project information from the iPads they were already carrying rather than relying on someone to get the information to them another way.
This is something businesses sometimes overlook when considering tablets for employees. The device itself is only one part of the project. How the device is enrolled, who owns the account associated with it, which applications can be installed, how company information is accessed and how the device will be managed after it leaves the office all matter.
Connecting the Jobsite Securely Back to the Office
At this point in the company's technology journey, B2W still depended on infrastructure located at the office. Cellular service allowed the iPads to get online from the field, but the devices still needed a secure way to reach the company's internal environment.
I configured VPN access through the Fortinet firewall so the managed iPads could connect back to the office while employees were working remotely. I also implemented multifactor authentication for that remote connection.
That part of the project provided a good example of why technology implementation is often more complicated than checking a box on a project plan.
The Fortinet authentication process did not initially play nicely with the Apple devices. There were compatibility issues that had to be worked through before the experience was reliable enough for employees to use in the field. Removing multifactor authentication just because it made the configuration easier was not the solution. I needed to troubleshoot the interaction and make the security control work with the devices the crews were actually going to use.
Before the iPads went into production, I tested the VPN, authentication, cellular connectivity and B2W access. A configuration working while I am sitting in the office does not mean much if it fails when a foreman is standing at a jobsite miles away.
That is something I still consider when planning technology for employees working in the field. You have to think about where the device is actually going to be used, what it needs to connect to and what happens when the employee is no longer sitting on the same network as the office.
What the Field Deployment Actually Included
By the time the project was complete, the iPads had become much more than tablets running B2W. The field environment included:
Company owned iPads enrolled through Apple Business Manager
Full device management through Mosyle MDM
Company managed Apple accounts associated with company email addresses
Restrictions preventing users from installing unapproved applications
Centrally deployed and managed business applications
B2W access for field reporting
Microsoft Outlook for company email
Microsoft Teams for communication and sharing jobsite drawings
Microsoft Authenticator
Fortinet VPN access protected with multifactor authentication
Cellular connectivity for employees working away from the office
Other job specific applications managed through the company's device management environment
Each piece supported a different part of the workflow. Device management gave Huntzberry Civil Construction control over company owned equipment. Cellular service allowed employees to work away from the office. The VPN provided secure access to the systems that still lived there. Microsoft 365 gave employees communication and collaboration tools, while B2W allowed job information to move between the field and the office. The value came from those pieces working together.
Once the iPads were deployed, employees could submit timecards, job information and equipment usage while they were still in the field. Foremen could access information and drawings through Teams, and the office did not have to wait for someone to physically return before receiving information from a jobsite.
At the same time, Huntzberry Civil Construction did not have to give up control of the devices to gain that flexibility. The iPads remained managed business equipment with controlled applications and secured access to company resources.
What Came Next for Huntzberry Civil Construction
Looking back at this project in 2026 is particularly interesting because it represents an earlier stage of what eventually became a much larger technology transformation for Huntzberry Civil Construction.
The environment I support today looks very different from the one described in this original article.
B2W has moved from the on premises environment to Trimble B2W Cloud. Company files have been migrated from the local file server into Microsoft SharePoint, and computers have been moved away from the traditional local Active Directory domain and into Microsoft Entra ID.
The Microsoft 365 environment has also been built out with security groups, Conditional Access, Intune device management and Microsoft Defender protections for endpoints and email. Together, those changes allowed Huntzberry Civil Construction to move away from its traditional on premises environment and become a cloud first business.
More recently, that foundation has also allowed us to look beyond the traditional IT environment. I worked with Huntzberry Civil Construction to implement Claude for Teams as a managed business AI platform rather than leaving employees to independently choose and use consumer AI tools.
The AI project was not simply a matter of purchasing subscriptions and telling employees to start using them. It involved thinking about how AI could fit into the business, how employees would use it and how the company could provide an approved business environment for those tools.
I think the order in which all of this happened is important.
Huntzberry Civil Construction did not jump from an aging on premises environment directly into AI. The technology underneath the business changed first. Identity, devices, files, applications and security were modernized, which gave us a much stronger foundation for deciding how newer technology could fit into the business.
Each stage built on the one before it.
The field technology project described in this article solved an immediate operational problem. The cloud transformation that followed changed how the broader technology environment operates. The AI implementation represents another step in that progression.
Those later projects deserve their own stories because there is much more to them than moving files to the cloud or purchasing an AI subscription.
This field project is where that larger technology journey started.
Construction Field Technology Is Not Just for Large Contractors
Although this project was designed around a construction company's workflow, the underlying problem is not unique to construction. Construction field technology can take many forms, and the right solution depends on what employees need to access, submit and communicate while they are away from the office.
Excavation companies, landscaping businesses, HVAC companies, electricians, plumbers, agricultural operations, service companies, estimators and other businesses with mobile employees can run into the same disconnect between what happens in the office and what happens in the field.
The right solution will not always be iPads, and it will not always involve the same applications Huntzberry Civil Construction uses. What matters is understanding what employees need while they are away from the office.
What information do they need access to?
What do they need to send back?
Which applications do they depend on?
Who owns the devices?
How will applications be managed?
What happens if a device is lost?
How will employees authenticate?
What happens when the internet connection is unreliable? Who can troubleshoot the device when it is fifty miles away?
Those questions should be answered before deciding which tablet or laptop to buy.
That is one of the biggest lessons I took from this project. Huntzberry Civil Construction did not need iPads simply because tablets were convenient. The company needed a better way for information to move between its jobsites and its office. The iPads were one part of the system that made that possible.
Questions Business Owners Ask About Technology for Field Crews
Should Company iPads Be Managed?
For company owned devices, centralized management gives a business much more control over applications, configurations and security settings. It can also make supporting devices in the field considerably easier because changes can be deployed without physically collecting every device.
How a device should be managed depends on whether it is company owned, personally owned, shared by several employees or assigned to one person. Those decisions should be made before devices are deployed rather than after company information is already on them.
Can I Prevent Employees From Installing Apps on Company iPads?
Yes. A properly managed company iPad can be configured so employees cannot freely install unapproved applications. Approved business applications can instead be centrally assigned and managed.
That is how the Huntzberry Civil Construction iPads were configured. The company retained control over the applications installed on its equipment rather than treating the devices like personal tablets.
Should Employees Use Personal Apple Accounts on Company Devices?
For company owned and fully managed devices, I prefer to consider account ownership as part of the overall management strategy rather than allowing personal accounts to become the default.
Apple provides Managed Apple Accounts that are owned and controlled by the organization. Huntzberry Civil Construction's Apple accounts were established using company email addresses so the business could maintain control of its identities and devices.
Do Managed Field Devices Still Need Multifactor Authentication?
Device management and multifactor authentication protect different parts of the environment. Managing a device does not automatically protect an employee's account or a remote connection.
When the Huntzberry Civil Construction iPads needed to connect back to the internal network, multifactor authentication was implemented as part of the Fortinet remote access configuration. Today, the company's environment has evolved considerably, but the same principle remains important. A trusted company device and a verified user identity are two different security considerations.
Can Field Crews Use Microsoft Teams for Drawings and Project Information?
Yes, when the Microsoft 365 environment and permissions are configured appropriately. For Huntzberry Civil Construction, Teams gave foremen another way to access jobsite drawings and other information from the managed iPads they were already carrying.
The important part is not simply putting Teams on a tablet. The business also needs to think about where information is stored, who should have access and how those permissions are managed.
Building Technology Around the Way a Business Actually Works
This project is one of the reasons I believe technology planning should start with understanding the business rather than recommending products.
Years later, many of the individual technologies behind Huntzberry Civil Construction's environment have changed. The server based version of B2W described in this article has moved to the cloud. The traditional Active Directory environment has been replaced. Company files no longer depend on the same local file server, and the security and device management environment has grown substantially.
The principle behind the original project has not changed.
Technology should support where people actually work.
For a construction company, that might be the office one minute and a jobsite miles away the next. The technology needs to work in both places without creating unnecessary barriers for employees or giving up the security and management the business needs.
SNL-Tech Services helps small businesses plan technology around how their employees actually work, including managed mobile devices, Microsoft 365, cloud services, cybersecurity, remote access, network connectivity and technology for employees working in the field.
If your business has field crews and you are trying to give employees better access to the tools and information they need without sacrificing security or manageability, contact SNL-Tech Services. The best place to start is usually not with a device. It is with the workflow you are trying to improve.
Additional Resources
Apple guidance about organization controlled Managed Apple Accounts and their role in managed Apple environments.
Apple guidance for organizations using Apple Business Manager to manage devices, accounts and application deployment.
Microsoft: Frontline Worker Device Management
Microsoft guidance for planning and managing devices used by employees who work away from traditional desks and offices.
CISA guidance explaining why businesses should use multifactor authentication to help protect accounts and remote access.
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