Case Study – ShellHub in Agriculture
Secure and Instant Remote Access for Embedded Devices in the Field — How a Brazilian AgriTech Company Eliminated On-Site Support with ShellHub
The Challenge
An agritech company specializing in smart agricultural equipment struggled with frequent on-site interventions to diagnose issues in its embedded Linux devices.
Technical challenges:
- Devices based on Yocto Project, deployed in remote rural areas.
- 4G connectivity with strict NAT and no fixed IP.
- Remote access was manually configured per device via VPN and SSH tunnels.
Business impact:
- Each service call averaged 4 hours of engineer time.
- High operational costs and delayed support.
- Compromised service-level agreements (SLAs) with customers.
The Solution: ShellHub
To streamline remote access and remove manual setup, the company adopted the ShellHub Enterprise Managed version.
Technical implementation:
- Embedded the ShellHub agent into the Yocto build.
- Created regional namespaces for organized fleet management.
- Configured public key authentication and firewall rules for security and traceability.
Measurable Results
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Average troubleshooting time | 4h | 15min |
| Average support cost per call | $166.95 | $3.51 |
| SLA response time | 24h | 1h |
| Devices managed | 50 | 300+ |
Highlights:
- 80% of support cases are now resolved remotely.
- Zero need for local firewall or port reconfiguration.
Takeaways
- ShellHub removes the need for custom VPN configurations.
- Namespaces help organize fleets by region or team.
- Yocto Project integration makes deployment scalable and automated.
Next Steps
The company is now exploring the integration of UpdateHub to handle secure, over-the-air firmware updates in the field, expanding its remote management capabilities.
Want similar results?
Request your free ShellHub trial or contact our sales team: comercial@ossystems.com.br