How to automatically alert managers when a device has not connected to Rippling for 3 days with Rippling IT

What you'll learn

• How to monitor device connection health across your entire fleet using Rippling Device Management

• How to use Workflow Studio to alert managers when devices stop checking in

What you'll need

• Rippling IT with Device Management

• Devices enrolled with Rippling MDM and able to connect to Rippling

• Employee and manager data stored in Rippling or synced from an external HRIS so workflows can route alerts to the right people

The problem

IT teams depend on regular device check-ins to enforce policies, push OS and security updates, and run remote commands. With distributed and hybrid work, laptops are often powered off, offline, or misconfigured for long stretches of time.

When a device is not connecting, Rippling cannot fully manage it. MDM commands may not complete, updates may not apply, and security tools may not report accurately. Over time, this leads to unmanaged devices, stale configurations, and higher security risk.

Manual tracking through spreadsheets or one-off reports is slow and easy to miss. IT teams may only discover that devices have not connected when an audit is due or when something breaks. Without automated monitoring, it is difficult to know which devices need attention and who should follow up.

The hypothesis

If device connection status is monitored in Rippling IT and tied to workflow automation, IT can detect inactive devices early and notify the people who can resolve the issue fastest.

By using MDM status and connection information together with Workflow Studio, IT teams can automatically identify devices that have not connected for a set period of time, such as 3 days, and route alerts directly to the employee’s manager. Managers can then work with their team to bring devices back online, while IT keeps device management and security coverage on track.

The solution

1. Use Rippling Device Management to monitor MDM status 

Rippling Device Management gives you a live view of connection and enrollment status for every managed device. On the Devices tab, you can see:

• Agent status, which shows whether the Rippling Agent is installed and able to connect

• MDM status, which shows whether the device is enrolled and connecting to Rippling’s MDM server

• Antivirus status if you use Rippling's integration with SentinelOne

• Pending actions, which indicate queued commands that have not yet completed

For MDM, Rippling uses a simple status model:

• Green means the device is enrolled in MDM and has been able to connect within the past 14 days

• Yellow means enrollment is pending or the device has not connected in more than 14 days

• Red means there are errors with MDM enrollment, such as unsupported operating system, configuration errors, or authorization issues

On the Devices tab, you can hover over the MDM status icon to see more details, including when the device last connected. This gives IT a clear picture of which devices are healthy, which are lagging, and which are blocked.

2. Use Workflow Studio to find devices that have not connected in 3 days

Workflow Studio lets you build event-based and scheduled workflows that act on data inside Rippling. You can:

• Trigger workflows based on events in Rippling, such as changes to device fields or employee records

• Run workflows on a schedule and use bulk operations to act on many records at once

• Query Rippling data and apply filters to focus on the devices you care about

To monitor devices that have not connected in 3 days, IT can set up a scheduled workflow that:

• Runs once a day at a time you choose

• Queries devices that are MDM-enrolled

• Filters for devices whose last connection date is more than 3 days ago, or where status indicates they are no longer connecting as expected

This turns what would be a manual report into a repeatable check that runs automatically.

3. Route alerts to the right manager automatically

Because Rippling stores manager-employee relationships as part of the employee graph, workflows can use that data to send alerts to the correct person.

Once the workflow identifies devices that have not connected in 3 days, you can add steps to:

• Look up the employee assigned to each device

• Use that employee’s manager as the recipient for notifications

• Include key context, such as the device name, last connection date, and a link to the device in Rippling

Notifications can be delivered through existing workflow actions, such as email, so managers know when one of their team’s devices has not connected within your defined time window. IT does not need to send individual messages or track follow-ups manually.

The impact

✓ IT identifies inactive or unmanaged devices before they become security or compliance issues

✓ Managers receive timely alerts when their team’s devices fall behind on check-ins

✓ Monitoring becomes a proactive, automated process instead of a one-off audit

By tying MDM status in Rippling Device Management to Workflow Studio, IT teams turn device connection monitoring into an ongoing, automated controls. The result is better coverage, fewer surprises, and clearer ownership when devices need attention.

FAQs