Enterprise features offered by Apple:
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
- Profile manager is a free MDM application offered by Apple. It allows IT admins to configure and enforce policies on Macs and iOS devices. Also, it can prevent users to work on specific IOS features like iCloud and Airdrop, camera, Safari web browser and more. Devices can be remotely locked or wiped out through this feature.
- Apple configurator is another Mac tool offered by Apple which can push configuration profiles to devices via USB to pass on content and apps and access profiles as well, with a secured set up. It can be downloaded from Apple app store and can be used to configure up to 30 devices at once. It is also useful to enable supervised mode on iOS devices which is essential for Dedicated Devices deployments.
Volume Purchase Program (VPP) is used to find, buy and deploy apps as per business needs. IT admins can buy apps and e-books in bulk and distribute them among users.1 B2B apps also can be built specific to business needs by third party developers. Employees can also take the benefit of iBook store through VPP program.
Key benefits of MDM offered by Apple:
Hardware/software data details
Containerization which involves wrapping enterprise apps with a 3rd
Locking or wiping
Lost mode
Kiosk mode
Separate MDM agent need not be installed
Enterprise single sign-on
Initiate software updates via MDM
File-level data protection
Per app, VPN enables administrators to allow selective VPN access to only whitelisted enterprise apps.
Apple’s MDM vs third-party EMM solutions:
supports only iOS devices.
- While Apple provided MDM solution as a feature, complete with supporting all commands available in iOS MDM protocol defined by Apple, a comprehensive EMM solution goes beyond just pushing commands. Advanced EMM features like Enterprise App Store, Enterprise File Store, Telecom Management, Location Tracking, Geo Fencing, Security Policies, Compliance policies are must for an effective EMM strategy.
- EMM solution often needs to work in conjunction with existing IT infrastructure for organizations. It has to integrate well with LDAP/Active Directory, Exchange Active Sync, VPN, RADIUS to give a consistent and secure user experience to employees. Unfortunately, Apple’s Profile Manager fails to do this effectively.
References