Apple @ Work is completely delivered to you by Mosyle, the one Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the one resolution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all of the options essential to seamlessly and robotically deploy, handle & shield Apple units at work. Over 45,000 organizations belief Mosyle to make hundreds of thousands of Apple units work-ready with no effort and at an reasonably priced price. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL immediately and perceive why Mosyle is all the pieces it is advisable work with Apple.
Earlier than the iPad, Apple noticed lots of success in Okay-12, however it was primarily round cart-based studying with MacBooks. Whereas a number of faculties had 1:1 applications, the iPad (and its $499 value level) kickstarted the mobility revolution. The iPad was a success with college students and lecturers alike, however managing iPads at scale was, to place it mildly, a logistical nightmare for IT groups.
About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT community from 2009 to 2021. By his expertise deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a cell system administration system, enterprise grade Wi-Fi, 1000s of Macs, and 1000s of iPads, Bradley will spotlight methods through which Apple IT managers deploy Apple units, construct networks to assist them, prepare customers, tales from the trenches of IT administration, and methods Apple might enhance its merchandise for IT departments.
Apple’s system administration infrastructure was on the coronary heart of this early chaos. In some methods, Apple didn’t know what to construct till they noticed how the units can be used. Till then, the iPhone was rising, however it was nonetheless in its early days. The App Retailer was nonetheless an toddler as nicely. In 2011, Apple launched the Quantity Buy Program (VPP) to assist faculties buy and distribute apps in bulk. On paper (pun meant), it seemed like a game-changer. In follow, it was solely scalable for smaller deployments.
The method for putting in apps was clunky, requiring IT groups to distribute codes from a spreadsheet to load them onto units. You would technically purchase one copy of an app from iTunes and cargo it on a whole bunch of units. Sure, we we have been syncing units by way of iTunes in bulk. Sure, it’s as painful because it sounds. Upgrading iOS was an absolute nightmare and took days, if not weeks. Bear in mind, on the time, there have been no over-the-air updates.
Apple took one other step ahead in 2012 with the discharge of Apple Configurator. This macOS app allowed IT directors to configure a number of iPads concurrently, streamlining duties like putting in apps, setting restrictions, and managing profiles. We have been nonetheless shopping for apps in bulk from the VPP retailer, however you then’d take the primary code to redeem the app from iTunes after which load the app and the spreadsheet into Apple Configurator. Sure, it’s as clunky because it sounds. In reality, I needed to file quite a few assist tickets as a number of the purchases marked the primary code as redeemed in order that it couldn’t be used.
Whereas it wasn’t a really perfect resolution for large-scale deployments in comparison with what now we have immediately, Apple Configurator was a lifeline for smaller faculties or one-off configurations. It was a lot quicker to setup units in bulk in comparison with the iTunes strategy.
The subsequent steps
This time interval is when Apple had a choice to make: rebuild all the pieces for a world the place everyone seems to be utilizing an Apple system always or proceed on the present path. Recognizing the necessity for a stronger resolution, Apple spent the following a number of years enhancing its strategy to system administration from the bottom up. In 2014, they launched the Machine Enrollment Program (DEP), a significant foundational step ahead. DEP allowed faculties and companies to automate the setup of iPads and Macs, guaranteeing they have been enrolled in a tool administration resolution straight out of the field based mostly on the serial quantity.
Over the following few years, Apple beefed up its enterprise instruments with some low-hanging fruit, resembling Managed ‘Open In,’ new macOS system administration instructions, Person Enrollment, and expanded configuration profile settings.
By 2018, Apple had actually outlined its imaginative and prescient for system administration with the launch of Apple College Supervisor and Apple Enterprise Supervisor. This platform unified the options of VPP and DEP, making a single interface that made managing units, apps, and Apple IDs a lot easier. It additionally tackled a big ache level for IT groups: licensing. Apple College Supervisor let directors assign, revoke, and reassign app licenses over the air based mostly on the units, fixing the complications that got here with VPP’s early implementation. Early OTA app licenses have been tied to Apple/iTunes IDs, which have been troublesome to create in bulk for college kids/lecturers/workers. There have been no Managed Apple Accounts right now.
Zero contact and past
By the last decade’s finish, Apple had overhauled solely its system administration instruments in flight. What had as soon as been a significant frustration for IT groups grew to become an environment friendly and dependable system. Apple College Supervisor—and its counterpart, Apple Enterprise Supervisor—grew into completely essential platforms for managing units in faculties and within the enterprise.
Zero-touch deployments have been easy to configure and roll out. Whereas there was some technical debt across the underlying code (that Apple largely addressed with Declarative Machine Administration), the entire recognized issues have been solved. Right now, I informed numerous those that the entire “hacks” round managing and deploying Apple units at scale had largely been solved. There was a recognized greatest path for all the pieces.
You need to give Apple’s enterprise product and engineering groups lots of credit score for each iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac offered immediately. With out the actually tedious work they did within the 2010s, Apple’s enterprise income progress wouldn’t have been attainable.
Apple @ Work is completely delivered to you by Mosyle, the one Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the one resolution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all of the options essential to seamlessly and robotically deploy, handle & shield Apple units at work. Over 45,000 organizations belief Mosyle to make hundreds of thousands of Apple units work-ready with no effort and at an reasonably priced price. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL immediately and perceive why Mosyle is all the pieces it is advisable work with Apple.
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