Apple’s recently announced Business Essence Services are a powerful entry point into the world of Apple device and user management. But there comes a point where small and medium-sized organizations (to say nothing of large companies) will go beyond service. At — or ideally before — then, it’s time to research other Apple device management solutions on the market.
In this story I’ll be looking at companies that support Apple’s MDM (mobile device management) platform and that specialize in Apple device and user management.
What exactly is MDM, and is it the only way to manage Apple products?
Let’s start with a quick recap of what Apple MDM is and how it works. MDM is an open platform that Apple launched in 2010 to make providing management and security of its mobile devices simple for enterprise environments. Apple’s launch of MDM coincided with the introduction of the iPad and iPhone 4 at a time when business users were already beginning to use their personal devices for work purposes — with or without IT involvement (the latter a phenomenon later dubbed that shadow). MDM offers a way to securely integrate these devices (and company-purchased Apple devices including iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple TVs).
Somewhat contrary to its usual way of working, Apple itself doesn’t create its own MDM software, preferring to leave it to third-party companies that have an enterprise focus and user base. Many of these companies were merged or acquired, and most began to focus on more than just Apple devices when Samsung launched its own security and management product called KNOX and when management capabilities in Android came online. Over time, the vendor’s MDM products added more capabilities, evolving into an enterprise mobility management suite (EMM) and finally a unified endpoint management platform (UEM) spanning multiple devices and OSes.