Your employees’ iPad, Apple TV and iOS devices can now be managed under one roof.
Apple-focused company Addigy announced this week the launch of its new Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform, a function they say has been the most-requested feature from customers for years.
“The Addigy MDM is going to fill this void for us consultants who need something in a multi-tenanted capacity to service our clients in the proper way that Apple wants us to do,” Zvon Petric, who heads Ontario-based Addigy partner AtYourServer, told ITBusiness.ca after the announcement.
“The IT department doesn’t have to be on site to unbox that computer, set up or do whatever you had to do in the past,” he said.
In addition to supporting the full range of Apple devices, MDM allows users to access dashboards and report metrics, and includes automated software updates and patch management. Such an update had been a long-time coming, Petric said.
Few companies offer managed services for Mac devices specifically, let alone ones that offer support for both Macs and iOS. Companies such as jamf, described by Petric as an excellent service used by thousands of organizations, are sometimes too expensive for smaller businesses. That’s where Addigy, and furthermore, AtYourServer, step in. There’s a misconception that Mac devices are struggling to gain traction among enterprises and small businesses, but that’s not the case, said Petric. The infrastructure to support them, however, is lacking.
“Macs are easy to manage if you know what you’re doing. I’m pretty confident that most business that deploy iOS have done it wrong. Very few guys in North America understand how to deploy Mac and iOS devices. The people at the smartest at it are the Apple Consultants Network. But we don’t get involved soon enough,” said Petric, adding he hopes the consulting network becomes more involved when it comes to future MDM service upgrades.
Users of the original cloud-based platform will receive an update that will enable MDM capabilities. A recent Addigy blog post about the MDM announcement thanked Addigy users for their feedback, and said the platform received numerous other upgrades as well, including:
- User File Vault Key and Password Management
- Catalog and Policy Restrictions
- Policy and Device Logs
- Dashboards and Reports
- Audits Scheduling and Alerts
- Resetting Passwords