Apple has just presented important improvements in the way its corporate and institutional clients (large companies, universities, administrations…) manage their fleets of iOS devices (mobile device management). After publishing a document that extols the security of your Touch ID, yesterday it launched a series of guides (more info here, here and here) with new functions, which will mean a great saving of time and effort when configuring and maintaining the profiles, permissions, restrictions and security settings of iPads and iPhones.
Until now, these profiles had to be loaded from a computer, which was a real problem for administrators who manage thousands of devices. From now on, the administrator will be able to ask Apple to preload certain profiles in the acquired terminals, so that the equipment goes directly to the end user with the desired configuration. In addition, the end user will not be able to modify these profiles, which ensures that the devices will be used in accordance with the policies and protocols they establish.
The improvements do not only affect new equipment.
Several additional functions have also been added to the support and control of existing devices, which will allow administrators to reconfigure, delete or block profiles of iPads and iPhones remotely, without the need to be physically in front of the terminal. They have also modified the Volume Purchase Program that is used to make massive purchases of apps and books to later distribute them among a large number of their teams. Now it is easier and reaches a larger audience, which will increase the number of customers who buy software through Apple.
A very relevant change affects computers managed by children under 13 years of age, who will be able to obtain a special Apple ID supervised by the school, with prior authorization from their parents. These IDs include restrictions aimed at protecting the privacy and personal data of the minor, as well as avoiding the modification of restrictions, the installation of unauthorized apps or unsupervised purchases in the App Store.
Purchasing managers will highly value the enormous cost savings that terminal pre-configuration and remote maintenance imply. Improvements in the security of profiles and restrictions on minors are essential in the education sector, where the scandal that arose a few months ago in the Los Angeles School District still resonates. When they delivered the first iPads of a huge order of 640,000 units, it took the kids less than a week to hack them, bypassing restrictions to install Facebook, Twitter and other disallowed apps. A setback that put at risk the investment of 1,000 million dollars that the District intends to make in Apple equipment and software.
All these improvements represent an extraordinary boost for Apple within the large business and institutional accounts and represent another movement in its tough battle with Microsoft to take over the Pro sector.
Via: TechCrunch | Image: engadget
