Where Apple Falls Short For Enterprise It

Though nan institution has made awesome strides successful shoehorning its measurement into nan business world, not everything is peachy keen.

Apple now slots good into firm life because it made a conscious and concerted effort years agone to guarantee its products were endeavor friendly. By and large, nan effort has been highly successful. But that doesn’t mean nan institution ever hits nan people — and sometimes it doesn’t moreover look to beryllium aiming astatine nan mark. 

In its annual endeavor study paper connected Apple, Six Colors recovered that Apple really slid backwards successful IT leader restitution for two-thirds of categories surveyed. The worst areas progressive package reliability and invention followed intimately by macOS personality management. Opinions astir endeavor programs successful wide — and nan early of Apple successful nan endeavor — were besides little than successful 2024, arsenic was work and support, which has emerged arsenic a existent symptom point. 

It wasn’t wholly bad news. In nan study card, Apple saw humble gains successful hardware reliability and innovation, deployments, and its MDM protocol and infrastructure. The second underlines nan truth that Apple sees astatine slightest nan halfway needs of endeavor IT and, pinch nan thief of third-party vendors, tin meet those needs. 

Documentation doesn’t trim it

Documentation is an across-the-board failure. Apple does supply a wide scope of archiving for endeavor use, but overmuch of it isn’t peculiarly detailed. Apple besides doesn’t supply overmuch successful nan measurement of  videos, webinars and different media beyond written guides. 

Finding archiving tin besides beryllium a challenge. There is nary azygous extremity wherever you tin find everything neatly organized. Information mightiness beryllium included pinch developer documentation, connected Apple’s training tract aliases designated for endeavor support. In galore cases, uncovering wherever needed specifications unrecorded (if they beryllium successful a archive astatine all) usually comes from different Apple IT admins aliases from calls to AppleCare for enterprise. Thankfully, location is simply a ample and welcoming Apple IT/Mac Admin organization online, on pinch further resources to consult. 

Software reliability is simply a unfortunate of nan yearly merchandise cycle

A problem that affects much than conscionable endeavor users is Apple’s relentless yearly merchandise cadence, thing that plagues package acold much than hardware. Apple Intelligence is 1 sparkling illustration of Apple overreaching and not being capable to deliver, arsenic is nan climb to make Stage Manager truly useful. 

While Apple’s seeming unreserved to merchandise dazzling caller features each twelvemonth impacts package creation and reliability for each users, it hits endeavor IT particularly difficult for a mates of reasons. 

First, endeavor devices successful galore ways could beryllium considered a niche area of software. As a result, endeavor functionality doesn’t get nan aforesaid attraction arsenic much mainstream features. This tin beryllium particularly evident erstwhile Apple tries to bring user features into endeavor usage cases — like managed Apple Accounts and their intended integration pinch things for illustration Continuity and iCloud, for illustration — and things for illustration MDM controls for caller features specified a Apple Intelligence and low-level enterprise-specific functions like Declarative Device Management.

The 2nd logic is obvious: immoderate portion of package that isn’t fresh for premier clip — and still makes it into a wide merchandise — is simply a imaginable support summons erstwhile a business personification encounters problems.  

Apple tends to people good erstwhile it comes to information and privateness protection. But sometimes it goes overboard. Anyone who’s group up a caller Mac will spot alert aft alert asking for permissions and informing astir imaginable pitfalls. Yes, that demonstrates Apple is trying to support everything locked down and secure. But erstwhile there’s a pile-up of information messages, IT admins’ eyes glaze and they extremity registering what they’re seeing — and what they’re allowing. 

In a activity environment, users who don’t person nan correct permissions group could find themselves without entree to immoderate portion of macOS aliases its record system. (Given Apple’s personality guidance connected iOS, this tends to beryllium a bigger situation connected Mac.) Permissions issues mean…another support telephone for IT.

Some of this tin beryllium mitigated pinch due deployment readying and utilizing guidance devices for illustration MDM profiles, but there’s a limit to what those approaches tin achieve. 

Deployment is good, but needs much work

Deployment features were 1 area wherever Apple mostly sewage precocious marks— and deservedly so, fixed really soft Automated Device Enrollment (ADE), Device Enrollment Program (DEP) and MDM tin make things. But there’s room for improvement, Six Colors recovered successful its report. 

Among nan issues: ADE and spot guidance reliability dropped for immoderate organizations; archiving of deployment workflows didn’t supply capable information; devices for illustration Apple Configurator still require 1 instrumentality astatine a clip registration (for devices that aren’t capable to utilize ADE and DEP); and location aren’t APIs disposable for automation of Apple Business Manager and related deployment processes. 

Automation limitations

Deployment mightiness beryllium wherever nan deficiency of automation is clearest, but nan rumor runs done astir aspects of Apple instrumentality and personification onboarding and management. Apple Business Manager doesn’t connection immoderate APIs that vendors aliases IT departments tin pat into to automate regular tasks. This tin beryllium thing from redeploying older devices, onboarding caller employees, assigning app licenses aliases managing personification groups and privileges. 

Although Apple Business Manager is simply a awesome instrumentality and it functions arsenic a nexus for instrumentality guidance and personality management, it still requires much manual lifting than it should.

Identity guidance has ne'er been Apple’s beardown suit – and it still isn’t

The conflict to wed web personification accounts to managed Apple devices is simply a agelong and bloody 1 that goes backmost decades pinch a batch of it centering connected nan request to hindrance (join) devices to Active Directory and, now, Microsoft Entra. 

Apple has made immoderate strides successful caller years by replacing outdated mechanisms pinch its Platform SSO model (and pinch it support for further personality guidance providers beyond Microsoft). But nan functionality tends to beryllium fragmented and requires a patchwork attack for galore IT teams. Apple besides relies heavy connected personality guidance providers to merge its level SSO, which tin limit its usefulness. 

Managed Apple Accounts can besides autumn unfortunate to personality guidance issues. While Apple has pushed for their adoption, getting them to usability pinch web identities is not a judge thing.

There are devices for managing personality — they’re conscionable not from Apple. Jamf and TwoCanoes some having offerings but they aren’t native devices built into Apple’s OSes. 

Some MDM controls stay MIA

Apple’s MDM controls and commands are rather robust, but nan institution often releases caller features without releasing MDM controls for them. It often (but not always) addresses this rumor aft release, but that still leaves endeavor customers incapable to restrict aliases negociate those features for an undefined magnitude of time. 

There’s besides nan problem of granularity. Many MDM controls let nan disabling of characteristic sets arsenic a whole, but don’t let IT to configure aliases negociate circumstantial features. 

In caller years, arsenic portion of its efforts to move to Declarative Device Management(DDM), Apple has deprecated, removed aliases altered a number of MDM controls and payloads — and not ever successful a accordant measurement (or pinch capable preparation/documentation). Over nan past year, changes successful MDM controls for network-related features were 1 peculiar symptom constituent for Mac IT admins. 

There’s besides nan situation of dealing pinch Apple’s nationalist beta releases and really MDM controls and commands tin beryllium applied to them. I’m each for allowing workers to effort nan preview package each twelvemonth — it helps IT hole for nan coming last merchandise — but they airs an ongoing challenge. 

Declarative Device Management needs much adoption

Apple unveiled DDM arsenic a modernization of nan aging MDM protocol successful 2021; it allows devices to negociate themselves based connected group conditions alternatively than perpetually polling an MDM server. That’s bully and Apple has made superior investments successful DDM complete nan past 4 years. But immoderate of those advances are excessively infrequently trickling down to galore organizations. The biggest stumbling artifact is getting MDM vendors to afloat clasp DDM and alteration it efficaciously for their customers. 

You tin reason that nan responsibility present is little pinch Apple and much pinch circumstantial vendors, but Apple is nan eventual authority and could beryllium doing much to prod vendors to clasp its imagination successful a coherent way. 

The rollout of Apple Intelligence has felt for illustration thing but intelligent. While immoderate features person trickled out, nan expertise to negociate them successful endeavor environments is lagging. Any caller MDM controls released for  Apple Intelligence person not been peculiarly granular, particularly erstwhile you see wherever Apple Intelligence is going (or expected to beryllium going). 

It’s clear that Apple is going to trust connected further generative AI providers beyond OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It remains to beryllium seen whether  Apple will connection granular controls for each imaginable AI’s features (or moreover let pre-setting aliases requiring a circumstantial LLM). Apple has invested successful privateness pinch its Private Cloud Computeservers that enactment arsenic an intermediary betwixt instrumentality and LLM. And nan institution is expected to move much and much AI tasks to its devices. But there’s been nary denotation yet astir whether IT will beryllium capable to power really business information is utilized (allowing only on-device AI aliases mandating devices tally on  Apple’s privateness servers). 

Does Apple moreover want feedback?

One of nan biggest criticisms Apple gets from IT pros is that it doesn’t look willing successful their needs aliases concerns. The Feedback Assistant app is simply a peculiar sore point: it functions for illustration a achromatic spread — problems, concerns, requests each spell into it, ne'er to beryllium seen again. The problem isn’t conscionable pinch that 1 feedback channel. Even Apple’s endeavor support teams person constricted expertise to reside issues aliases shepherd feedback to nan company. 

It’s easy to think, “Well this is Apple, a institution that ever thinks it knows what’s champion contempt what customers deliberation ought to happen.” And that’s true. This is par for nan people successful Apple’s customer relationship. But while that mightiness alert pinch consumers, businesses pinch thousands of Macs, iPhones, iPads and different Apple devices should beryllium a spot of a different story. 

Apple needs to beryllium clear astir its endeavor commitment

One taxable that amazed maine successful nan Six Colors study paper was that IT leaders proceed to mobility Apple’s committedness to endeavor customers. 

I’ve been pursuing Apple’s attack to endeavor and acquisition since nan move of nan century. The investments it’s made since 2000 show Apple is superior astir this marketplace segment. The motorboat of MDM successful 2010 was nan constituent wherever Apple really proved it wanted to beryllium a superior endeavor subordinate and could moreover beryllium a leader successful immoderate cases. 

But that committedness hasn’t been consistent. Apple has pulled nan rug retired from nether endeavor IT pros by making melodramatic changes without warning, deprecating aliases eliminating features that galore ample customers depended connected and radically changing guidance erstwhile it comes to circumstantial technologies. The fate of nan Xserve and macOS Server, while logical successful hindsight owed to nan detonation of unreality computing, shows really Apple tin walk years building endeavor request for a solution — and past almost casually propulsion everything retired nan window.