MobileDeviceManagement
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Apple details iOS 7's improved business credentials
While iOS already has a place in the corporate world, that spot isn't guaranteed when there's competition with both a renewed BlackBerry and Samsung's Knox. Accordingly, Apple isn't leaving anything to chance: it just posted a page explaining the business-friendly iOS 7 features that it teased at WWDC. The biggest improvements for end users may be enterprise single sign-on and per app VPN, both of which will save hassles when launching work apps. IT managers should have it easier as well -- iOS devices can join Mobile Device Management as soon as they're activated, and a company can assign apps to individual users without losing control. There's considerably more features than we can list here, but it's clear from a cursory glimpse that Apple likes its foothold in the enterprise.
Apple highlights iOS 7 and education, business
The final shipping version of iOS 7 may be months away, but that's not keeping Apple from revving up the marketing engines. The company has published two new pages on its website to tout the advantages of the new OS in both education and business. On both the education and business pages, Apple's emphasis is on mobile device management (MDM) and single sign on. In education, the top bullet point notes how the upcoming App Store Volume Purchase Program will give institutions the ability to keep ownership and control over app licenses, and how MDM will make it possible to assign apps to students, faculty and staff instantly. Apple also touts single sign on as a benefit to both education and business users. The new iOS 7 feature allows user credentials to be used across apps, allowing access to enterprise or institutional resources without needing to enter a password multiple times. For businesses, Apple's also making sure that potential volume purchasers are also aware of the new and improved Mail app, which will bring smart mailboxes, PDF annotations and a better search to business users. iOS 7's collaboration capabilities with both AirDrop and enhanced Apple TV configuration control are seen as a big plus to educational IT departments. What's your market? Do you think that some of the new iOS 7 features are going to improve usability and efficiency in your workplace? Let us know in the comments.
MacTech offers free Mobile Device Management Primer
First, it was a few people who wanted to get work email on their personal iPhones so they could keep up with the office even if they weren't there. Then it was a couple of high level people who decided they'd get iPhones as their official company phone. Now you have stacks of them all over the place and people are starting to ask questions about managing this many devices and security policies and...urgh! What ARE you going to do about all of that? Instead of the heart attack you're likely considering at the moment, let me make a different suggestion: Check out the new Mobile Device Management Primer from MacTech! First and foremost, this is a FREE resource. Really. Go get it. It's THAT simple. It's written by Russell Poucher, an Apple Certified Trainer and session chair for the upcoming MacTech MDM event. If the primer isn't enough, or it's just enough to show you all the things that you didn't even realize you should be worried about, MacTech has announced an event called MacTech InDepth: Mobile Device Management. This will take place in San Francisco on December 7th. If you were a regular person, you'd have to pay full price, but you're not! You, dear reader, get to use the special TUAW deal and get $200 off an entire day of curated knowledge. Even more important than the sessions, you get to hang out with a bunch of other folks who also showed up to learn more about MDM, giving you the chance to attend my favorite part of any conference, the "hallway track." This part is the part no webinar or conference call can duplicate, the part where you get to chat with other people randomly over lunch or between sessions. I have attended conferences and learned at least as much from the hallway track as I have from the tracks themselves! Whether you get to go to San Francisco or not, you should definitely check out the primer above and spend a little time with it, especially if you are just starting to look at iPhones in your IT environment. It's free! So go get it, and see if you have any free time in early December. I hear San Francisco is almost as lovely then as it is in January...
MacTech In-Depth events focus on a single topic
We've been impressed with the MacTech Conference (coming up again soon) and this week the organizers announced a series of one-day seminars laser focused on a single topic and dedicated to going "in depth" on that topic. The seminars will be different each time, and they will be in different cities. You can see what's being planned for MacTech In-Depth here. Keep in mind theses are designed for IT pros, not the average home user. The first In-Depth covers mobile device management (MDM) and topics include what you'd expect from an IT-department's needs: • Security and Mobility • Solutions Requirements • Asset risks and security threats • Mobility Business Drivers • Monitoring and Control • Protecting the Enterprise, business, and the organization • Enabling Employees • Protecting data and devices • Mobility creating new business intersections • How to develop a mobility strategy for your organization • Securely supporting social media, commerce and sales • Defining Technology Initiatives If you register for these early, you'll get a substantial discount. Normally US$495, if you register by October 31 you pay $295 instead for the Mobile Device Management seminar.
Apple mysteriously kills jailbreak detection API while hacker boosts iOS security, irony restored
It's no secret that Apple's been keen to monitor the lot of naughty jailbreakers, but it turns out the company has recently shelved iOS 4.0's jailbreak detection API with no explanation given. While this has little effect on the average user, Network World explains that this is bad news for enterprise IT and MDM (mobile device management) vendors, who will now have one fewer channel for checking whether a user's iOS device has been jailbroken and thus become vulnerable to attacks. That said, apparently this isn't a huge loss for the MDM vendors, anyway; but the real question is why drop the API now? Could its presence alone be a threat? We'll probably never know. Fear not, though, as some folks have put jailbreaking to good use. The Register reports that come Tuesday, Stefan Esser of Sektion Eins will demonstrate a tool called antid0te, which reportedly adds ASLR (address space layout randomization) onto jailbroken iOS devices. In a nutshell, ASLR randomizes key memory locations to make it more difficult for certain attacks to locate their target data. According to the famed white hat hacker Charlie Miller, this technique is already present on Windows Phone 7 and desktop Windows since Vista, but Apple's only dabbled with it on OS X and not on iOS. Now, this doesn't mean that jailbroken devices will be fully safeguarded, but some protection is better than no protection, right? [Thanks, wooba]
iPhone OS 4.0: Enterprise Features
Apple has posted an outline of what it believes to be the key enterprise features of iPhone OS 4.0. Third-party multitasking, enhanced security and mobile device management are among the marquee features. As a former IT director, I'm drawn in by mobile device management (MDM). Setting up individual pieces of hardware is a time-consuming hassle. New MDM APIs let developers integrate features like wireless configuration and update, remote wipes and policy compliance (no games, please!) into their apps. Additionally, wireless app distribution lets managers then install those apps over Wi-Fi and 3G. Apple also touts the unified email inbox and SSL VPN support along with pre-existing features like Exchange support. Still, there will be users who feel that the iPhone is a plaything when compared to the all-business Blackberry. May they enjoy their plastic QWERTY keyboards and multi-tasking prowess for years to come.
