Apple Business Manager (ABM) is a web-based portal that helps IT admins manage devices, apps, and accounts from one central place. As a complete service, ABM gives the IT team a platform to set up Apple devices with zero-touch deployment. In addition, it lets them hand out purchased apps and books to those devices and manage roles across the organization. Moreover, when you use Apple Business Manager with a mobile device management (MDM) solution, you can easily enroll devices, deploy content, and assign admin rights. Notably, ABM brings together the Device Enrollment Program (DEP) and the Volume Purchase Program (VPP). As a result, enterprise IT can smoothly deploy and manage iOS devices, Mac computers, and Apple TVs in your organization. Best of all, your IT team can do all of this without ever touching the devices.
Why Apple Business Manager?
First, let’s take a glimpse at the core features of Apple Business Manager. Ultimately, these features help businesses streamline how they manage their Apple devices and apps through a simple user interface.
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- Unification of Apple DEP and Apple VPP
Once you upgrade your organization to Apple Business Manager, you leave separate logins for DEP and VPP behind forever. Instead, ABM gives you a single sign-in portal along with one convenient interface. As a result, things become more straightforward for less technical users.
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- Managed Apple IDs
You can call an Apple ID that your organization owns a managed Apple ID. Typically, administrators use it to access the Apple Business Manager portal. For instance, when you enroll or upgrade to Apple Business Manager, a prompt asks you to enter your organization’s website. Afterward, this website stays as the default domain for your managed Apple ID.
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- Deploying Apps and Books
Your organization can purchase and distribute public apps, custom business-to-business (B2B) apps, and books in bulk. In addition, you can manage user licenses through the ABM portal.
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- Specifying MDM Servers based on Device types
In the former Device Enrollment portal, the system assigned all newly-added devices to one default MDM server. However, in Apple Business Manager, admins can assign a default MDM server for each device type. Specifically, these device types include iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac, and Apple TV.
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- Managing roles in an organization
Apple Business Manager uses a computer security approach named Role Based Access Control (RBAC). In turn, this approach authorizes your organization to assign and edit role permissions for multiple administrators.
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- Self-directing Device acquisition order registrations for DEP
Furthermore, Apple Business Manager empowers administrators to register new device purchase orders to Apple DEP. For example, the interface provides options to associate both Apple customer numbers and Apple reseller numbers with a single ABM account.
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- Purchasing apps and books using Apple’s Volume Purchase Program (VPP) Credit
In the past, a credit card requirement made it hard for businesses to purchase paid VPP apps. Fortunately, those hurdles are relics of a bygone era. Today, companies can seamlessly buy apps and books with a Purchase Order (PO). Consequently, the VPP credits you acquire through a Purchase Order then get added to the ABM portal. Afterward, once you purchase credits from Apple, your content purchaser can use a secure inbox. There, they can view your order records and download redemption codes.
Upgrading your organization – Paving the path towards Apple Business Manager
If you enrolled in Apple Deployment Programs on or after February 26, 2014, you can upgrade your organization to Apple Business Manager from desktop Safari or Chrome. Specifically, Apple Business Manager supports these browsers for enrollment: Safari version 9 or higher on macOS, Google Chrome 35.0 or later, and Microsoft Edge version 25.10 or higher on Windows. Finally, once you complete the upgrade process, ABM associates itself with your accounts, MDM servers, devices, server tokens, and device orders.
After you enroll in Apple Business Manager, an ABM manager with the right prerogatives can sign into the program website. Then, the manager can associate one or more MDM servers to an account. Next, the manager can add specific devices to any of the MDM servers. Afterward, he can allocate the devices to the users with MDM. Finally, upon device activation, the system automatically installs all the MDM-defined configurations, confinements, and controls.
MDM integration with Apple Business Manager
With Apple Business Manager, you can supervise your Apple devices and configure them to enroll automatically in a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution. Moreover, when Apple Business Manager works with a third-party MDM solution, it amplifies the potential of business mobility. Together, they seamlessly configure device settings, manage Apple devices, and purchase and distribute apps and books in your organization. In particular, Mobile Device Management (MDM) enables you to monitor users and devices remotely. Additionally, it lets you wirelessly deploy and manage apps, back up data, configure device updates, and much more. Overall, Apple Business Manager automates enrollment of Apple devices into your MDM solution. As a result, this streamlines bulk deployment of corporate-owned mobile devices with zero-touch configuration for IT.
Reshaping the future of businesses with Apple Business Manager
Staying mobile is vital to your business victory. Therefore, you need a device deployment program that blends with your current mobile device management suite. In this way, you can manage Apple device deployments, sustain corporate security, and enhance enterprise productivity.
Now, let’s see the gains of upgrading your organization to Apple Business Manager.
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- Security
The distinct features of Apple Business Manager work collectively to deliver a clear user experience and maximum security. For example, ABM introduces corporate controls, application deployments, device restrictions, and configurations the first time a device gets activated.
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- Reduction of time and cost
In addition, it supports automated enrollment and configuration for your corporate devices. As a result, this considerably decreases the time and cost for users and IT administrators.
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- Easy configuration
Similarly, it simplifies how you deploy and configure devices in bulk. Thus, you do not have to configure each device manually.
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- Makes device management non-removable
Moreover, it implements device management that users cannot purge.
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- Look-back capability
Finally, it extends the capability to enroll and set up existing devices that you purchased in the last two years.
Currently, Apple Business Manager supports device enrollment, volume purchases, and role administration across 64 countries. In short, its multinational support for apps lets you assign the licenses you purchased through Apple Business Manager to users or devices in any country where the app is accessible.
