Volume Purchase Program (VPP) is Revoked

• Invalidation of the License

  When the ABM account is deleted, all Volume Purchase Program (VPP) purchases made that are linked to that account become invalid. This results in the revocation of all the licenses, whether assigned or unassigned. The MDM will not be able to manage any of the apps or books.

• No License Recovery or Transfer

  Apple does not facilitate the recovery or transfer of the existing licenses to a different ABM account. To purchase a new ABM account, new licenses are to be purchased.

• Impact on MDM

  The MDM platform and ABM maintain a token-based connection. It helps manage VPP app licenses and distribution. When the ABM account gets deleted, the MDM platform immediately loses communication with the ABM device list. The MDM console will display “Connection Error” or “Disconnected from ABM” in the ABM integration status. The devices already enrolled will remain managed; however, their connection to the company’s ABM ownership will be severed. These devices will be flagged as “non-compliant”.

Apps Lose Functionality

• Apps Become Unusable

  Apps are deployed as managed apps through MDM and rely on Apple Business Manager for license validation. When the ABM account is deleted, app licenses are no longer validated. The existing apps cannot be updated, as the MDM loses the legal authority to install new versions. To maintain compliance, the MDM automatically removes the applications.

• Reinstallation Issues

  If the user tries to delete and reinstall the apps, the MDM will not be able to push them unless a new license is acquired.

Books Are Permanently Inaccessible

• Non-Reassignable in Nature

  Books work differently in this scenario. Unlike apps, which can be easily assigned, revoked, and reassigned, books purchased in association with ABM cannot be reassigned. This is based on Apple’s content rights management. Once assigned to a particular user’s Apple ID, they remain bound to that identity and cannot be redistributed. Hence, the license cannot be reclaimed or reassigned.

• No Back up or Export

  Apple does not facilitate a method to back up or export the books purchased via VPP. Once the ABM account is deleted, users automatically lose access to the books.

• Cannot be Recovered or Re-downloaded

  The books distributed through ABM cannot be found in the user’s purchase history once the account is deleted. They cannot be redownloaded.

The post What happens to the managed Apps & Books when the ABM account is deleted? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

• Enroll devices into its network
• View activity and restrict devices
• Give access to corporate data based on their role
• Push necessary apps and content.
• Containerize corporate and personal data

Coming to ABM, Apple Business Manager has 4 major areas

1. Activity:
   ABM allows viewing activity or statuses of devices remotely by signing in with the account that has privileges to view activities. Can either view the information or download the log file for additional info. Details of activity include the name, status, and date/time of the event.
2. People:
   You can create Managed Apple IDs which are organizationally owned Apple IDs. Managed Apple IDs are the key to giving access to certain Apple services as well as the ability to administer areas of Apple Business Manager.
3. Devices:
   Adding devices is one of the important parts of ABM which can be done using Apple Configurator2. Once the devices are in ABM you will need to assign or sync them to your UEM solution.
   ABM also allows for User Enrollment which is specifically designed by Apple for BYOD. A user can enroll their device either from Managed Apple IDs or Microsoft Azure AD credentials and separate volumes for personal and corporate data are automatically created. Organizations will have only a limited set of restrictions that can be applied on devices added via User Enrollment.
4. Content:
   ABM allows you to buy apps like MS Office or books easily and when the content is acquired it can be deployed to devices using some UEM. Connecting ABM to your organization’s UEM will allow for content deployment and automatic app deployment.

When used in conjugation with a capable UEM like Hexnode you can also reap the benefits of containerization. Hexnode allows for the control of flow between corporate and personal data.

Thereby, we can see that Apple Business Manager, with the help of a UEM solution, provides all the necessary tools and features for the said requirements of BYOD implementation.

The post How Apple Business Manager enables BYOD? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

How to enroll in VPP?

Earlier, organizations had to create an Apple Deployment Programs (ADP) account after which they could successfully enroll in VPP. ADP is now defunct, as Apple stop it from December 1, 2019. Apple has now merged DEP (Device Enrollment Program) and VPP portals into Apple Business Manager (ABM) where it can be managed from a central point.
You can upgrade to Apple Business Manager if your organization currently uses DEP. Else if you only use VPP, you can enroll in ABM and then invite all the VPP purchasers to the new ABM account. Go to business.apple.com and click on “Enroll now” to start the enrollment process. After that, you’ll be asked to enter organization details like organization name, D-U-N-S number, phone number and website, and some other details necessary.

To invite VPP accounts to the new ABM account:

1) Login to Apple Business Manager account and navigate to settings.
2) Click on Enrollment information
3) Scroll down and click on invite VPP Program Facilitator
4) Enter the Apple ID you’d like to invite.

The post What is Apple Volume Purchase Program (VPP)? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

You do not necessarily require a UEM server to integrate with Apple Business Manager. It is possible to configure and manage Apple devices manually using just the ABM portal. However, the access to features that you gain using a UEM server is unmatched, enterprises can simplify the licensing and distribution of Apps and Books to endpoints. 

For instance, rather than manually enrolling and configuring devices, your enterprise can utilize Apple Business Manager with a UEM like Hexnode to effortlessly enroll devices in bulk to your UEM portal. It’s easier to buy, distribute, and cancel app licenses for the devices and users your company manages, using Hexnode.  

Hexnode UEM adds remote actions, location tracking policies, advanced restrictions, and other features to help protect and manage Apple endpoints.

The post Does Apple Business Manager require UEM? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

With Apple Business Manager, you can directly enroll the devices purchased from Apple or an authorized reseller with Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) solution like Hexnode. This eliminates the tedious process of individual device preparation before assigning them to users. You can customize the initial setup process at the user end by including only the necessary steps. This helps in saving time and effort for the user who is setting up the device for the first time. 

ABM enables organizations to purchase and deploy content in bulk. IT admins can efficiently distribute apps and books directly to managed devices or authorized users. It can help you keep track of the content and the endpoints they are assigned to. Furthermore, it also gives you the right to revoke apps from endpoints that are no longer used and reassign them to the required users within the organization. 

Apple Business Manager allows companies to establish and manage employee accounts that interface with current infrastructure and provide them access to Apple applications and services. You can automate the process by connecting ABM with Microsoft Azure Active Directory. Once it’s done, managed Apple IDs have created automatically when the employee signs in with their AD credentials for the first time. 

The post What is Apple Business Manager? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

Hexnode MDM integrates with Apple Business Manager to enable hands-free enrollment, streamlined set up process and non-removable management profile on a bulk of devices purchased through a participating Apple Authorized Reseller or network provider. 

Hexnode also allows organizations to enroll the devices added to ABM manually using Apple Configurator 2. Using the Volume Purchased Program consolidated into ABM, Hexnode users can purchase apps and content and assign them to users or devices. The apps distributed in this way are installed silently on the end-user devices, and the licenses can be revoked and reassigned to a different user at any time by the organization. 

The post Is Apple Business Manager an MDM? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

Using Automated Device Enrollment, you can add devices to the portal and assign them to your students and instructors. The Apps and Books tab lets you purchase, manage and distribute content in bulk to your managed Apple devices. 

When used in conjunction with a Unified Endpoint Management solution, Apple School Manager enables your technicians to remotely deploy Apple devices to classrooms. 

Using a UEM solution, enterprises can assign or revoke app licenses of students/devices and simplify the process of distributing Apps and Books in bulk. 

A UEM also provide advanced device monitoring and management capabilities, including the ability to preconfigure devices with policies and restrictions, reconfigure home screen layouts and find stolen or misplaced devices.

The post How do I use Apple School Manager? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.