After launching in beta last year, Apple announced that Apple Business Essentials is now available to all small businesses in the United States.
The iPhone maker's new service includes mobile device management, 24/7 Apple support and cloud storage from iCloud on flexible subscription plans.
Apple Business Essentials is designed to help SMBs through the device management lifecycle, from setup to device updates, while providing enhanced security, priority support, data storage and backup on Cloud. It starts with simple employee onboarding that enables a small business to easily set up, deploy, and manage business products from anywhere.
Apple's vice president of enterprise marketing and education, Susan Prescott, provided additional information on the company's comprehensive solution for SMBs in a press release, saying
“Apple has been committed for decades to helping small businesses thrive. From the dedicated sales teams in our stores to the App Store Small Business program, our goal is to help all businesses grow, compete, and succeed. We hope to bring Apple Business Essentials to more small businesses to simplify device management, storage, support, and repair. Using this new service results in invaluable time savings for customers, including those without dedicated IT staff, who can reinvest in their business. »
Apple Business Essentials
One of the most useful features of Apple Business Essentials is Collections, which helps provide app groups to employees or teams, while settings like VPN, Wi-Fi passwords, etc. can be automatically transmitted to devices.
To get started, employees simply sign in to their work account on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac with a Managed Apple ID. Once that's done, they'll have access to everything they need to be productive, including the new Apple Business Essentials app from which they can download their organization's business apps.
Managed Apple IDs for employees can be created through federation with Microsoft Azure, Azure Director, and later this spring with Google Workspace Identity Services. This allows employees to log in to their work laptops using a unique work username and passwords.
Apple Business Essentials also works with personal and company-provided devices, and with Apple's user enrollment feature, employees' personal information remains private and cryptographically separate from work data.
In addition to Apple Business Essentials, Apple announced the launch of AppleCare+ for Business Essentials, which gives organizations access to 24/7 phone support and up to two device repairs per plan per year per individual, group or device. Employees can initiate repairs directly from the Apple Business Essentials app, and an Apple-trained technician will be on site in just four hours to get their devices back up and running.
Apple Business Essentials with up to 2TB of iCloud cloud storage starts at €2,99 per month after a two-month free trial, while AppleCare+ plans for Apple Business Essentials start at €9,99 per month.