Apple's growing status in enterprise computing expands a bit further with the announcement that cross-platform device management company JumpCloud is now offering its service through Amazon's AWS Marketplace.
Identity, platform agnosticism, and the future of computing
While this data is probably most interesting for IT administrators running multiple platforms, and certainly for companies using AWS, it should also be considered important for Apple's adventures in the enterprise space, and for all of the most loyal users of the company while looking at the maker of Mac. back in favor in business computing.
“When it comes to IT, businesses want to make it easy to manage all their assets in one place, and that means focusing on identity first,” said Tom Bridge, senior product manager, JumpCloud, Apple. "Previously, this meant examining Windows machines. But this model is no longer applicable."
This is not applicable, of course, because we no longer exist in the monoculture of a Windows world. Modern business environments span iPhones, iPads, Macs, Windows; some companies even rely on Android devices.
In the US at least, Apple is clearly reaping big benefits. The company is steadily increasing its market share, even as other PC makers experience declines.
It's also pushing enterprise IT to embrace more platform-agnostic services to power their business, which is also driving more use of cloud services, Bridge said.
praise of terminals
“Today's developers value the cloud and enjoy working with the operating system and hardware that makes them most productive,” he said. "For many, that means combining Apple devices with macOS and iOS for their endpoints, as well as using services like AWS."
Achieving this goal is an IT management challenge, requiring enterprise but established solutions such as those from Jamf, JumpCloud, Kandji, Addigy, and the growing number of enterprises now supporting Apple-specific and heterogeneous platform deployments. These solutions need to manage devices, users and, increasingly, also provide access. (Jamf's recent decision to partner with AWS comes to mind here.)
“With the right approach, you can centrally control access and prevent potential attacks. It can also make it easier to operate and support all of these devices over time,” Bridge said. “By removing all kinds of friction, whether it's managing identities in the cloud, securing access, keeping machines up to date, or just knowing how you pay. for something, it's critical to achieving the goals that teams have around their IT."
JumpCloud enables IT administrators to control user access to AWS resources, manage Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) and endpoints, and automate IT workflows, all in one clear billing workflow.
The "fools" often pass
The most important thing about this story is that it shows how Apple continues to elevate its status as a viable solution for business users. Associations like these bear witness to this transformation.
They also help to erase years of misconceptions within this industry. This shows that Apple devices can be easily integrated into the existing infrastructure.
Device management streamlines quickly, with many alternatives and the ability to select MDM providers that can meet diverse business needs. And as Apple's market share continues to grow, it's a growth industry.
In general, I see this as a nod to the "Crazies" who, as Steve Jobs once said, often seem to be the ones to make things and change them. Because ever since that ad came out, that seems to be precisely what they've been doing.
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