Small businesses can now sign up for Apple’s subscription service, which the company tagged “Business Essentials.” This was announced and launched in a limited beta late last year. For businesses with fewer than 500 people, Apple has integrated device management and cloud storage under the Business Manager platform, which they currently use to purchase and manage their Apple devices. It now includes an optional new business tier of AppleCare Plus hardware coverage with 24/7 assistance and the ability to call an Apple-trained tech onsite in as little as four hours.
Starting at $2.99 per employee per month, the subscription brings together traditional IT services into one place. Businesses that participated in the beta test will get a free two-month trial of the new service.
To use this service, you’ll need to have access to Apple’s Business Manager portal, which most businesses already have. Using Apple School Manager, these businesses may reserve and distribute managed Apple IDs, preventing employees from unintentionally creating personal accounts. As a result, it may also automatically acquire devices purchased directly from Apple, obtain software licenses from the App Store, sync directories (Microsoft Azure), and more.
In terms of IT administration, Apple’s offering allows small businesses to send pre-configured packages to employees’ devices, including their Wi-Fi/VPN settings, mandatory FileVault encryption, and apps, all in one go. As a result, employees may check their settings or access help or track repairs using the Business Essentials application. This is a significant improvement over the previous method of obtaining deployment and administration capabilities for Apple devices. Apple’s mobile and desktop devices are the only ones that this configuration just could support.
Apple’s new solution might be good for small businesses that want a simple way to manage Macs, or who don’t have enough IT staff. Each employee will pay just $2.99 a month for one device and 50GB of iCloud storage. The price rises to $6.99 for 200GB and $12.99 to have two TB of storage.
Adding AppleCare Plus to your business plan costs an extra $7 per month for the single device plan or an extra $13 per month for the three-device plan with 200GB of iCloud space (covers two repairs or replacements). Depending on how many devices you have, you can pay $24.99 per month for a single employee to have three devices with 2TB of iCloud storage and AppleCare Plus for Business Essentials. This is a savings of $1 a month over AppleCare.
When IT managers go to the company’s Apple Business Manager site, they can sign up for the new service by clicking on the new “Subscription” menu on the sidebar. As soon as you sign up, new menu options like Service & Support and Collections will show up on the side of your screen. Employees can set up business accounts on their own computers or phones, without having to worry that their work or personal data will be at risk. Apple’s solution lets personal data be “cryptographically separated” from work data.
Apple’s new service competes with established solutions like Jamf, which is used by many organisations and colleges, and also integrates with Apple’s Business / School Manager platforms. If you’re a small business and you just need to quickly enrol new Apple hardware, give basic onboarding support, and distribute apps from the App Store, Apple’s Business Essentials might be just what you need.
Check out this Apple Ad about Apple Business Essentials
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