
Compatibility is critical in modern IT infrastructure
“When it comes to Apple IT, decision-makers must insist that the software and services they select are genuinely compatible… It is also important to ensure your suppliers are equally committed to the platforms you use. That means ensuring third-party suppliers don’t just update their software with Apple OS support months or weeks after release, but strive to keep [in] step with Cupertino.”
— Jonny Evans, Computerworld, "Timely Apple updates must be in your supplier SLAs."
(All subsequent quotes from the same source.)
The technology used in modern IT infrastructure impacts an employee’s productivity — and by extension, the productivity of your collective workforce.
When everything is working properly in enterprise IT management, IT workflows operate as expected and end users can do their best work. When something stops working after a software update, IT admins are left to scramble— and users can lose access to apps or resources necessary to do their jobs. Ensuring your workplace systems are compatible with the latest Apple releases is critical to IT success and employee productivity.
“It isn’t too much to ask that the software and services you rely on don’t delay essential system patch installs across your growing fleets of Apple devices.”
We agree! Jamf has long been committed to providing same-day support for a wide range of management and security products to ensure that organizations can embrace the latest from Apple and Jamf the moment updates become available.
“Macs, iPhones, and Windows systems coexist in today’s enterprise, which means IT decision makers need software and services that work across all the platforms and are genuinely compatible.”
Mac and iPhone have become dominant platforms across enterprise IT management, alongside Windows and Android devices. In an era of user choice, it’s critical that your organization support all of the major platforms that allow users to do their best work. And when given a choice, a significant number of users are choosing Apple.
Successfully supporting Apple at work requires a solution that not only embraces the rich and unique functionality that Apple offers but also extends that functionality to real-world use cases and workflows, regardless of whether the Apple device is company-issued or BYOD. Jamf is the clear leader in managing Apple at work, supporting deployments for more than two decades. Given the trend toward vendor consolidation, it’s also worth noting when a vendor can offer both same-day support and cross-platform support. If you want to protect Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Android devices while securely connecting users to work resources from anywhere, you can rely upon Jamf.
Betas in the business of IT security and compliance
“Apple’s steady cadence of software updates means the best way to prepare your business for any new features is to ensure that at least a sub-set of people at your company are already running the software betas.”
While most attention is paid to new Apple beta releases following the major announcements at WWDC, Apple is almost always running a beta. As soon as one release becomes generally available, a new beta drops for the next point release to allow for the best IT security and compliance. This steady flow of releases means that your organization can build a predictable beta program that can run year-round, rather than simply support major updates each fall.
The Appleseed for IT program makes it easy for you to access the latest betas, release notes with details about bug fixes and comprehensive test plans. Employees can even login with their Managed Apple IDs to access these resources and submit feedback tickets to ensure that your organization’s unique needs are addressed during the beta cycle, and that your organization meets IT and securi. In other words, Apple provides everything required for you to build a beta program within your organization.
Pair Appleseed with access to Jamf’s beta program to make an early-access program a reality within your organization. Watch this webinar to learn more about how to build a successful beta program with Jamf and prepare for upgrade season.
Lagging updates lead to lax security
“Delayed software updates may pose security, compliance, and productivity costs on you, so your essential software and service providers must also be obliged to move fast… anything in your existing infrastructure that prevents you from running Apple systems should be eliminated or replaced.”
Every new version of macOS, iOS and iPadOS include security fixes in addition to new features. In some cases, releases include only security fixes. To delay adoption is to delay patching known, published vulnerabilities that could be exploited.
“In our increasingly fractious times, the number of security attacks continues to grow in both number and complexity. It’s a threat environment in which the capacity to both distribute and install timely system/security upgrades has become a critical aspect of system protection… Any remaining reliance on systems or services that can’t support day-one upgrades leaves your business under threat.”
Therein lies the tension between vendors offering unified management and security solutions and vendors offering proper same-day support for Apple. It’s important to weigh any benefits of vendor consolidation against any factors that may limit your organization's ability to adequately and consistently support the latest patches coming from Apple. A unified solution that does not consistently support every Apple release, leaving your endpoints exposed to known vulnerabilities, is no solution at all.
Get on the Apple release train
“The critical idea behind all of this is that it should be possible to predict the software release cadence, mobilize to meet that cadence, and (using MDM systems) automate the update process once patches have been approved for use.”
Users are choosing Apple and it’s time that you treat Mac, iPhone and iPad as first-class platforms as well. Apple provides resources for your organization to keep pace with their release cycle and Jamf has a decade of proven same-day support experience.
Let 2024 be the year that you jump on the Apple release train. Your users (and your security team) will thank you.
Subscribe to the Jamf Blog
Have market trends, Apple updates and Jamf news delivered directly to your inbox.
To learn more about how we collect, use, disclose, transfer, and store your information, please visit our Privacy Policy.