UEMC for Jamf Pro

In the spirit of “relentless self-improvement”, Jamf’s product team recently announced the Jamf Unified Endpoint Management Connector (UEMC) which advances the integration between software in the Jamf portfolio. Specifically, the greater integration between Jamf Pro and the new security software offerings:

Jamf Threat Defense*

Jamf Data Policy*

Jamf Private Access*

The three endpoint security applications focus on providing organizations with a holistic solution to managing iOS and iPadOS endpoint security, utilizing Zero Trust network access and policy-driven management and compliance enforcement over a powerful, cloud-based platform.

So, you may be thinking, this is great for security! But how does this apply to other products we’re currently using to manage our Mac fleet, like Jamf Pro? We’ve got an answer to that, that you’ll be glad to hear about. Jamf UEMC is a bi-directional information exchange between Jamf Pro and Jamf Threat Defense*, Jamf Private Access* and Jamf Data Policy*. Essentially, device, user and app data from Jamf Pro is shared with the security-focused apps. In turn, security detections can funnel back to and trigger policies to perform advanced workflows in Jamf Pro, similar to orchestration in how it automatically executes tasks based on real-time responses to device, user and app conditions.

Currently, iOS and iPadOS-based devices are supported. However, Jamf is hard at work to develop macOS support for the tool, as well!

With the multiple security-centric applications from Jamf being able to fully communicate with Jamf Pro, what exactly does that mean for admins? Jamf Pro enables and simplifies IT admin tasks for device, app and user group management. Besides the industry-leading abilities of Jamf Pro to enable and simplify IT tasks for device, app and user group management, the UEMC extends these capabilities with robust threat defense, data analytics and policy controls that are applied within the network.

Below are three main benefits for customers alongside an example of each:

Streamlined deployments: The UEM-assisted enrollment method was developed to provide a fast and consistent method for enrolling Jamf-managed devices with minimal end-user requirements. An example of this is when a new device is enrolled in or removed from Jamf Pro, that device will be added or removed from Jamf security applications as well.

Shared risk assessments: Shared threat intelligence and security event details in real-time via the Risk API, enabling the rich contextual risk information to be translated into compliance policies to mitigate risk. An example is if high-risk threats are detected at the device, user or app level by Jamf Threat Defense*, it can send a signal to Jamf Pro, which can automatically uninstall sensitive apps or send the user a message that remediation needs to happen before the app(s) may be used again.

Inline policy controls: Jamf Pro enforces device, app and user controls on the endpoint. Jamf security applications complement this with granular, inline policy controls based on the network. Providing organizations powerful tools to manage data and access. An example is if Jamf Data Policy* has identified that a user has violated a tethering detection, it can push a tag to Jamf Pro automatically. This lets admins known that the user has exceeded their data allowance and can impose data policies for remediation by Smart Group, which then gets pushed to Jamf security applications to detect.

I use Jamf Pro and plan to adopt Jamf Threat Defense*, Jamf Data Policy* and/or Jamf Private Access*. How much will the UEMC add to the cost associated with managing endpoints?

In a word, it’s FREE! Jamf is making the Unified Endpoint Management Connector available to customers at no extra cost. The only requirements are that you use Jamf Pro to manage your devices and one or more of the Jamf security applications to manage endpoint security.

*As of February 2023, Jamf Data Policy and Jamf Threat Defense capabilities are included with Jamf Protect. Jamf Private Access capabilities are included with Jamf Connect.