Jamf Blog
February 5, 2019 by Daniel Weber

What is unified ecosystem management?

See how Jamf and Microsoft are changing device management and discover what the benefits are for your organization.

Today’s employee has multiple devices. They have phones, tablets and computers to stay connected and productive at work and at home. As has become commonplace, users want to choose the same brand across their computer, tablet and phone to take advantage of the interconnected experience brands such as Microsoft, Google and Apple are working to create.

With more power than ever before, the “does the user experience matter” debate is officially over. The only thing up for debate is how to best deliver the desired experience to them.

The answer is unified ecosystem management.

What is unified ecosystem management?

Unified ecosystem management focuses on the individual and asks:

  • Which device are they most familiar with?
  • How long does it take to access the tools they need on their device?
  • Can they truly work anywhere, anytime with this device?
  • Are they their most productive on this device?

Regardless of which ecosystems are offered — Microsoft, Google or Apple — if device management is viewed through the lens of how to create the best experience and address the above asks, then management strategies and tools must focus on the nuances of each ecosystem accordingly.

This is exactly what unified ecosystem management offers. And with the right tools, IT can optimize management tasks without compromising the functional benefits of each device.

Microsoft Office 365 on a Mac

Consider the experience for an end user running Microsoft Office 365 on a Mac. Typically, when users power on a new Mac, one of the first steps is to set up their Mac “account” comprised of a username and password. However, if they are using Office 365, they also likely have Azure Active Directory (AD) credentials.

A more user-centric (unified ecosystem management) experience would be to simply set up the Mac account using the employee’s Azure AD credentials that they already know. This simplifies life for the user by enabling them to enter only one set of credentials to access Mac and immediately use cloud-based services registered with Azure AD — like Office 365.

With major ecosystems like Microsoft and Apple, you have an identity and a device. You shouldn’t need two identities. Using Azure AD identity creates a better experience for the Mac user and a more secure environment for IT.

Unified ecosystem management: Jamf and Microsoft

The mix of devices in organizations has evolved. It is now imperative that organizations support both Windows and Apple ecosystems, which are the dominant platforms in the enterprise. But how can you deliver unified ecosystem management and manage multiple ecosystems within a single environment without compromises? With the power of the cloud. This requires purpose-built tools that unify the management experience for IT, but also deliver the intended native user experience that each ecosystem brand designed.

To accomplish this, Jamf and Microsoft partnered to integrate Jamf Pro with Microsoft Intune. This integration results in the ability to share inventory data, apply conditional access and offer remediation paths, ensuring that trusted users are accessing corporate data from trusted applications on trusted devices.

To see how this integration works and why it is changing the way organizations think about device management, download the Jamf and Microsoft white paper Unified Ecosystem Management – Delivering a Better Enterprise Experience.

This paper highlights the Jamf and Microsoft recommended management path and provides invaluable insight to help you get the most out of your hardware and software — regardless of which platform you choose.

Download Now

And when you’re ready, take the Jamf and Microsoft integration for a free test drive and tell us what you think.

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Daniel Weber
Jamf
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