Enterprise organizations will be able to deploy and manage OS X Mountain Lion immediately, ensure that FileVault 2 full disk encryption is enabled and centrally managed, and configure Gatekeeper security settings.
MINNEAPOLIS – July 25, 2012 – JAMF Software, developers of the Casper Suite, a collection of client management applications for Mac OS X computers and iOS mobile devices such as iPads and iPhones, has announced a significant update to introduce additional enterprise management and security capabilities.
The Casper Suite is the first comprehensive client management suite to support OS X Mountain Lion, ensuring that enterprise customers are immediately able to support Macs running Apple’s latest operating system.
The Casper Suite 8.6 also introduces new management capabilities that will be beneficial for the many organizations that are adopting Macs, particularly those that leverage full disk encryption for security purposes. The latest version of the Casper Suite adds centralized management for Apple’s native FileVault 2 full disk encryption and Gatekeeper technologies, enabling IT departments to immediately enable and manage advanced security settings on all Macs in their organization.
Compatibility with OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion)
The Casper Suite is immediately compatible with the latest version of OS X, Mountain Lion. Apple has introduced many new enterprise capabilities in this version of OS X, and Apple hardware will soon begin shipping with this latest operating system. The availability of the Casper Suite on the day OS X Mountain Lion is released will ensure that administrators are prepared to support these devices immediately.
“We speak with organizations every day that have thousands of new Macs arriving on their networks as a result of Apple’s constantly increasing success in the enterprise,” said Chip Pearson, Managing Partner at JAMF Software, developers of the Casper Suite. “With this release, we continue our commitment to releasing updated versions of the Casper Suite within days of Apple’s major operating system updates, and we’re proud to once again release on the same day as Apple for OS X Mountain Lion. As soon as these machines arrive on networks and on loading docks, administrators–whether their organization is a globally distributed advertising agency or a school district re-imaging their one- to-one Macs during the summer window–will need the ability to deploy and manage them on a large scale. Casper Suite administrators will immediately be able to support Apple’s current operating system beginning today.”
Comprehensive client management for OS X devices
The Casper Suite has long been a comprehensive client management solution with a full depth of support for OS X devices. With a breadth and depth of capabilities developed through more than a decade of supporting the Apple platform, the Casper Suite offers functionality that goes well beyond the limited subset of OS X management capabilities that other solutions offer.
“Apple has made settings management extremely convenient with this latest release, and we’re happy to provide administrators with an additional method to configure devices on a large scale,” said Pearson. “We’ve heard from many administrators using the Casper Suite that they want a full-featured management solution that has a broad range of capabilities, while quickly incorporating the latest technologies as Apple makes them available. For organizations whose requirements span beyond settings management, these new capabilities work seamlessly with the existing capabilities in the Casper Suite, enabling a full range of client management.”
The Casper Suite not only supports the latest settings management capabilities for OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion, but also ties them into a comprehensive client management framework. The end result is the most comprehensive solution that allows administrators to perform all of the key principles of client management, from imaging and deployment to security settings, software distribution and license management, patch management, and policy-based remediation.
FileVault 2 automation and centralized key management
Apple has enabled new enterprise management capabilities in FileVault 2, the native full disk encryption solution built into OS X Mountain Lion. Perhaps the most significant is the option to create a master recovery key to be used in conjunction with the end user’s key, allowing for centralized management and recovery of encrypted volumes.
The Casper Suite leverages this new capability and adds automation for large-scale deployments, meaning that organizations can now take advantage of the native full disk encryption capabilities of FileVault 2 with the assurance that their institutional recovery keys will allow administrators to decrypt and recover valuable data if needed.
In the event that an end user forgets their key–or an authorized administrator needs to decrypt a machine–this institutional recovery key will allow the administrator to easily access data that would previously be lost. And this can all be done leveraging native tools built into OS X Mountain Lion, meaning that organizations may be able to realize significant savings on third-party software costs.
Gatekeeper integration and management capabilities
Gatekeeper is a new security feature in OS X Mountain Lion that protects end users from installing malicious software on their Macs. When Gatekeeper is enabled, software installations that are not digitally signed by a reputable source or do not meet security requirements will be discontinued.
The Casper Suite allows administrators to manage Gatekeeper settings in their software distribution workflows, ensuring that software installations are seamless, secure and uninterrupted.
Available immediately
Version 8.6 of the Casper Suite is available immediately as a free upgrade for all customers with current support and license agreements. Prospective customers interested in purchasing the Casper Suite may also contact JAMF Software or attend a live, regularly scheduled weekly demo on Monday or Tuesday afternoon.
For additional information about OS X and iOS management using the Casper Suite, please visit the JAMF Software website:
https://www.jamf.com/products/jamf-pro/
About JAMF Software
JAMF Software, founded in 2002 and headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, is the creator of the Casper Suite, the only suite of Mac OS X and iOS management software developed exclusively for the Apple platform. As the best-of-breed management solution, the Casper Suite provides the most comprehensive breadth and depth of functionality for IT administrators including settings management, software distribution, imaging, inventory, package building, image management, remote updates, mobile device management, and a powerful framework for automated support.