The last few months have been busy with reference to Apple products in South Africa. 18 September marked the official release of iOS7; on 15 November, the iPhone 5S and 5C were released; and most recently, on 4 December, the iPad Air was released. These new devices, and the majority of older devices, run Apple's latest version operating system, namely iOS7.
The adoption rate of this operating system (OS) has been phenomenal. More than 75% of all Apple mobile devices have been upgraded to iOS7, predominantly within 60 days of iOS7 being released.
iOS7 brings more than 200 new consumer and business features to iOS devices, including more than 40 features that specifically enable or enhance key enterprise mobility management (EMM)/third-party device management capabilities. These new EMM capabilities are Apple's response to what enterprises need to fully embrace iOS devices as critical business tools.
Let's have a look at some of the most impactful features of the iOS7 release:
Improved device security through Activation Lock
When 'find my iPhone/Pad' is enabled on an iOS7 device, Activation Lock is automatically enabled. Activation Lock prevents anyone other than the active iTunes accountholder from activating the device after a reset, OS reinstall (even DFU mode) or wipe.
This is a great feature for the consumers, but can cause headaches for companies that own devices which have been enabled with an employee's iTunes account, not linked to a company e-mail address. Employees will need to turn off 'find my iPhone/iPad' and release the device from their iTunes account or the device will be unusable.
As a result, company mobile policies need to be aligned with reference to employee exit or device return procedures to address this issue. An alternative could be to force the primary 'find my iPhone/Pad' iTunes account to be linked to the company e-mail address; this would enable the IT department to instigate a password change request and release the device, without the employee's input, or Activation Lock can be disabled using Apple Configurator and place the device into supervised mode.
Open in Management
Managed apps can be public apps available from the Apple App Store, or in-house developed apps - 'managed' refers to the apps being deployed through an EMM-enabled private app store. In iOS7, with Open in Management, there is an added layer of security.
Company documents and attachments can only be opened in managed apps. Private content cannot be opened in managed apps. This allows companies to control content flowing to and from external third-party storage locations on organisational and private devices without blacklisting these apps, keeping both users and IT happy.
Enterprise single sign-on
Anyone who uses a mobile device to connect to organisational resources is most likely required to authenticate with their user credentials each time they connect to a system.
Apple uses a common enterprise technology, Kerberos, so with iOS7 single sign-on (SSO), mobile users need only one login for all corporate resources. After the initial login, the SSO technology handles authentication. Transparency allows the end-user access to corporate resources. This is a great improvement in customer experience.
Per app and on-demand VPN
Apple has now streamlined virtual private networking (VPN) connectivity. When previously connecting to the company's servers via VPN, VPN would first need to be configured on the device and then turned on before a connection could be established. This method forced all traffic through the VPN, which degrades performance.
The adoption rate of this operating system (iOS7) has been phenomenal.
VPN security can now be immediate, invisible and specific to each mobile app being used. Users are able to obtain the information they need quicker, without complicated set-up.
Improved mail experience
An entire new design, incorporating system-wide gestures, makes mail on the native e-mail client easier to use. The ability to add and rearrange mailboxes in the mailbox list (unread, flagged or attachments), viewing of PDF annotations and a redesigned search make the quintessential app for business even better. Microsoft Exchange 2010 users can now also sync notes with Outlook on their PC or Mac.
Caching server 2
Apple's caching server running OS X Mavericks Server will speed up downloads and delivery of updates from the App Store, Mac App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore to users' devices. This should eliminate unnecessary bandwidth usage as the company only downloads the content once and users' devices download updates from the locally accessible caching server. This should also reduce the strain on company networks as the updates should occur much faster.
There are a host of additional features that can be explored with a competent ICT partner. I have focused on the features, which if implemented correctly, can have a positive impact on employees and IT departments. It can also assist in driving the mobile adoption in a company to be more effective. As stated in previous Industry Insights, mobility is all about delighting the user; with iOS7, Apple has enabled IT departments to do just that.
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