After a lot of planning, pitching, long nights, working weekends, and all the grinding required to get a business idea off the ground, you’ve finally gotten to the point where now you’re thinking more about hiring new employees, growth opportunities, and expansion strategies, rather than surviving month-to-month.
Congratulations! You’ve already accomplished far more than the great majority of those who try to start a new business. Now, the question is: what’s next?
Growing and expanding a small business can bring a whole slew of new challenges. But there is one challenge that is normally overlooked, and when noticed, it’s already too complex and expensive to fix: IT, as in the devices you select as a standard for your business.
If you can, pick one platform. And make sure it’s Apple.
Macs and PCs are not the same, and iPhones and Android are also extremely different devices, especially in a work environment. From deploying, to managing, installing apps and securing work devices, features and functions can vary wildly between different platforms. This means that picking a single platform will allow for great automation, cost savings, better productivity, and simplicity in the short term and even more as you grow.
Apple allows you to offer all sorts of devices to your employees and for your business needs in general (Mac, iPhone, iPad and even AppleTVs for conference rooms) and ensure they will all work perfectly together, while any other option would bring some level of friction.
Since Windows phones are no longer a thing, going with PC for laptops will require you to pick another provider for your phones. In the same way, because there’s no Android computers, picking Android for phones would require you to go with another provider for computers.
Also, there’s a good chance that most of your workforce already has an iPhone in their pocket and a MacBook in their backpack! This means that most of your workforce is already familiar with Apple devices and no additional training will ever be necessary.
When it comes to usability (which translates directly into productivity), Apple devices and operating systems are the undisputed leaders due to their cleanliness and readability.
Finally, in terms of security and privacy, Apple devices have historically offered much more protection to companies and end-users than any provider.
The best decision you can make for the future of your IT department is to focus on Apple devices. You will get the best in each device category, and your IT needs will be far simpler and cheaper.
Now what?
So, let’s say you’ve made the smart decision and you’ve decided to go with Apple. You’ve purchased a fleet of iPhone, iPads, and MacBooks that are fresh out of the box and you’re ready to start handing them out to your employees. All done, right? Well, let’s back up for a second and go over some of the challenges encountered when utilizing devices for your small business.
Deployment: Without the proper tools, you’ll need to set up each device manually, create a unique Apple ID for each device, and then go to the App Store and download all the apps that each device needs. You’ll want to keep track of which employee or team needs which apps, and make sure that the right device gets the correct apps. However, several of the most popular apps for businesses are not available at the Mac App Store, so this will add even more complexity. Once the devices are set up, you’ll need to distribute them to the correct employees and keep track of who has which device. This will probably involve creating a massive spreadsheet of all your employees, the teams/departments they’re in, and painstakingly finding and writing down the serial number of every device.
Ongoing Management: Now that you’ve finally gotten your Apple devices up and running and in the hands of your employees, you’ll need to manage the daily use of those devices. Because each device has its own Apple ID and access to the App Store, your employees are going to have to be on the honor system when it comes to downloading apps that might distract them from their work. If there’s a new productivity app that you’d like the team to use, you’ll need to send out a memo and hope each employee knows exactly how to download and set up the new app. Don’t forget to have your employees keep those apps and the device itself updated when new versions are available!
Security: As secure as Apple devices are by default, you can never be too careful when it comes to the security of your business. Without the proper security tools in place, it’s always possible that your employees may accidentally wander onto a malicious website or click a phishing link in a spam email. Also, what if the device is lost, or not returned by a frustrated former employee? Whoever has the device may gain or retain access to a lot of sensitive information about your business.
Now at this point, you’re probably thinking, “what have I gotten myself into?” It’s a lot to keep track of! As powerful and secure as Apple devices can be, deploying and managing those devices manually in your business can be challenging, even at a small scale.
Luckily though, there is a simple solution.
What if all of those challenges could be handled by a unique Apple platform?
Luckily, companies leveraging Apple devices also have access to another great benefit that other platforms don’t offer – specialized software providers that focus specifically on integrated solutions for managing and protecting Apple devices used at work.
These companies use their deep knowledge of Apple’s operating systems and specialization to integrate all the features and solutions needed to deploy, manage and protect Apple devices used at work – all in one solution.
This approach is known as an Apple Unified Platform.
Mosyle, a leader in modern Apple endpoint solutions, is the industry reference for the Apple Unified Platform approach through its product known as Mosyle Fuse.
Now let’s go back over those pain points we described earlier, this time with your business leveraging the power of an Apple Unified Platform.
Deployment: A great Apple Unified Platform will empower you and your company to leverage a zero-touch deployment workflow for all your Apple devices. This will allow you to set up and configure new devices without having to physically access them. Just ship a brand-new device still in its plastic-wrapped box to a new employee, and all they will need to do is to open the box, turn the device on, and connect it to the internet.
Once the device is connected, everything else happens automatically, with zero need for any action from you or the employee. The device is ready to go in a few minutes, all their work apps are installed, security configurations are enforced, and even nice little touches like a welcome wallpaper are applied.
To make automation easier, the best Apple Unified Platform solutions go above and beyond, offering beautiful and elegant tools that deliver essential information and guide the employee during setup. These solutions let them know which tasks are being performed, which apps are installed and how long it will take for all the functions to the completed. It’s a compelling WOW-factor for any first day of work!
Ongoing Management: Once the device is deployed, an Apple Unified Platform will allow you to remotely make changes to your devices on the fly. Adding or removing apps, implementing new restrictions, and reassigning devices to new employees can be done quickly and easily. You can even automate app and OS updates, so your devices are never at risk. If your employee ever needs a hand with their device, the platform can send direct commands with the push of a button. It’s literally an autopilot for your work devices.
Security: Finally, an Apple Unified Platform will also include robust security tools designed specifically for Apple devices, saving you the additional cost of leveraging a third-party security suite and providing you with much better protection than multi-platform solutions. It includes automated Hardening and Compliance features that will allow you to create the security benchmarks you’d like all your devices to meet, based on the most popular security certifications in the industry. It also includes Single Sign-On, which allows your employees to utilize their already created work credentials (let’s say Google Workspace) to sign-in to their Apple devices. If a device is lost or stolen, you can remotely place the device into Lost Mode to track its location, and if need be, remotely wipe the device to keep any sensitive data out of the reach of bad actors. Couple all of that with a slew of automated monitoring and privacy features, and you have an impenetrable fleet of devices ready to go on day one.
Finally, the cost benefits of an Apple Unified Platform such as Mosyle Fuse are also substantial. Considering the average cost of each individual solution that should be part of the IT software stack for a small business, it has been estimated that adopting an Apple Unified Platform such as Mosyle Fuse can generate savings of more than 70%. Even for small fleets, that’s a relevant amount.
So, if you already use Apple devices at work, you should try unified Apple solutions such as Mosyle Fuse, as they can bring amazing benefits to you and your company. If you don’t, head to the closest Apple Store and ask to talk with someone on the business team. They will be able to help you with all your needs related to Apple devices and get you started on utilizing Mosyle for your business. That’s right, you can even bundle your Apple devices with a leading Apple Unified Platform and buy both directly from Apple. It can’t get any easier.
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