James Ridsdale

Systems Engineer – dataJAR

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IT – a rapidly changing world

The IT world is awash with acronyms, and it’s sometimes hard to keep up to speed and ensure we don’t confuse our GUI with our HUD or OSD.

But thankfully we can afford to pay little attention to most of them, as the speed of change in the IT industry is so rapid.

Ageing acronyms

Some examples of acronyms whose days are numbered:

CDFS (Compact Disc File System) – I mean, seriously, who uses CD’s now?

AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) – we’ve been waiting for AFP to die gracefully after many years of service.

Not that those two examples didn’t serve us well before their number was up. After all, CD’s transformed data storage and transfer when they were in their pomp, whilst the AFP protocol (love it or hate it) enabled large amounts of Apple equipment to function on a network.

My point is that, every now and then, new acronyms come along that we should get really excited about…

The new guard

With this in mind, I’d like to talk about three acronyms that you need to know about:

• MDM (Mobile Device Management)
• VPP (Volume Purchase Programme)
• DEP (Device Enrolment Programme)

These three acronyms, in my opinion, represent the best things to come out of California in years.

Unparalleled opportunities

MDM, VPP and DEP are real game-changers for the way we can deploy and manage Apple estates, both now and in the future.

Used in conjunction with our cloud service, datajar.mobi (powered by JAMF Software’s Casper Suite), these new technologies offer unparalleled deployment and management from the get-go.

How can this help you?

Well, imagine a device purchased from Apple that’s been setup before it’s even been dispatched!

Your deployment documentation can simply state, “Give them the box…”

Elegant solutions like this are all possible, today, thanks to DEP.

Here at Datajar, we only ever advise our clients to use technologies that we utilise and trust ourselves, and that’s never been more true than with these step-change technologies:

1. A new member of staff joins Datajar
2. We order from Apple
3. Apple ship direct to the new employee
4. …and that’s it!

Yes, it really is that simple and effective.

What do you need to do?

Firstly, sign up for Apple’s deployment programmes at deploy.apple.com – Apple also have a guide for business and a guide for education.

If you’re planning a deployment in the coming months, get it done now. Apple will need various bits of information about your organisation and due to the legal nature and verification process it can take around 5-10 days to get enrolled.

The benefits

Once enrolled, and in conjunction with our datajar.mobi MDM service, you’ll benefit from:

• 1:1 device setup
• direct user delivery with no intervention (via Apple DEP)
• the ability to volume purchase (via VPP) Apple App Store applications and content
• the ability to assign to staff or students

For a full run-down of what the service offers and how you can acquire it, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us via sales@datajar.co.uk

Apple’s ears

Finally, I should nod my head to Apple for listening to its users (believe me, it does).

In the coming months, you’ll see some amazing enhancements to MDM, VPP and DEP, which prove beyond doubt that these new kids on the block are here to stay.

Keep your eyes on our blog for future updates!