Fleetsmith Apple closes as the demand for enterprise MDM increases

Apple will end the Fleetsmith Mobile Device Management (MDM) Service in October and is alerting businesses using the service to find another MDM provider.

Apple and Fleetsmith, a brief history

Apple bought Fleetsmith in June 2020. At the time, it was understood that the company wanted to improve what it provided to small business users. “Apple’s business has always been the weakest place for small businesses looking to start,” Jamf CEO Dean Hager told me soon after the unveiling of Apple Business Essentials.

When I he spoke to Fleetsmith co – founder Zack Blum in 2018he said:

“Apple’s greatest achievement and contribution to enterprise technology has been the introduction of a mobile phone to the enterprise. Apple has raised the bar for delivering well-designed product experiences, as well as hardware and OS security.

instead of Fleetsmith

Many small and medium sized enterprise (SMB) users may attend. Apple Business Basics, which leveraged some of the technologies Apple adopted from Fleetsmith. However, for more complex deployments, there is a rich industry of sophisticated MDM systems.

Fortunately, after more than a decade of steady growth in Apple’s deployment in the enterprise, Fleetsmith customers looking for an alternative MDM vendor are becoming increasingly spoiled for choice.

Founded in 2002 and used by SAP, IBM and perhaps even at Apple, Jamf was soon to recognize the emerging Apple in business opportunity and still a clear market leader with a range of services, including powerful Zero Trust solutions.

But Jamf is not the only game on the town. Reflecting Apple’s growth in the sectorthe stability of Apple – oriented MDM providers is expanding quite rapidly.

That’s great, because many businesses have quite unique needs, so the sheer number of options means that even the most unique business has the opportunity to identify a vendor that fits the business they run. Companies including Jumpcloud, Adjective, Hexnode, Kandji, Citrix, MobileIiron and many more are competing with Jamf to support the venture.

What is driving Apple into the enterprise?

This growing network of players has emerged in response to IT consumption, which continues to change business technology. A new 451 Research study I have seen claims that about 25% of SMBs plan to invest in their ongoing digital transformation strategy, following significant hardware investments over the past two years.

MDM is a key element of any such strategy.

Of course, with regard to the proliferation of Apple’s equipment in enterprise IT, it can be legitimately argued that this began to accelerate following the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, leading to the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend has soon been a success. As Apple’s smartphone became more widely used in the enterprise, IPad and Mac deployment soon followed.

This desire for a simple consumer experience in enterprise IT has evolved to foster employee choice schemes, as discussed here, hereand here.

One recent survey (commissioned by Jamf) claimed that Apple users had a better experience with their chosen platformreporting improvements in productivity (87%), self-sufficiency (87%), and creativity (86%).

Ways to watch

How business leaders view Apple equipment has changed dramatically in the last decade or so. The days when technology leaders could mock the company’s offerings came when the then Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer addressed a room full of journalists who use a Mac at a press event.

Today, while business leaders continue to view Apple hardware as a more expensive initial investment, it is clear that the cost of ownership over the usable lifespan more than makes up for that.