Apple launches into the offer of services for the ” small » businesses with no more than 500 employees. The Apple brand has just unveiled Apple Business Essentials, a paid subscription to help managers easily manage their employees’ equipment.
A motto: simplify the lives of employees
Defining itself as an IT department for those who do not have one, the service has its own application which allows you to directly configure the parameters and add the necessary applications to all the company’s devices: it will no longer be necessary to spend a long time setting up a newcomer’s Mac, for example. Of course, these settings can be adjusted to a single unit in the box, or even to a single employee, but also depending on the hardware used (the configurations of an iPad are logically different from those of an iMac), the idea being ” Automatically assign the right apps and settings to employees, teams and their devices ».
In turn, semiconductor makers face a shortage of machinery
The offer also provides employees with an iCloud space, which allows them both to save their work and to improve collaboration between colleagues, particularly for people who use telework. Apple also guarantees increased security: “ You control security settings and features such as password and software update policies, FileVault and Activation Lock, so users can’t change them by mistake “, explains the firm.
To take advantage of Apple Business Essentials, each employee has a Work ID. To access all his settings and his iCloud space, he only has to enter them; Apple reminds you that it is also possible to configure your personal devices. In this case, a cryptographic separation is put in place for the professional data in order to preserve the confidentiality of the personal data and the security of the company data.
In addition, in the event of a change of hardware or an update, all you have to do is register your identifiers to have access to all of your documents, settings, applications, etc.
Apple Business Essentials makes it possible to harmonize all the Apple devices used in a company. Picture: Apple.
An AppleCare+ program
« Small businesses are at the heart of our economy, and we’re proud that Apple products help them grow. Apple Business Essentials is designed to help streamline every step of managing employee devices in a small business – from setup, onboarding and upgrading, to getting fast service and priority support, while keeping data backed up and secure, so businesses can focus on running their business “Explains Susan Prescott, Vice President of Enterprise and Education Marketing for the Cupertino company.
Currently available in beta in the US, Apple Business Essentials is priced from $2.99 to $12.99 per month per user. As an added option, businesses also have access to AppleCare+, which provides 24/7 phone support, training for IT administrators and employees, and coverage for up to two device repairs per plan per year. Finally, Apple ensures that a technician trained by it can intervene on site in just four hours to restore the devices to working order in the event of a breakdown.
Apple is expanding the use of its services, which are on the rise
The launch of this new service by Cupertino makes perfect sense. The firm’s services are indeed experiencing unprecedented success and achieved the best results in their history during the third quarter of 2021, so why not try the adventure for professionals as well? Being able to boast of a very robust and appreciated hardware in the business world, Apple can hope to capitalize on the success of its hardware.
Apple’s motto with Business Essentials is to make work ” easy “, a major argument when you know that the entire ecosystem of the Apple brand is intuitive and refined, and can be less loaded than the solutions of Google or Microsoft. For the time being, however, it is obvious that the latter offer more complete offers than Apple and are real behemoths in the field.
Knowing Apple however, it is possible to expect a marked attraction on the part of professionals for this new service, especially since it directly links the software and hardware parts to greatly simplify uses as well as ergonomics in business.
