The corporate world used to be Windows-centric for its Information Technology (IT) needs, but now we’re well past the point of mixed technology environments. Apple devices now provide IT horsepower for more than 55% employees of small and medium enterprises, driven by Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) and Choose-Your-Own-Device (CYOD) policies.
Apple Devices Require Protection and Management
There is a belief that Apple devices can’t be infected with viruses or malware – which is patently untrue. While macOS and iOS devices are considered to be more secure than a PC or an Android device, one can’t be 100% confident that the data is secure. Thus, security and data confidence require IT departments to integrate Apple devices into a centralized company management system, as to protect them from all possible threats.
One of the most costly data threats for any business is ransomware. While there are a plethora of tools to detect vulnerabilities and to protect Apple devices from malware, viruses, and similar threats, ransomware is trickier – as it requires the aid and leverage of normal human behavior. No matter the platform, ransomware can impact anyone. Businesses mostly mitigate this risk through education, but clearly something more is required. Yearly surveys reveal burgeoning ransom payments to get their essential data back.
Data Protection Requires a Holistic Approach
To make sure your business data is available and accessible on demand, you first need to have a backup copy (or two). There are plenty of tools to achieve this. With Apple products, users and IT administrators have iCloud by default. However, IT departments must make a conscious trade-off decision: rely on a native, easy-to-use option (iCloud) or on tools that are consistent with the whole of the IT infrastructure. Managing backups from different platforms, with different providers, burdens IT with overhead. Thus, iCloud as a primary backup solution, doesn’t generally resonate with master IT and data protection plans, nor with corporate data protection responsibilities.
Further compounding the data protection landscape, some companies use Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, or else), Dropbox, Box or similar tools to protect their SaaS data platforms. Other companies prefer iCloud as a sole, native backup solution. However, neither solution covers a complete set of data protection use cases – certainly not for Apple devices as ranging as phones and laptops. Additional layers of protection are required – driving additional decisions on how best to perform backup for ALL platforms and ALL data types. Endpoint backup (storing a secondary copy of a computer or mobile device data somewhere else) is the most reliable way to mitigate the risk of data loss. Endpoint backup that can be uniformly applied across platforms – even better!
Endpoint Management Solutions
IT and Operations (I&O) teams continue to work on improving data protection for Apple devices, but often struggle with deployment, management, and configuration of corporate devices. Good news! Apple has taken this into account and now provides additional business features. You can already deploy and manage your Apple devices using the Mobile Device Management (MDM) services, such as Jamf or Intune. These software tools save a lot of time for I&O specialist working in mixed/hybrid IT infrastructures. In parallel, companies deploying Apple devices often seek software designed explicitly for macOS and iOS as to provide the best end-user experience for their employees (and management ease for IT departments). Apple-native endpoint backup agents can be installed in macOS and iOS via specialized MDMs, remotely, without IT touching the device. In the modern era of remote work and BYOD approach, remote/no-touch deployment is paramount.
For the reasons of native experience and ease of management, Infrascale continues to evolve and nurture its endpoint backup solution, Infrascale Cloud Backup. A truly comprehensive IT framework must exceed Windows support, and allow macOS and iOS end users to be productive, as well as protected, in mixed environments.
Apple devices power our businesses – and are here to stay. As IT determines how to integrate them into a broader IT architecture, they must decide how to achieve their data protection objectives fully and robustly.
