[Software] Apple-in-business use accelerates, but device management still an issue

[Blackfire]

 

Sixty-five percent of MSPs expect use of Apple devices among their business customers to grow in the next year, according to data from Addigy. But many aren’t managing devices as well as they should.

 

Although 65% of managed service providers (MSPs) expect their business customers to increase the use of Macs over the next 12 months, many companies may not be managing their devices well, according to new survey data from Addigy.

Apple is the only vendor to see market share growth in both PC and mobile devices during the past year, which has translated into growing Mac market share even as the overall PC market declines

 

Moving out of the current slump, Apple’s advantage is that next-generation employees already prefer the company, certainly in the US. Those born after 1996 now represent around 34% of US iPhone owners, which makes them far more likely to use a Mac.

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That’s reflected in the world of MSPs, Addigy explains. It claims the number of Apple devices in use across managed devices has also significantly increased in the last year; 76.1% of MSPs report an increase in the number of Apple devices in their fleets.

 

 

It’s also interesting the extent to which this growing use comes from the top, with C-suite executives now the second-largest group of Apple users in the work place  among Addigy survey respondents.

Bias threatens enterprise security
That’s an important demographic, of course, given that the data held on devices used by corporate leaders is valuable. “Devices used by company executives are more likely to contain valuable and confidential information,” Addigy said. “This makes them more vulnerable to hacking.”

The problem is that in many cases IT has not been securing these systems effectively, with a sizeable number (34%) of the survey sample group believing Macs to be so secure they need “very little day-to-day management."

That reflects a prevalent feeling among Apple users (and those who’ve never used Apple), but who don’t quite understand the platform. And while it is true Apple’s security is good, it is not completely foolproof.

 

 

As the number of high-value targets using Apple devices grows, all of Cupertino’s platforms have become prime targets for hackers chasing the money they can raise through successful exploits. This has generated a significant increase in the number of attacks against Apple’s platforms and underscores the need to use the rich ecosystem of device management services available to support an Apple-centric enterprise.

Security delivered after a bad outcome will never match security implementations made before bad news occurs, and we have seen an acceleration in attempts to protect the Apple enterprise.

Addigy, which offers an Apple device management service that can be used by MSPs to manage devices for their clients, also notes its own data shows that those MSPs who choose to offer effective support for Apple devices “enjoy larger annual revenue," in part because they can charge more per customer and device.

 

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3688364/apple-in-business-use-accelerates-but-device-management-still-an-issue.html