TheNextWeb reported recently that following its iPad announcement, Apple quietly released a tool on their App Store that “makes it easy for anyone to mass configure and deploy iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in a school, business, or institution.” Called Apple Configurator, the company says that the new app makes it easy to “prepare new iOS devices for immediate distribution, supervise devices that need to maintain a standard configuration, and assign devices to users.” You can also, “Quickly update 30 devices at a time to the latest version of iOS, configure settings, and install apps and data for your students, employees, or patrons.”
This is clearly a move to change the perception in IT departments of the iPad and other iOS devices as purely one-off personal gadgets into fully featured enterprise solutions. Apple goes on that Configurator, “can be used by larger organizations and businesses to set up new devices, install enterprise apps, and enroll each device with a Mobile Device Management solution for remote management by an IT administrator. It is perfect for the classroom or student lab where devices need to be quickly refreshed and kept up to date with the correct settings, approved policies, apps and data. Apple Configurator can also be used to personalize devices with data and documents for specific users.”
With so many users choosing Apple products to make their jobs easier to do, this addition should be seen as a clear in step into the enterprise market.The one thing Apple has over all it’s competitors is that people want their Apple device to do what there other devices can do, but it’s not the other way around. Interesting space to be in right now as Apple catch up with enterprise roll-out.
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