Apple Business Manager: A welcome upgrade to Apple Device Enrollment Program

If you’re an Apple customer, you’ve probably seen the pop-up asking you to upgrade to Apple Business Manager. Chances are you’ve been hesitant to do so. That’s understandable.

You might not know what it is or what it does or if it’s going to cost you anything. All of these are valid concerns. Yet, we’re here to tell you that when it comes to Apple Business Manager, you have nothing to worry about.

By clicking that button, you’re about to make things a whole lot easier.

Like Apple School Manager before it, Apple Business Manager places the Apple Volume Purchase Program (VPP) and Apple Device Enrollment Program (DEP) portals under one umbrella. That’s it. And not only is Apple Business Manager free, it comes with some additional features as well.

Why did Apple decide to do this, and how will it benefit Apple customers moving forward? Let’s discuss.

Organizational advantages

Prior to Apple Business Manager, if you were using an Apple Deployment portal, either DEP or VPP, you could only have one master administrator account. That’s not the case with Apple Business Manager.

Now, your organization can assign multiple administrators, thereby alleviating the stress of potentially being locked out of your only account.

On top of that, Apple Business Manager lets you auto-assign devices. With a simple click of a button, you can assign your iOS devices to one MDM and you can assign your Mac devices to another one.

Apple Business Manager will help you to save time, be more efficient, and most importantly, give you less to worry about.

How the updates work

Updating from DEP to Apple Business Manager is a fairly straightforward process. Just login to business.apple.com using your Apple Deployment Programs Agent account, follow the instructions, and in a few short moments, you’ll be upgraded.

If you have one or more VPP accounts, the move to Apple Business Manager is pretty seamless as well. Simply enroll in Apple Business Manager and then invite current existing VPP purchasers to your newly created Apple Business Manager account.

You will also be happy to know that as far as your devices in the field and in the portal are concerned, nothing changes when you upgrade.

There is a learning curve, but it’s worth it

Yes, there is a learning curve with Apple Business Manager. However, most of this has to do with understanding locations and how this works with VPP. But the benefits far outweigh the initial learning curve.

Apple Business Manager gives you granularity by letting you assign administrator accounts, assign Mac and iOS devices to separate MDMs, and access DEP and VPP in a single portal and move apps around from each one. This is why Apple Business Manager will make your life easier.

If you have any questions or want to learn more about the overall benefits of Apple Business Manager, contact your SHI account executive.