X
Business

Apple preps business market pitch for forthcoming iOS 7

Apple is pitching enterprise and businesses a bunch of new enterprise-friendly features slated for the forthcoming version of iOS.
Written by David Morgenstern, Contributor

Cupertino recently posted a page targeting enterprise and businesses with new security and mobile device management (MDM) features due with iOS 7 in the fall.

iOS 7's MDM will support new commands and options available to third-party apps. Managers will be able to wirelessly set up managed apps, install fonts and configure wireless printer drivers. A site's devices will be able to be automatically enrolled in the MDM when activated.

As a result, IT can skip basic setup steps and fully configure devices with corporate settings and policies — and users can get up and running faster than ever. IT can now supervise devices over the air enabling additional controls for highly managed deployments.

The new security features will let managers configure VPN connections on the application level; single sign on will authenticate credentials across apps; and "managed open," which will let managers set those apps that will be able to open corporate documents as well as prevent personal data from being used in those apps.

iOS 7 will extend its system-level data protection, including encryption, to all apps.

Using methods that leverage the user’s passcode to create a strong and unique encryption key, data protection provides IT with peace of mind that corporate data is secured without additional configuration. All third-party apps now have data protection enabled automatically, so information stored in App Store apps is protected with the user’s passcode until they first unlock their device after each reboot.

In addition, Caching Server 2 will be based on a Mac running OS X Mavericks Server, and support local Macs and iOS 7 systems for downloading content and app updates over the local area network.

Editorial standards