IBM Launches Cloud Service That Makes It Easier to Deploy Macs at Enterprise Scale

IBM has announced a cloud-based IT service to help clients integrate Macs with their enterprise systems and applications.

This new offering from IBM MobileFirst Managed Mobility Services is designed to help large enterprises incorporate Macs within their IT infrastructures, which IBM notes is a rising requirement as more clients adopt or allow the use of Macs by their employees.

Shipments of Macs are growing faster than the industry average, Apple says, and the Mac has outgrown the PC industry every year for the last decade.

The integration services for Mac are delivered via the cloud as a software-as-a-service solution and also are available as an on-premise solution in the client’s data center.

“Ease of adoption and use are at the foundation of every Apple product, and as these devices are used more in the workplace, people expect the same experience they enjoy with Apple technology in their personal lives,” said Richard Patterson, general manager, Infrastructure Services, IBM Global Technology Services.

With these new services, clients can order Macs and have them delivered directly to their employees without any additional set-up, imaging or configuration.

In addition to simplifying deployment, the new IBM services allow enterprises to manage ongoing support for Macs, providing OS and image management, software application and update management, an enterprise app catalog, automatic compliance and configuration updates for security, and inventory and reporting for hardware and software.