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Is there a way to have outsourced Mac® management? There are a large number of managed service providers (MSPs) that are in business today to help organizations manage their IT infrastructure. The challenge for these MSPs, however, is that many of them have not had the right tools to manage Mac infrastructure. Even if you aren’t using an MSP, you might like to have an outsourced Mac management platform that only requires you to execute your tasks, not manage the platform. Let’s explore why a SaaS Mac management platform makes a lot of sense.
The History of IT Management Tools
Historically, the leader in the IT network marketplace has been Microsoft®. Because IT networks were largely Windows®-based, the IT system management tool industry followed suit. Due to their near monopoly on the network scene, Microsoft led the way with their two solutions: Active Directory® and SCCM® (previously called SMS). By having strong Windows user and system management tools, Microsoft was able to encourage IT organizations to take advantage of other Windows-based products. Systems and applications, such as Exchange®, Office®, and Outlook®, became the go-tos for many IT admins because they were easier to manage.
Over time, however, end users started to branch out and use non-Windows IT resources, such as iPhones®, Macs, Android® phones/tablets, and Linux® systems. All of these were more difficult for IT organizations to manage, as they leveraged their own applications and identity protocols. Macs proved to be especially difficult because they started to become the laptop/desktop of choice; ComputerWorld predicts that macOS system sales will overtake Windows sales by 2019. Despite this rise in Mac popularity, the necessary tools to manage them were not accessible, until now.
New Outsourced Mac Management
For MSPs interested in remotely managing Mac systems and users as well as for internal IT organizations, there is a next generation Mac management platform from the cloud that can be leveraged. This solution is not only giving IT admins and MSPs full control over Macs, but also Windows and Linux systems, cloud server infrastructure, web and on-prem applications, physical and virtual storage, and WiFi among other IT resources. Think of the solution as a central IT management tool for user management and systems.
It’s called JumpCloud® Directory-as-a-Service®, and it’s a reimagination of Active Directory for the cloud era. While it offers similar functionalities to the original Active Directory, such as user identity and access management, it is also a cross-platform cloud-based directory services and endpoint solution. Through centralized system management functionality, JumpCloud eases the pain of managing multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux). Not only that, JumpCloud offers cloud RADIUS functionality, hosted LDAP, multi-factor authentication, and True Single Sign-on™ for web and on-prem application resources among a wide range of other features.
Learn More
To learn about JumpCloud, and how the outsourced Mac management tool can be leveraged by your IT organization, contact us. Our expert support team would be happy to assist you. If JumpCloud seems like the right option for your enterprise, try it for free with ten users free forever, or schedule a demo to see it in action.
