Apple's growing status in enterprise IT expands just a little more with news that cross-platform device management company JumpCloud,now offers its service via Amazon's AWS marketplace.

Identity, platform agnosticism, and the future of IT

While this tidbit is probably of most interest to IT admins running multiple platforms - and certainly to enterprises that use AWS - it should also be seen as important to Apple's adventures in the enterprise space, and to all the company's most loyal users as they watch the Mac maker's return to grace in business IT.

"When it comes to matters of IT, companies want to make it easier to manage all their assets in one place, and that means focusing on identity first," said Tom Bridge, JumpCloud's Principal Product Manager, Apple. "In the past, this meant looking at Windows machines. But that model is not applicable anymore."

It's not applicable, of course, because we no longer exist within the monoculture of a Windows world. Modern business environments encompass iPhones, iPads, Macs, Windows -some businesses even rely on Android devices.

In the US at least, Apple is clearly deriving great benefit. The company is steadily growing market share even as other PC makers see declines.

This is also driving enterprise IT to embrace more platform-neutral services to drive their business, which also favors increased use of cloud services, said Bridge.

In praise of the endpoints

"Today, developers like the cloud, and they like working with the operating system and endpoint hardware that makes them more productive," he said. "To many, that means the combination of Apple devices with macOS and iOS for their endpoints alongside using services like AWS."

Achieving this is an IT admin challenge, which demands companies but in place solutions such as those from Jamf, JumpCloud, Kandji, Addigy, and the growing number of companies that now support Apple-specific and heterogeneous platform deployments. These solutions must manage devices, users, and - increasingly - provide access as well. (Jamf's recent move to partner with AWS comes to mind here.)

"By having the right approach in place, you can keep access under control centrally and prevent possible attacks. You can also make it easier to operate and support all those devices over time," Bridge said. "Taking out any kind of friction - whether that is managing identities in the cloud, securing access, keeping machines patched, or even just how you pay for something - is essential to deliver on the goals that teams have around their IT."

JumpCloud lets IT admins control user access to AWS resources, manage Amazon Machine Images (AMI) and endpoint devices, and automate IT workflows and all within one clear bill flow.

The 'crazy ones' usually come through

What's most important about this story is that it shows how Apple continues to elevate its status as a viable solution for business users. Partnerships such as these evidence this transformation.

They also help erase years of misconception within this sector. It shows that Apple's devices can easily integrate into existing infrastructure.

Device management is rapidly becoming streamlined, with many alternatives and the opportunity to select MDM providers who can meet the varied needs of the enterprise. And as Apple's market share continues to rise, this is a sector set for growth.

All in all, I see this as a hat tip to the "Crazy Ones," who, as Steve Jobs once said, often appear to be the ones who move things forward and change things. Because, since that ad ran, this appears to be precisely what they did.

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