Software

Review: Jamf Pro with Jamf Cloud Scales for Modern Workspace Management

The cloud-based mobile device administration solution also packs a lot of security features for MacOS devices.

Carlos Soto is an award-winning reviewer and journalist with 20 years of experience covering technology and business within various sectors and industries.

Slowing or even stopping the progress of modernization projects, programs and portfolios for an organization is like slowing a stagecoach in the Old West: The chances of robberies and bandit attacks increase immensely.

The Jamf platform makes it so IT officials never have to hit the brakes on modernization programs, as it relates to all agency Apple and iOS devices. In fact, it adds a lot of automation, which can speed things up. Plus, Jamf is the only Apple enterprise management solution that automates the entire lifecycle of Apple products in the enterprise, from acquisition to decommissioning.

Jamf enterprise management automates at scale and includes device deployment, management and security. And it does so in a seamless way that does not impact the productivity of users or slow the onboarding process for new users or contractors. And since Jamf processes everything in the background and does not require IT to handle every device it manages, the security and monitoring functions do not negatively impact end users or overworked IT staff.

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A Powerful Endpoint Security Solution

After recently reviewing Jamf Pro with Jamf Cloud for MacOS, I approached the testing of this product with a fair amount of knowledge around the manual and onerous nature of installing, maintaining and managing security policies for even a small number of devices. This management is often complicated with Apple products because they are riddled with hard-to-track mobility features and often vary widely in specifications.

The ease of use and the simplification of such a complicated activity is one of the first things I noticed when using Jamf Pro. The platform makes it relatively easy to protect endpoints with anti-virus protection, compliance monitoring, security visibility and behavior detection. And once set, Jamf will monitor things for administrators, taking automatic actions or signaling human IT workers when potential problems arise.

Admins can even use Jamf to assist with threat hunting, something I have never seen before in a workspace management platform. Because of this, Jamf will assist with keeping known threats out of an agency network and away from its iOS or Apple devices and can also help in searching for unknown problems with advanced IT staff. That is sure to make Jamf popular in security operations centers.

EXPLORE: How augmented government network security supports remote work.

Effective Security and Lifecycle Management

Beyond that core functionality, the scalability of the Jamf platform is also impressive. Monitoring mobile assets, especially if there are a lot of them, is often an unappreciated job. But with Jamf, it really doesn’t matter if an administrator is charged with protecting 10, 100 or 1,000 or more devices. Jamf can keep them all ahead of the curve with automation sitting on top of an easy-to-use platform and interface.

It even conducts lifecycle management, so admins can map out how their devices are going to be used and how long it will be before they need to be swapped out for something new. This, combined with a zero-touch installation process, makes the Jamf Pro platform incredibly powerful, noninvasive and very easy to use.

SPECIFICATIONS

Operating System: MacOS
Software Type: Remote monitoring and management
License PRICE Levels: 1,000-2,499 licenses
License Type: Subscription license
License Validation Period: Annual

DIVE DEEPER: Modern workspace management's flexibility and agility.

Top Characteristics of Effective Modern Workplace Management

A key motivation for implementing modern workplace management solutions is mobility — specifically, the difficulties surrounding mobility device management.

The main challenges of mobility device management are the complexities stemming from the array of different devices being used by an organization’s workforce and the subsequent permutations of features, software, accessibility, permissions, locations and users. This is enough variability to create a headache for IT staff.

Deriving insights into how mobile devices are used and managed within an enterprise is key to any effective modern workplace management, and underscores the invaluable nature of solutions like Jamf compared with others out there that don’t do nearly as much, or as easily.

Mobile device management is one side of the coin that a solution like Jamf solves for agencies, the other side being compliance — including the need to audit and report current device management status for regulatory purposes.

When looking at compliance, there exists a need for implementation tracking and solution management, including security management. Jamf helps state and local governments meet those needs.

Solutions like Jamf really come into focus in situations where state and local governments have a very long history of using Windows endpoints and likely already have appropriate management and security solutions for those devices. The problem occurs when they move into Apple and iOS devices, which may be more suited for remote work.

For example, if an agency’s employees used Apple devices at home and are now wanting to bring them to their government facilities, Jamf can make the onboarding process for those consumer electronics really easy while reducing workloads and improving security.

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