by Al Sacco

Apple No Longer Forsaking the Enterprise (Press)

Opinion
Feb 27, 20142 mins
AppleiPadiPhone

Breaking: Apple is no longer ignoring the enterprise press. In other news, the consumer-focused company published some new enterprise-specific documents, which suggests Apple may finally be changing its tune on corporate IT.

Sky, fallen. Hell, frozen. Pigs, flying.

For the first time in my nearly-decade-long career covering enterprise IT for CIO.com, Apple just reached out to me with enterprise-related news.

Apple Logo

Forget the news Apple decided to share — I did right after I read it. The fact that it reached out at all is big news, because it represents a fundamental shift in the way Apple has dealt with the press. Or at least the enterprise press. I’ve literally reached out to Apple countless times to request information or ask enterprise-related questions. And I can count the number of times I’ve received a response on one hand.

I’ve been critical of Apple in the past, and I know the company has worked with other enterprise journalists. Maybe it was just me. I’ve often wondered if I’d been added to the rumored “Apple Black List.” But my colleague, Tom Kaneshige, has been covering Apple for CIO.com for years, and he still has a hard time getting into Apple events. I know we’re not alone.

I’m not sure what exactly this means, but one thing is for sure: Apple has changed its tune, and I bet you’ll see more announcement from Cupertino aimed at businesses in the future.

Here’s what Apple PR had to share today:

We announced a slew of new tools and updates late yesterday that might be of interest to you.

Sharing a few links on the New IT with new info on device deployment, VPP improvements, and we updated the iOS Security Pages, etc. Designed to make things easier for IT folks, maintaining a great end-user experience and with security a top priority.

Enterprise

The New IT

iOS Enterprise Deployment Overview

iOS Security White Paper

Apple basically published a set of documents for IT on security and management features in iOS and other Apple products.

I’m honestly still a bit shaken by that email. Maybe I’ll go buy a lottery ticket or something.

AS

Image via Wired.co.uk