Complimenting comprehensive KACE (News - Alert) management of Mac OS systems, KACE, a systems management appliance company, reportedly is bringing out the industry’s first appliance-based systems management solution for Apple’s iPhone (News - Alert).

 

With this new technology, IT administrators and business users can provision, configure and control policies for the iPhone as they would with any other managed device.

 

Providing seamless systems management support across Mac, Linux, and Windows operating systems, the award-winning KBOX family of appliances lets large number of IT departments host heterogeneous environments, and many are choosing Mac as an alternative to Windows Vista, as highlighted in a recent King Research survey.

 

According to the survey, 42 percent of the respondents stated that to avoid a migration to Vista, they would consider deployment of alternative operating systems, such as Mac and Linux.

 

New KBOX Systems Management appliances capabilities include: distribution of profiles by e-mail; self service profile downloads available from the KBOX user portal; and assigning iPhone profiles across user groups to meet different access needs, for example, by function or geography.

 

The new iPhone support complements existing KBOX Mac OS X management capabilities, which includes hardware and software inventory, patching, software distribution, remote administration, help desk, and asset management. From initial computer deployment to on-going management and retirement in a mixed computing environment, KBOX fulfills all of the systems management needs and allows IT departments to save considerable time and money.

 

Allowing IT administrators to cost-effectively manage multiple operating systems from a single interface, KACE offers an appliance-based approach. The new iPhone support complements Apple’s (News - Alert) iPhone Configuration Utility, with which centralized management of multiple configuration profiles and tools may be applied.

 

“Apple is quickly carving out its place in the enterprise. The business world is recognizing the benefits of Mac OS X, and now the powerful iPhone technology,” said Marty Kacin, chief technical officer and co-founder of KACE. “IT administrators need to adapt to this new ‘multiple OS world’ and be ready to manage heterogeneous environments on a dime. KACE systems management appliances give administrators the tools they need to seamlessly and easily manage a range of enterprise platforms.”