The first Mac in SPIRIT/21

Since spring 2021, SPIRITians have been able to choose which device they want to work with. More and more colleagues are choosing a Mac.

SPIRIT/21 has undergone major changes and evolved over the past few years, continually changing not only the business model but also the corporate culture. The company has also worked hard in terms of productivity, motivation and fun at work, since spring 2021 SPIRITians can now choose which device they want to work with.

Ten years ago, when the term “war for talents” probably didn’t exist, Jens Reichardt, the then-designate team leader for Enterprise Mobility, strongly demanded a Mac as a working device. Because Jens wanted to win over his great mobility expertise to SPIRIT/21, the Mac was promised and Jens took up his new job with us. So the first Mac was there.

Mac pioneers in software development

In addition to the individual desire to use a Mac as a work device, from 2014 onwards, our customers also had a growing demand for mobile business apps. For this reason, the software developers in the Development Solutions division purchased additional Macs and operated them on their own.

2017 – the year to decide

The next milestone was reached in 2017, two, when management decided to switch to Mac as well, driven by positive user experiences from previous employers and personal affinity for Apple products. The second milestone was the decision to add “Mac” to SPIRIT/21’s portfolio of services. There was already a lot of expertise in device management (Windows, iOS, Android). Now it was a matter of learning and understanding the specifics of Apple macOS – and that was a lot of points.

Mac Management Introduced with Jamf Pro

With the expansion of the portfolio, more and more SPIRIT/21 colleagues were using a Mac as their work device. By spring 2020, the number of MacBooks had grown to over 50, accounting for more than 10 of the total number of computers used by SPIRIT/21, and continued growth and demand quickly led to the decision to manage the devices using Jamf Pro, a device management solution for two main reasons: compliance with ISO 27001 certification requirements and time savings in device deployment. New Macs could now be set up by the future user themselves, without any support from IT. especially in the pandemic-related home office phase.

The choice between Mac and Windows becomes possible

So with the introduction of Jamf Pro, the technical requirements for device management were covered. One of the most frequently asked questions among the workforce was, what do I have to do to get a Mac? Because until early 2021, it was not possible to order a Mac via a standard shopping cart. Only when there was a need to use a Mac was the purchase approved outside the normal ordering process. However, internal demand was there and steadily increased, with MacBooks being popular among applicants. In February, the standard shopping cart now includes two MacBooks (Intel) in addition to various Windows notebooks./M1).

How to optimize the user experience

Also in 2021, a new client antivirus solution was to be introduced for Mac and Windows. There were several requirements: a common solution for both operating systems, same-day support for new OS versions and, of course, the security requirements of the CISO. First, a pre-selection was made based on the manufacturer’s data and independent test results. The Device Management Team suggested Jamf Protect as a solution and convinced our CIO that it was the right choice for our Mac fleet. With the client AV solution developed specifically for macOS, we were able to significantly increase the user experience of our Mac users (e.g. less fan noise) while meeting all CISO requirements. Device management is reduced because no packets need to be created or distributed. Jamf Pro automatically installs the software by connecting to Jamf Protect.

Same-Day Support for macOS Monterey

We can also look forward to the release of Apple’s new Mac operating system “macOS Monterey” this year at SPIRIT/21. For centrally distributed software, we have successfully completed our tests with macOS 12-Beta.

Conclusion

Personally, I am very pleased that the Mac usage with SPIRIT/21 has developed so positively and that I have been able to follow this process “up close” at many points and make a lot of changes in the process. The development is often similar in the customer environment as well. There are many parallels. Often everything starts with a few Macs, which are more tolerated than welcome at first. However, when a certain order of magnitude is reached, the situation is reassessed throughout the company and then consideration is given to Device Management. Whether this is to be introduced and operated yourself or given as a service to a service provider is one of the strategically important decisions at this stage. will be happy to share his own experience and will be available to help you with any questions you may have about Apple Enterprise Management.