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Apple® Mac devices are growing in corporate popularity by the day. It’s up to IT departments to make sure that these devices utilize all resources in the environment, as well as ensure they’re visible and managed.
This can be a challenge, as Mac and Windows are very different, and Mac devices remain a minority in Windows-dominant environments. Determining how to incorporate Mac into a Windows infrastructure includes a number of factors, such as: the number of devices that need support; what type of access they require; and what tools and systems an organization already has. IT departments also need to figure out how to integrate Mac with existing Windows and Active Directory domains.
In Windows-centric organizations, managing Mac is not the highest priority on the IT project list for a variety of reasons. Few IT teams have expertise in managing Mac. Familiar techniques for managing PCs don’t help, and the best practices for dealing with Mac in a complex enterprise infrastructure can be convoluted and are not widely known. Free open office download for mac os x.
Be sure to also check out InfoWorld's IT guide to managing Macs in the OS X Lion era, as well as our overview of 22 essential Mac tools for IT admins. Mac support tool No. 1: JAMF Casper Suite. AEC Software’s cross-platform FastTrack Schedule is a project management tool that offers focuses on being a project management tool. It offers built-in sample projects, calculations, and scripting tools to help users get up and running quickly.
IT teams take four main approaches when trying to accommodate Mac devices:
Some teams decide to have unmanaged macOS® devices in the environment, but this is a big security risk. You won’t necessarily lose a job if a Mac gets hacked and your infrastructure becomes vulnerable, but this can be destructive in many other ways.
Let’s take an in-depth look at these four approaches to managing Mac devices in a Windows environment.
1.Incorporate Mac devices into the Active Directory domain using existing tools.
This is the preference of many IT administrators. It’s possible to a certain degree; Mac desktops and laptops include the client component necessary to join AD and other standards-based directory services. Binding a Mac to the domain is relatively simple. Windows Server automatically creates the computer object in AD (unless it already exists), just like it would with a Windows desktop.
Recent macOS releases make it even easier to integrate Apple products, as the OS can work with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.
The fact remains, however, that Mac computers are not Windows desktops, and most management products are built for Windows. Native SCCM capabilities for Mac devices are limited and insufficient for full macOS lifecycle management. Compatibility issues inevitably come up. One way to smooth these issues is to extend the AD schema to better accommodate Mac computers. However, that requires development resources and technical expertise beyond what many companies can commit, especially if Mac devices are in the minority.
2. Use special third-party tools to manage Mac devices in the AD domain.
AD and command support in macOS make integrating Mac devices easier, but many administrators still like to use other tools to help with management. For example, IT admins can join Mac devices to AD domains and then use Apple Remote Desktop™ to push commands out to Mac clients.
An alternative is to implement Mac OS X® Server on its own system; Apple Profile Manager can then be used to set Mac policies based on AD groups. This entails setting up an Apple Open Directory domain alongside the AD service, which can make management easier in the long term. The Mac devices are still bound to AD, so there is seamless communication between the two environments, as well as shared file and printer services.
If this sounds too complicated, there is Centrify User Suite (Mac Edition), which can administer Mac devices and centrally manage authentication, policy enforcement, and single sign-on. Another option is Jamf Pro, a comprehensive endpoint management product.
3. Manage Mac like mobile devices.
Apple is moving toward a mobile device management (MDM) model, rather than a traditional directory services model. https://keenmoving728.weebly.com/mac-os-x-format-usb-drive-for-ubuntu.html. This means that IT admins can use the same management tools on Mac computers, iOS, and Android devices.
The new Apple MDM framework allows administrators to initiate AirPlay® sessions on managed devices and push enterprise applications to Mac computers. Improved OS X Server and platform capabilities also make it more MDM-friendly. Users can register Mac devices, and vendors can make use of a greater number of application programming interfaces available to third-party security and management solutions.
Many MDM vendors have quickly embraced new Mac features, such as VMware AirWatch. AirWatch allows admins to manage Mac computers alongside smartphones and tablets and perform a wide variety of tasks.
Organizations can also implement a separate tool, such as MobileIron or an Apple server not bound to AD. This allows IT admins to implement user access through virtual private networks without having to join the devices to the domain. This is useful when incorporating users’ personal Mac laptops.
4. Manage both Mac and PC computers in Microsoft SCCM.
This approach works best for organizations that already use Microsoft SCCM to manage PC. However, Microsoft SCCM alone has only a few features for managing Mac devices—not enough for managing Mac in enterprise. SCCM allows for the following:
While SCCM is capable of managing these devices, additional items need to be installed and configured to support Mac. You’ll need to implement a public key infrastructure for Active Directory Certificate Services. These certificates are used to communicate with SCCM through SSL communications. Each Mac with a SCCM client installed acts like an Internet-based client.
Since the Mac devices are acting like Internet-based clients, you’ll need to have a Configuration Manager Site server with a fully qualified domain name, as well as a minimum of one HTTPS-enabled management point and one HTTPS-enabled distribution point.
You’ll also need to configure the enrollment point and enrollment proxy point features in SCCM. This will allow your macOS clients to be enrolled in the SCCM environment after the client is installed. In order to enable the management of these macOS clients, you’ll need to configure custom client settings.
SCCM’s built-in support for Mac OS does work great, but there are certain limitations to the features and functionality of this support. To manage Max OS X clients, you must have PKI infrastructure and additional SCCM site systems. If you’re not planning on enabling HTTPS communications for your entire corporate environment, you’ll need to have multiple management points and distribution points. One management point will be configured for HTTP communications, and one will be configured for HTTPS communications, as is the same for the multiple distribution points.
Extend SCCM for Enterprise-Level Mac Management
What if you could add the same right-click management that Windows devices receive in SCCM to Mac devices? What if you could do it with a short learning curve, no silos, and the same system administrators?
There is a solution that can do all of this and more: Parallels® Mac Management for Microsoft® SCCM. Parallels Mac Management gives SCCM all the missing tools for Mac management, including FileVault® 2 encryption, macOS deployment, application delivery, Apple Device Enrollment Program, and compliance via SCCM configuration items and baselines.
With Parallels Mac Management, you simply add full macOS lifecycle management to Microsoft SCCM and manage PC and Mac computers in a single pane of glass. There’s a minimum learning curve and no additional infrastructure required. The solution leverages your Microsoft SCCM investments and enables Windows admins to manage Mac computers.
For further information on Parallels Mac Management, please feel free to contact our sales team to request a free trial.
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Calendar, Contact, and Project ManagementNow Up-To-Date & Contact
Now Up-To-Date & Contact has been a top-notch contact and calendar solution for Mac users—and with good reason. It offers an excellent user interface; gives support for both Macs and Windows; enables syncing to PDAs, iPods, and mobile phones; enables web publishing; and offers a free server tool for multi-user contact lists and calendars. Reasons codemeter for os x 10 7. All these features combine to make it a great solution for small businesses.
Daylite
MarketCircle’s Daylite is a combined contact/calendar manager and project management solution that provides shared contacts and calendars, as well as intuitive project management and organizational tools. Daylite offers a unique interface for tracking projects and client interactions that covers every aspect from initial call through completion and it combines this feature seamlessly with its contact management and calendar functionality. It also integrates extremely well with Apple’s Mail and iCal applications, making for a very robust solution.
SOHO Organizer and SOHO Notes
SOHO Organizer and Notes, produced by Chronos, are two separate tools that integrate well to offer a complete single- or multi-user solution for calendar and contact management (Organizer) and for shared information management (Notes). Organizer offers a number of powerful features including PDA/phone/iPod syncing; contact linking; call logging; and integration with other applications such as Google Maps/MapQuest, Mail, and iCal. Notes provides a broad system for sharing and organizing text, web, and multi-media information. IT also provides a range of ways to use that information—from blogging to iPod syncing, linking with contacts, and calendar items. Both products offer syncing via Apple’s .Mac service and integration with SOHO Print Essentials, a tool for printing business stationary.
FastTrack Schedule
AEC Software’s cross-platform FastTrack Schedule is a project management tool that offers focuses on being a project management tool. It offers built-in sample projects, calculations, and scripting tools to help users get up and running quickly. A very solid product, Fast Track focuses on the core needs of its users and is available in both single- and multi-user versions.
![]() xTime Project
xTime Project by app4Mac is another tool that focuses on being an excellent project management solution. It provides a rich series of features and management/monitoring features, including web access, easy interaction with Microsoft Project files, integration with Address Book and iCal, security features, and a very polished interface that offers a range of ways to view information about current projects.
Project X
Project X is a project management tool that will appeal to many users (particularly those who have never used project management tools and want a short learning curve) because of its natural feel and easy-to-use interface. It takes advantage of many of Mac OS X’s features by using personal web sharing to create an easy-toduse web interface, Dashboard widgets for monitoring projects, and integrates with both Mail/Address Book and iCal. It seems particularly well suited to smaller businesses and self-employed individuals.
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