Apple highlights iOS 7 benefits in Business and Education

Apple last night started targeting big business and education with a pair of new promotional web page highlighting the benefits of iOS 7 in Enterprise and Education. For businesses of all sizes, the web page reads, “iOS 7 offers more advanced ways to deploy devices and deliver a great user experience for your employees”.

And even though iOS already is by far the most popular enterprise mobile platform, the company isn’t resting on its laurels and is now promoting new iOS 7 capabilities that it hopes will make the mobile operating system even more appealing to businesses big and small alike…

Apple’s pitch on the iOS 7 and Business web page goes something like this:

iOS 7 provides enhanced security, powerful new ways to configure and deploy devices at scale, and features to help businesses purchase, distribute, and manage apps with ease.

Features including per app VPN, enterprise single sign on, App Store license management, and new mobile device management (MDM) configuration options are just some of the new capabilities in iOS 7 that provide more for organizations of all sizes.

Businesses which deploy iOS 7 will be able to manage which apps and accounts can open documents, on a per-app and per-account basis. Moreover, iOS 7 lets administrators configure individual apps to automatically connect to VPN when opened.

IT administrators will love richer device configuration options, more powerful mobile device management features, more flexible management of App Store licenses and server caching of software purchases and downloads for more efficient distribution.

On a related note, Apple previously ran this video highlighting the power of its developer ecosystem.

As for single sign-on, that feature lets apps authenticate corporate credentials, including downloads from the App Store. And in the interest of stronger data protection in apps, iOS 7 leverages your passcode to create a “strong and unique encryption key”.

And even though Apple’s iOS 7 and Business web page doesn’t even mention it, iOS 7 now separates work from private data in a manner similar to Samsung’s Knox corporate software, which makes it easier for companies to allow employees to bring their personal devices to work.

The iOS 7 and Education web page re-iterrates some of the aforementioned benefits, including single sign-on for an institution’s apps and the App Store license management.

It also mentioning other iOS 7 features for educational institutions like AirDrop and Apple TV enhancements like MDM enrollment and configuration profiles for AirPlay destinations.

“MDM can prompt a student to mirror their screen on a specific Apple TV, so teachers can easily put their work on the big screen,” Apple writes.

As we reported here, an upcoming Apple TV firmware (currently in beta) will bring Conference Room Display, iTunes Radio, custom subtitles and more.

Moreover, schools will have a program to facilitate Apple obtaining verifiable parental consent for personal Apple IDs for students under age 13, the page reads.

If you’re interested in learning more, MacWorld has additional details on iOS 7 changes for Education and Business.

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In a blow to Microsoft, Apple wins $30M LA school iPad contract

Apple again is flexing its muscle in classrooms. Every student in the Los Angeles Unified School District will receive an iPad, a contract worth $30 million. Apple has received the nod from the nation’s second-largest school district as students and teachers overruled Microsoft, which argued its tablets better prepared school kids for the workplace.

In a unanimous vote, the LA school district board approved the contract to pay $678 per Apple tablet, one member telling The Los Angeles Times newspaper that the deal is “as big as they come.” The contract is just the latest sign schools with tight budgets are opting for less-expensive tablets over traditional PCs for the classroom…

The iPads will arrive with educational software preloaded.

The contract is a defeat for Microsoft, which suggested the school district should not limit students’ choices to Apple, particularly since Windows is used by most businesses. However, LA school district staff declared “Apple’s iPad the superior product,” according toThe Los Angeles Times.

In 2012, one analyst said Apple’s iPad was “cannibalizing” PC sales for the classroom.

While PC sales fell 13.9 percent between the June 2012 quarter and the same period in 2011, demand for Apple’s tablet rose by nearly 1 million units, according to Charlie Wolf of Needham & Company.

That assessment was confirmed earlier this year, as we reported eight million iPads were sold into educational settings worldwide.

Along with the LA school district pact, Apple is also credited with helping Idaho schools removing 20,000 paper copies per month – in just one school. Other districts include Illinois and Maine, which publicly shared its contract with Apple as an example for other schools.

What’s left for Apple and the iPad’s entry into schools?

Texas would be a crowning achievement.

The state’s legislature earlier this year approved the use of tablets in the schoolroom.

The Eanes school district in January became one of the first districts in the Lone Star state to provide an iPad 2 to every student in K-12, a contract with Apple worth $1.2 million.

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