Apple products such as Mac computers, iPads and iPhones are increasingly being used by businesses. In the past, Windows had a near monopoly of the business marketplace and it has been easy to provide a secure environment for workers to use.

Now, many businesses are using a combination of Windows and Apple products. These merged set ups with OS X and Windows in one domain, referred to as the Golden Triangle or Magic Triangle, [cite links] provide new IT and security challenges.  TechRelate has been at the forefront of bridging the gap between Windows and Apple’s OS X operating system with the latest technologies.

TechRelate specialises in providing set ups that allow you to manage your Apple devices in a similar way to that of Windows devices. The key to this is dual-directory binding and the Apple Profile Manager system.

Example scenario:

You are the IT manager, your office has 30 PCs running Windows 7 and 8, you’ve got Active Directory Group Policy configured so that your users are all configured in an identical fashion, saving you significant administration time.

The MD decides that the management team is to get shiny new MacBook Pros and iPads. How do you apply group policies to these devices?

These are your options:

  1. Install Windows and forget about OS X. It’s very unlikely the MD is going to go for this as this will defeat the object of buying Macs in the first place.
  2. Install or augment a Remote Desktop solution so that your users work remotely in a terminal server fashion. This is very pricey in terms of licensing costs.
  3. Install an OS X server, join your Macs to Active Directory (for authentication) and Open Directory for “Managed Preferences”. This will allow you to control all aspects of the Mac and can be extended to the iPads & iPhones too.

TechRelate can provide all the above services, but we would strongly recommend the third option as this offers the greatest flexibility in managing your Apple devices.

If you are looking for a cloud based directory as opposed to investing in local servers e.g. Active directory or open directory then look out for our single sign on post coming soon, enabling increased control over users access to websites and online services.