Mastering Mac MDM: Best Practices for Managing Your macOS Fleet

Mac usage has steadily increased in recent years, particularly in business. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Apple shipped 16.1 percent of all personal computer units in the United States, per Gartner. Moreover, IDC anticipates the number of Macs sold to business users worldwide will increase by 20% between 2023 and 2024. IDC also reports that 76% of IT decision makers believe Macs are more secure than other computers.

With this surge of Macs in the workplace and increased focus on security, IT administrators increasingly require mobile device management (MDM) to protect, secure, and manage these remote devices.

Today, we're digging into all things Mac MDM, including best practices for implementing MDM in your enterprise and why it's so important to seek out Mac-native tools to do so.

What is mobile device management (MDM)?

MDM enables you to securely manage and control Apple devices-such as iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple TVs-remotely. With MDM, IT administrators can configure devices, deploy apps, enforce security policies, manage updates, and track device inventory all from a centralized platform. For IT teams, the main purpose of MDM is to improve their management and control over their fleet of devices, especially devices that aren't on-premises like those for remote workers.

How MDM works in practice

1. Device enrollment: A device is enrolled via automated device enrollment (ADE), a third-party MDM tool like Jamf, Kandji, or Munki, manual setup, QR code, or a URL.
2. Device configuration: MDM pushes settings (Wi-Fi, VPN, email), security policies (passcode, encryption), and apps to the device.
3. Ongoing management: MDM continuously monitors the device's compliance with organizational policies and can enforce restrictions or trigger actions (like updating software, changing user permissions, etc.) when needed.
4. Device retirement: When a device is retired or a user leaves, the MDM can deprovision the device, sometimes wiping or restoring it to factory settings.

MDM solutions provide a centralized, scalable, and secure way to manage devices in an enterprise setting. This ensures consistency, enhances security, and simplifies IT administration.

What are some advantages of MDM for Macs?

Using MDM for Macs in an enterprise environment offers several advantages, particularly in terms of security, efficiency, and scalability. Here are some key benefits:

1. Enhanced security: Mac MDM tools frequently make use of the built-in Apple management framework, and one of the most significant benefits of MDMs are their robust security features. With features such as location tracking, remote data wiping, encryption enforcement, and strong authentication methods, MDM solutions protect businesses from cyber threats and unauthorized access. They allow you to enforce security settings like passcodes, encryption (FileVault), and password complexity requirements across all Macs. They also allow you to implement web security policies, blocking access to harmful sites, restricting app installations, controlling software updates, and preventing malicious downloads.
2. Centralized device management: You can automate enrollment and configure devices remotely, setting up Wi-Fi, VPN, email, and other necessary system preferences without user intervention. This functionality enables touchless deployment, allowing you to ship laptops directly to employees and enroll them remotely, without your IT team ever having to touch the machine. Mac admins can also assign custom configuration profiles to different user groups (e.g., for different departments), allowing flexible yet consistent policy enforcement.
3. Self-service: As you scale, it becomes increasingly important to limit rights on employee machines, depending on the department and the level of access they need. With MDM, you can populate a self-service portal where employees can access the software they need to do their jobs, including licensed and paid apps.
4. Streamlined app deployment and management: You can easily deploy apps from the Mac App Store or distribute custom internal apps, and then centralize automatic updates for those applications.
5. Efficient patch and update management: MDMs can schedule and enforce macOS updates, reducing vulnerabilities by ensuring all devices are running the latest versions. Automated and remote updates reduce the need for manual interventions and device downtime.
6. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) support: MDM supports BYOD environments by providing a separation between personal and work data on the same machine, making it flexible for both company-owned and personal devices.

Challenges with Mac MDM

One of the challenges of managing Apple devices at scale is keeping the Mac operating system (macOS) updated across your fleet of machines. Apple has made changes to how that works over the years. As a Mac admin in a corporate environment, you have to balance conflicting demands-you need to make sure your fleet of machines is up to date and in compliance, but you also need to do so in a way that isn't disruptive to end users, minimizes downtime, and avoids sudden unexpected reboots.

To answer this challenge, the open-source community has come together with solutions. Third-party, open source scripting can be leveraged within your MDM to allow you more flexibility and control over macOS updates, allowing you to expand user options for updates while at the same time setting deadlines for those updates to happen.

Another challenge of using MDM solutions is navigating the increasingly restrictive permissions introduced by Apple. Starting with macOS 10.14 and in updates since then, Apple added security to parts of the computer it considers sensitive or critical. While these restrictions enhance user privacy and security, they can limit IT administrators' control over devices. Applications that require sensitive access to these parts of the system, like backup clients or anti-virus software, now require additional permissions.

Silently installing these types of apps now requires an additional component, a custom policy configuration that grants full disk access. This will be different depending on the MDM you're using, but Jamf, for example, offers the Privacy Preferences Policy Control (PPPC) Utility to help you create configuration profiles.

Best practices for Mac MDM

Managing Macs in an enterprise environment can be a complex task that can have a big impact. One of the biggest benefits of MDM is reducing IT workload. Centralized and automated management reduces the time and effort needed to configure and manage each Mac manually, allowing you to focus on more strategic tasks.

But, effective MDM requires some other building blocks to be in place before you can realize all of those advantages. Here are some best practices for Mac MDM:

1. Choose the right MDM solution

• Find the right partner: Integrate with an MDM solution like Jamf, Kandji, or Munki for streamlined device enrollment and management.
• Update processes: Ensure that the MDM solution supports both Apple's Device Enrollment Program (DEP) and Volume Purchase Program (VPP) to automate setup and app deployment, and ensure all devices are enrolled in the MDM system as soon as they are set up.

1. Enforce security policies

• Passcode and encryption: Ensure all devices require strong passcodes and are encrypted with FileVault (for Mac) and native iOS encryption.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Enforce MFA for accessing corporate services and apps.
• Remote lock/wipe: Enable the ability to lock or wipe devices remotely in case of theft or loss.

1. App management

• Volume purchasing: Use Apple's VPP to distribute apps and content centrally.
• App whitelisting and blacklisting: Control which apps users can install on their devices, blocking potentially harmful or non-compliant apps.
• App updates: Automate app updates to ensure security patches and features are deployed quickly.

1. User and group profiles

• User profiles: Use custom profiles to set different policies for various roles within the organization (e.g., executives, developers, sales).
• Configuration profiles: Set up policies for Wi-Fi, VPN, email, and other settings automatically based on user or group membership.

1. Data protection

• Content filtering: Implement web content filtering and secure browsing rules.
• Data loss prevention (DLP): Apply DLP policies to prevent sensitive corporate data from being shared through unapproved channels.
• Backup solutions: Ensure regular, automated backups using a true backup solution like Backblaze Computer Backup versus a sync service.

1. Patch management

• Automatic updates: Automate macOS updates and ensure compliance with the latest patches and versions.
• Version control: Use MDM to control which versions of macOS and iOS are allowed in the organization to prevent untested or unsupported versions from being installed.

1. Monitor device compliance

• Compliance uniformity: Set compliance rules for security (e.g., passcode policies, encryption) and regularly monitor devices for adherence.
• Compliance monitoring: Use reporting and analytics tools built into your MDM solution to track compliance, app usage, and device health.

By following these best practices, you can efficiently manage and secure Mac devices within your organization while minimizing risks and ensuring a seamless experience for employees.

The importance of Mac-native apps

Mac-native apps provide a seamless and optimized experience that takes full advantage of the macOS ecosystem. Native apps are specifically designed to integrate with macOS, ensuring smoother performance, faster responsiveness, and a more intuitive user experience compared to non-native or cross-platform applications.

This integration often means that the apps are more efficient, utilize fewer system resources, and can easily interface with built-in macOS features such as Spotlight, Siri, and Notification Center. For IT administrators managing multiple Macs, the consistency of Mac-native apps helps minimize compatibility issues and ensures a uniform experience across all devices.

In addition, Mac-native apps typically offer better security and reliability, which is crucial for IT administrators overseeing corporate environments. Apple has a strict set of guidelines for app development, especially for apps available through the App Store. These guidelines emphasize security practices such as sandboxing, code-signing, and integration with macOS security features like Gatekeeper and XProtect.

This gives IT administrators confidence that Mac-native apps are less likely to pose security risks, reducing the chances of malware or vulnerabilities being introduced into the organization's systems. Moreover, since native apps are built to work within Apple's framework, they are generally more stable, reducing the risk of crashes or bugs that could disrupt workflows.

Furthermore, Mac-native apps support better integration with management and automation tools that are vital for IT administrators. These apps can be more easily deployed, managed, and updated through Apple MDMs.

Finally, native apps can often integrate with Apple's scripting languages and automation tools like AppleScript and Automator, providing IT teams with more powerful options for customizing workflows, optimizing processes, and enhancing productivity across the organization. This level of control is essential for IT administrators looking to streamline their management tasks and ensure a high level of efficiency.

Having MDMs built native for Macs is critical for the success of IT management. That holds true for all software running on Macs, including backup software like Backblaze Computer Backup-you have to update permissions less frequently, you have access to more robust build possibilities, and it runs seamlessly in the background.

Are you using a Mac MDM tool?

Do you have a favorite MDM tool? Let us know in the comments. We love to hear how they're working for you.

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