Apple at Work brings you SimpleMDM: Try SimpleMDM and discover the endless possibilities of a powerful API SimpleMDM. Whether you want to automate tasks or integrate SimpleMDM into your existing infrastructure, the API offers the flexibility you need to gain full programmatic access to your account and devices.
One of the tools I have. A Mac assessment utility has been on my list for some time. This is a tool designed for Apple IT administrators to determine the health of their MacOS fleet, especially during periods of OS updates. Read on to find out what it can do and how to download it.
About Apple @ Work:  ;Bradley Chambers managed the corporate IT network from 2009 to 2021. With his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, MDM, enterprise-grade Wi-Fi, hundreds of Macs, and hundreds of iPads, Bradley shares how Apple IT managers implement Apple devices, build networks to support them, and train users, stories from the IT management trenches, and ways Apple can improve its products for IT departments.
Here's one thing. It's become painfully obvious over the past few years: macOS generates a lot of data, but turning that data into something useful isn't always easy. The Apple Mac Evaluation Utility is a free tool from Apple designed to create reports that let you know what's working, what's enabled, and what can be improved. This can help determine if your internal network is ready to communicate with Apple's long list of servers to handle iCloud data, as well as check for macOS updates.
What kind of data can the Mac Evaluation Utility collect?
The subtitle of this section is the key part to know about this application. It can't make changes to your macOS deployment, device management configuration, or anything else on your network. Think of it as a “guide”; to help you scale your deployment. If you're starting beta testing with Apple users during a Windows to Mac migration program, this app will be useful to run as soon as the beta group is up and running. Here's an example of the information it might collect:
- How is Bonjour traffic flowing?
- Can macOS connect to my VPN?
- How do my devices to Apple servers for iCloud and macOS updates?
- Can my device management system communicate with my device?
- Are apps on my devices secure?
- How are my users authenticated on their devices?
- Is FileVault enabled?
This app is designed to help you stay “ready” action plan for the transition from 4 to 400 devices. This application can help ensure that all data transfers smoothly, especially when connected over the network to Apple servers, regardless of whether employees are working remotely or in the office.
How to boot a Mac Evaluation Utility?
Because the application is intended solely for IT professionals looking to optimize their MacOS fleet, Apple does not make the Mac Evaluation Utility freely available. It's free, but it requires access to AppleSeed for IT, which in turn requires a managed Apple ID. There's no reason not to use it a few times a year to let Apple check the health of your fleet in terms of settings and connectivity.
Wrap-up
Similar apps are a great move by Apple to meet IT professionals where they are. This is a proactive way for Apple to help IT teams succeed with their fleet by pointing out how things work and where they can improve. As Apple becomes an increasingly important part of every IT environment, collecting the right data becomes an important step towards success.
Apple at Work brings you SimpleMDM: Try SimpleMDM and discover the endless possibilities of the powerful SimpleMDM API. Whether you want to automate tasks or integrate SimpleMDM into your existing infrastructure, the API offers the flexibility you need to gain full programmatic access to your account and devices.
