…from Apple’s New Mass Device Deployment Program.

One of Minnesota’s fastest growing tech firms, downtown Minneapolis-based JAMF Software, has been on a tear for the past few years, and a recent product launch by Apple promises to fuel even more growth. Here’s a look at what JAMF does: Enterprise Mobility Management for iPad, Mac, iPhone, and Apple TV.

iOS 7.1, just introduced, incorporates the functionality of Apple’s mass deployment initiative, part of a mobile device management (MDM) overhaul by the company. Apple announced on its IT website at around the beginning of March that the company was rolling out this large-scale iOS device deployment and management service for enterprise and educational institutions. (See coverage here and here).

This new program, called ‘Zero Touch Support’ internally at Apple, has been one enthusiastically embraced by the business field team. One of our sources at Apple in the business group is really excited to be able to rollout a program that enables easy enrollment of an organization’s devices (though he didn’t explicitly say it, he sort of implied that previous enrollment of devices wasn’t, um, simple). This new initiative, called the Device Enrollment Program (DEP) (here is Apple’s PDF guide), allows businesses and educational institutions to streamline the process to enroll devices into a management platform, like JAMF.

This Apple source also outlined some of the advantages of DEP and how a mobile device management (MDM) program is necessary to take advantage of Apple’s DEP—and Apple is not delivering high level MDM software like that delivered by JAMF. In fact, Apple sees this program as being very helpful to JAMF and other MDM providers. Apple has long promoted the use of a management utility for any organization that has 25 or more devices, but this new DEP will provide significantly easier deployment and reduce the barrier to entry for both businesses and educational organizations.

JAMF and other MDM’s will compliment, and be able to leverage, this new program from Apple, and our source was very enthusiastic about the opportunities that lie ahead for JAMF.

We asked Jason Wudi, CTO of JAMF Software, to elaborate on this recent news.

Minnov8: What does this program mean to JAMF?

Jason: “The two enterprise programs that Apple has made available to their customers and vendors like JAMF are huge benefit to the end user, and a significant simplification for IT staff and departments who are looking to get devices configured to best meet their specific user and organizational needs. The type of magical experience that you get when you unbox a new Apple device, and have your e-mail, applications, and media show up was something that only the ecosystem they have built really can deliver, and now they have extended that opportunity to have IT help bridge the user experience to the organization’s resources.”

Minnov8: What is the general reaction you’ve been hearing from your enterprise and educational customers so far? What percentage of them do you expect will adopt the Device Enrollment Program?

Jason: “The reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, in almost every conversation we’ve had with customers. I think the bar has been raised, and organizations are talking about how they can utilize the capabilities introduced. If there have been any questions raised, it’s always in a genuine interest of how and when the program will expand outside of the U.S., and what happens with devices that users already have. Going forward, I have not heard any organization that has institutionally owned devices that will not be taking advantage of at least one aspect of the new capabilities.”

Minnov8: How will this DEP program affect your MDM business? What percentage of the Apple MDM market does JAMF currently have? Do you even have any serious competition?

Jason: “The Device Enrollment Program (DEP) and the Volume Purchase Programs (VPP) that Apple has put forward are all about allowing organizations to continue to close gaps in their users’ experiences that typically existed when organizations needed to customize or configure the device to meet their specific needs. The positive impact it has is not just about management of the device, or the experience, but another step for the platform to continue to grow. The more users that choose the Apple platform and ecosystem, and organizations that rely on those device to accomplish their unique vision, the more JAMF’s business grows.”

Minnov8: Do you expect more of a take-up in the education market initially as opposed to the corporate/enterprise market? If so, why?

Jason: “Initially, education will likely be the biggest early adopters of these solutions, but more due to the timing and nature of their cycles than anything to do with the technology itself. In the U.S., which is where the programs are initially available, the education technology cycle and the ability to implement change is concentrated around the summer months, whereas we expect corporate and government entities to adopt the solutions around their own schedules and procurement needs. In all reality, it will not be very long before everyone managing an Apple deployment will be utilizing the additional abilities to provision, configure, and deploy that have been exposed with DEP and VPP.”

Minnov8: How large of an organization (number of mobile devices) can your MDM software handle? What is the minimum number a customer should have in order to justify the cost of your software?

Jason: “We have organizations that have deployed well over 100,000 devices in a single instance of our software, and we also provide options to run the solution in a hosted environment as well. Those that typically get the most value out of JAMF Software solutions have 50 devices or more.”

Minnov8: Finally, what kind of growth do you see ahead for JAMF in the next year? In what areas are you hiring, and what kind of growth do you see in employment? Will you expand more in your Eau Claire, Minneapolis, or Cupertino locations? What about other locations?

Jason: “When I look at our 30+ open job postings, we’re hiring in every area at JAMF. We now number more than 275 employees in our global workforce, and are also very fortunate to have a number of great partners that we work with every day. We’ve always been a very customer-centric organization, and while Minneapolis is still our headquarters, and we have a significant presence in Eau Claire, WI, we’ll continue to hire the right people in the areas where our customers are, on order to be in the best situation possible to help solve their needs. Many of the open positions we have listed right now are about international locations that we have been expanding into over the last 24 months, and the great thing about the Apple platform is that there are really no limits to where you can find an iPad or a Mac.”

For more information, here is an article JAMF posted on its web site for its customers: 6 ways to get ready for the new Device Enrollment Program and Volume Purchase Program.