Apple’s acquisition of Fleetsmith was a genius move
In the past few months, life has changed alot. Due to the pandemic, millions of people are now working from home which has resulted in an increasing demand for technology. Numerous service-based digital platforms such as Zoom, Asana and Dropbox have seen rapid growth in the number of users and Apple knew they had to jump on the boat quickly.
On June 24, 2020, Apple acquired a startup called Fleetsmith. A service that had a mission to manage Apple devices in the cloud, simplifying an otherwise complex IT activity. Certainly handy during current times.
Apple didn’t publicise the acquisition, however, it did confirm the purchase with TechCrunch, while Fleetsmith announced the deal in a company blog post.
The startup has developed technology that takes advantage of Apple’s Device Enrolment Program, allowing IT departments to bring devices online as soon as the employee takes it out of the box and powers it up.
After landing $30 million of Series B funding last year, CEO Zack Blum explained the company’s core value:
“From a customer perspective, they can ship devices directly to their employees. The employee unwraps it, connects to Wi-Fi and the device is enrolled automatically in Fleetsmith.”
Over time, the company has also incorporated other useful pieces beyond automating device registration, such as updating devices automatically with OS and security updates and installing apps across entire fleets, while letting IT see a dashboard of the status of all devices under management, all in a pretty slick interface.
While Apple will likely continue to work with Jamf, a leader in the Apple device management space, this acquisition will give the company a remote management option at a time when it’s essential with so many employees working from home.
Fleetsmith, which amassed more than $40 million from investors, will continue to sell the product through their own company website and operate as a separate business to Apple.
In a statement, the Fleetsmith team said:
“We’re thrilled to join Apple. Our shared values of putting the customer at the centre of everything we do without sacrificing privacy and security, means we can truly meet our mission, delivering Fleetsmith to businesses and institutions of all sizes, around the world,” they wrote.
Many may wonder whether Apple wants to eliminate other MDMs, but I personally don’t think this is the plan. It might create antitrust issues for Apple at a time when they are already facing issues in other areas of their business. Remember, if Apple forced other companies to ditch their existing software tools and workflows in favour of a single Apple-owned system, then their products will be a lot tougher to sell.
