At VMware Explore Barcelona, you’ll learn about several End-User Computing (EUC) innovations, and many EUC plans will be unveiled. Some of those plans have to do with Workspace ONE, and we’re here to focus on some specifically for macOS management.
This story starts with the completion of the Workspace ONE SaaS architecture upgrade we wrapped up in March. You can read more about that amazing feat of software engineering in our blog. That upgrade was necessary to:
- Improve app and profile delivery
- Dramatically improve operational scale
- Deliver features and updates faster
- Make it easier to build add-on offerings on top of Workspace ONE
With the architecture upgrade complete, we’re moving quickly to take advantage of the results. One of the ways we’re doing that is by improving the macOS management capabilities in Workspace ONE.
Next-gen macOS management
VMware Workspace ONE Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) has been one of the leaders in macOS management for years. Now we’ve built a world-class development team to take this capability to greater heights, and some pieces of the puzzle are already in place.
Workspace ONE Freestyle Orchestrator is one of those pieces. By making automation easier to implement, Workspace ONE can both lift more of the daily repetitive tasks off the shoulders of admins and improve the speed of service associated with them. This is a win-win that boosts the employee experience and allows admins to focus on more strategic pursuits.
In August we announced the release of the new macOS updates dashboard in Workspace ONE. Now with a few clicks, admins can schedule macOS updates, download them automatically, and allow users to install at their convenience. Among other exciting capabilities, it’s easy to leverage escalating behavior so that installation can be completed within required timeframes, with the option to force installation as a last resort.
Capabilities coming soon
At Explore Barcelona, we’re previewing a couple of the exciting roadmap capabilities that will soon be released.
Hub Health
We’re bringing advanced auto-remediation to macOS with Hub Health. The Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub application will audit critical mobile device management (MDM) and Workspace ONE processes, connectivity, and capabilities to validate expected behavior and self-heal common problems. A Health Portal dashboard in Workspace ONE Intelligence and a Hub Health device client will keep admins and users apprised of analytics to identify any potential trending issues in the environment and to ensure the overall fleet is behaving as expected. Hub Health attributes can link with ticketing systems like ServiceNow and will also interface with Freestyle Orchestrator to bring custom workflows to bear on more complex issues.
Security baselines
Specific types of organizations are required to configure their endpoint security protocols in accordance with designated standards and benchmarks, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or the Center for Internet Security (CIS). Some organizations choose to align with these standards simply because it’s good practice. Coming soon, Workspace ONE will easily allow organizations to apply predefined baselines that align with these popular third-party security standards, allowing IT teams to quickly and accurately configure security settings to comply with them. Additionally, organizations will be able to import definitions from open-source tools such as the macOS Security Compliance Project (MSCP), or even to define fully customized baselines on their own.
Each baseline definition will include the full set of required scripts and profiles necessary to achieve full compliance, with enforcement capabilities built in. This functionality will deploy the configurations, report on any devices that might be out of alignment with the chosen configuration, and auto-remediate any devices that are found to be out of compliance.
Declarative device management
Workspace ONE’s new modern architecture embraces the principles of desired state management (DSM), which is integral to the overall strategy of supporting Apple’s Declarative Device Management (DDM) protocol. Rather than requiring a step-by-step command-and-response process for applying every defined configuration on a device, DDM empowers Workspace ONE to define the expected final state, requires the device to perform all actions necessary to achieve that state, and provides Workspace ONE with real-time updates of any status changes along the way. Overall, this approach will allow Workspace ONE environments to scale more than ever before, while operating far more efficiently.
Today, Workspace ONE UEM has a live technical preview of utilizing configuration and asset declarations for iOS devices, DDM’s analogue to traditional configuration profiles. Support for DDM’s status channel for all Apple platforms will be coming soon, which will replace the traditional process of gathering device information from a system of scheduled queries. Real-time, device-initiated updates will occur whenever the device status changes, such as when updating to a new OS version or when the status of an installed profile or application changes. Soon, you’ll also see support for brand-new capabilities that Apple has introduced in the DDM protocol, such as advanced OS update capabilities integrated into Workspace ONE’s existing dashboards.
You’ll hear about these innovations at Explore Barcelona in our sessions. And while you’re there, you can learn more about our current Mac management capabilities by joining us for this session, “The Art of Modern Mac Management with Workspace ONE.”
We’ve described just a few of the many capabilities slated for future release as part of our Mac management upgrades. There’s much more exciting Mac functionality to come, so be sure to keep your eyes on the End-User Computing Blog as we continue to announce further developments.
Additional resources
- Learn more about managing macOS with VMware Workspace ONE.
- View recorded Hybrid Workforce sessions from VMware Explore Las Vegas.
For more VMware Explore news, see our VMware Explore Barcelona 2023 Anywhere Workspace, Workspace ONE, and Horizon announcement overview and all the articles in our VMware Explore Barcelona category.
