YouTube Video - Meraki Systems Manager - Apple Push CSR Configuration
Over the next few weeks I will be creating a series of videos for our YouTube channel that focus on the setup and management of devices on the Meraki Systems Manager MDM. We just uploaded our first video which covers how to create a signed push certificate from Apple. This is a requirement for all iOS devices in the MDM and is really easy to complete. I was able to create, sign and test a new .pem certificate in under 2 minutes! Meraki helped a bunch by giving us our CSR to upload to Apple. Our next few videos will cover adding devices and what tools the MDM gives us to manage.
As we think about creating an Enterprise network, the ability to manage mobile devices should be a serious discussion. How can sensitive information be remotely erased if a phone or tablet has been lost or stolen? There are a number of reasons to utilize an MDM in your organization. Each reason needs to match what the MDM can do for you, and more importantly how you manage the MDM. We like the Meraki solution because of the cross platform integration and visibility. I hope you enjoy and find these videos useful.
A mobile culture isn't just alive and well these days, it's a thriving dependency. From cell phones, to laptops, to tablets, internet access on the go has grown from a trendy luxury to an essential utility. The phenomenon comes new challenges at the enterprise level when it comes to device management, tracking, and security.
For every time you've needed to ask a friend or spouse to call your lost phone in the hopes of learning its whereabouts, an IT administrator has stressed over protecting the sensitive material a suddenly lost device has access to. It's not just missing equipment network admins need to worry about, though. Most of the population carries a smart phone and looks for a free WiFi network to join when visiting businesses. In today's mobile world, administrators need to not only provide seamless internet access for everyone from the CEO to customers, but also secure corporate network access based on who someone is and their role in the company. Never mind figuring out how to remotely wipe the laptop a sales guy left in a rental car and GPS tracking for the hand-scanner a 3rd shift worker never remembers to hang up.
The time for mobile device management solutions has never been more needed, whether an employee needs an iPhone provisioned for corporate network access or guests a simple WiFi connection to browse cat memes.
Photo credit: complex.com
Meraki is working to alleviate these headaches in their MDM solution, Systems Manager, and for small to medium sized networks with less than 100 devices, they're even doing it for free. What's more, a slew of new functionality has been extended to Systems Manager this summer in Meraki's latest feature set, called Sentry. Where Systems Manager handles general tracking and monitoring functions, Sentry automates device adoption, authentication, and access control. Oh, and it's still free up to 100 devices.
Systems Manager drilled in client view
System Manager and Sentry features include:
Unified multi-platform device management
Robust security policy enforcement (NEW with Sentry)
Scalable endpoint configuration
On-device content management
Secure support for BYOD initiatives
Automatic device classification
Automatically apply network policies by device type (NEW with Sentry)
Analyze network activity with automatic reporting
Getting started is pretty simple. Just follow these steps or check out the video below:
Login to your Meraki dashboard account via http://dashboard.meraki.com. If you already have a dashboard account, go to the Network drop-down menu at the top of the Meraki dashboard page, select "Create a network," and create a Systems Manager network.
If you are planning to manage iOS devices, you will need to set up an Apple push notification certificate. Instructions for obtaining this certificate can be found on the Organization > MDM page. To complete this process, you must have a valid Apple ID.
The various methods for enrolling iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac OS X clients can be found on the MDM > Add devices page.
