Just in time for killing time over the holidays, Apple this week updated one of its most essential enterprise products: its Deployment and Management Tutorials, which now cover all the latest iterations of the company's iPhone, Mac, and iPad operating systems.

What this means is that Apple offers enterprise admins around 12 hours of in-depth course content to help them gain the skills and knowledge required to configure, deploy, and manage Apple devices in their organizations. The course content is useful to anyone working in business, of course. It should give anyone involved in IT decision-making a sense of what's required to manage Apple products at work.

Free training for IT, updated now

The biggest take-away is that the courses have been built to support an ecosystem that's as consumer-simple to enterprise admins as it is to any other kind of customer. That's the point, of course, and a big driver for Apple's steadily increasing presence in the enterprise - as is the emergence of products such as Apple Watch or Apple TV in business.

Apple's approach continues to generate dividends.

Not only is it seeing overall OS share increase against enterprise incumbent Windows, but in mobile iOS absolutely leads across the world's biggest businesses. This success has spawned a strong network of device management companies, whose customers live and breathe the kind of information contained in the new Apple course.

Apple IT training: Now in its third edition

Apple began offering IT training and certification courses in the summer of 2022. With the content updated for the latest operating systems, the company has offered three iterations of them. You'll find three tracks, for Device Support, Deployment and Management, and for Apple Business Essentials.

The first two lean into each other, while the third course is more specific. All the courses are free, though Apple charges$149 for each exam and passing those exams do require that you gain additional experience.

So, what's inside the course?

Naturally, it's all about mobile device management, including information to help new-to-Apple admins get a grip on how to approach deployment scenarios, how to prepare, and all the ins and outs of device enrolment, management, and redeployment. These are ssentially the building blocks IT needs to work with third-party MDM vendors.

The content extends all the way into how the MDM protocols, code inside Apple's devices, can be used to manage a variety of tasks, including items like managed apps, books, software updates and more. It also offers a hefty explanation concerning device security and the challenges and strategies to help deliver that.

How the courses work

Available online, everything is explained in an Apple way, which means with a high-degree of clarity and informative graphics and illustration that responds to where you are in the content.

Through a series of bite-sized lessons - the longest is 30 minutes in duration - users learn how Apple's built-in management framework can be exploited to manage fleets of devices, with an MDM provider and Apple Business/Schools Manager.

You must take the Device Support exam before taking the Deployment and Management track. If you pass the exam, you gain accreditation and a badge you can use on social networks, websites, and professional hubs such as LinkedIn.

Inevitable gradualness

The revised IT training courses culminate what has been a year of steady improvements for enterprise deployments of Apple products. The company and its partners in that space continue to extend the capabilities of its systems with useful new additions such as Return to Service on iPhone, or its continued efforts around trust and identity.

This is achieving results.

Windows share in the US is declining and IDC predicts the number of Macs deployed in business worldwide will increase 20% in the coming year. More Apple devices also means those devices are being used across a broader set of business roles. We're seeing them appear across non-traditional sectors, such as industry and manufacturing.

What this means for IT

If you are managing non-Apple device fleets today, it makes sense to spend a few hours exploring Apple's IT training resources now as it's highly probable you will be asked to support those products tomorrow.

While you must pay for accreditation, the training is free, and if you're an IT admin who has not explored Apple's systems before, perhaps it's time to give them a try. Because, as Bob Dylan once sang, there's, "a change coming on...,  and the fourth part of the day's already gone."

Happy holidays!

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