Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.
Time Machine still works great. It’s one of those Apple features that just quietly does its job. But it also feels like something from another era. It was built for a time when people backed up to a local drive under their desk or a shared volume down the hall. That’s not how modern businesses work anymore. If Apple wanted to support the enterprise, Managed Apple Accounts would come with built-in cloud backup. But that doesn’t exist. Apple hasn’t built it. So, companies like Backblaze are stepping in to solve the problem that Apple won’t.
About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT network from 2009 to 2021. Through his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a mobile device management system, enterprise grade Wi-Fi, 1000s of Macs, and 1000s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for IT departments.
What Time Machine in the cloud would look like
If Apple built a true Time Machine in the cloud, it would be tied to Managed Apple Accounts and backed by iCloud Drive. Every Mac could silently back up in the background, restoring files and full systems without needing a local disk or IT ticket. It would be built into the OS, work with FileVault, and support granular restores straight from the menu bar. When you make any changes, it would back it up.
If Apple were to build a tool, they’d need to build a lot of IT controls into it. They need to set policies, keep data in certain regions, and use their own S3 buckets or private cloud storage. They want visibility into who’s backed up and who isn’t. Apple hasn’t built any of that. If Apple wanted to sell more services to the enterprise, this would be a prime example of what they should be building.
Backblaze is filling the gap Apple hasn’t
Backblaze has been backing up Macs for years, and it’s one of the few companies that really understands how to do it at scale. I’ve been using their consumer product for many years, and I also use their B2 backup service. The macOS cloud backup tool for enterprise accounts gives IT teams what they actually need. It’s a set-it-and-forget-it backup that works silently in the background without using a lot of local resources (it’s a native macOS app), protects every version of every file, and doesn’t require extra hardware or custom scripts.
Backblaze stands out to me because it’s not trying to shoehorn a consumer tool into an enterprise use case. The team built an enterprise tool that works great for consumers as well. It’s built for businesses that need visibility, control, and compliance without getting bogged down in complexity or a non-native enterprise.
Backblaze Legal Hold
Legal Hold is the kind of feature that feels like it should have been standard years ago. If you’re managing a business with compliance, legal, or HR requirements, you need the ability to preserve. If you’ve ever done the IT side of legal discovery, you understand the importance here.
Backblaze Legal Hold makes that whole process simple. You can lock a user’s entire backup in place with a single click. Every version of every file is preserved. It doesn’t slow down the machine, doesn’t notify the user, and doesn’t cost extra. It works on the cloud side. If you need to retrieve something, you can pull files instantly or have a fully encrypted drive delivered to your office on a physical drive. Data stays encrypted in transit and at rest, with the option for private-key encryption for extra protection.
Legal Hold is now included at no extra charge with Computer Backup with Enterprise Control. And it’s all managed from the same admin console IT already uses.
“With Legal Hold, information stays secure and immediately accessible when the stakes are highest,” said Gleb Budman, CEO at Backblaze. “Reliable preservation of data reduces exposure to fines and sanctions, giving organizations fast, predictable compliance support without extra software, hardware, or surprise fees.”
Wrap up
Apple has nailed the IT experience for hardware, software, and device management. In my opinion, this is one of the major gaps left. They need to build a ChromeOS-like experience where when you sign in with a Managed Apple Account, everything is restored (all settings, etc).
Backblaze has stepped in with a backup platform built for how companies work today. It’s simple, reliable, and built for remote work. The recent addition Legal Hold just makes it even more compelling for IT teams that have compliance requirements. This is the kind of tool and service that IT teams need to scale macOS adoption in corporate environments.
Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.
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