Apple is hoping that businesses used to the Mac way of doing things will sign up to its new office management initiative, Business Essentials – a subscription offering aimed at businesses with under 500 employees.
Starting a US$2.99 per device, per month, and currently in beta form until a full launch in the second quarter of next year, the offering gives dedicated, work-only cloud storage, AppleCare+, 24/7 phone support, on-site repairs, and training modules.
“Employees get a dedicated iCloud account for work — so storage, backup, and collaboration are simple and secure,” Apple explains. “And for iPhone and iPad, work backups are automatic.”
The service isn’t exactly a Teams competitor, currently lacking the Excel, Word-style suite of programs, instead leaning closer to storage, organisation, and I.T support.
It does follow Apple’s recent focus on the subscription model, and attempt to move into business computing solutions.
