Parallels Launches Enterprise Mac Management Tool

In what it claims is a world first, Parallels, a global provider of desktop virtualization and cloud enabling software founded by a Russian team in 1999, has launched a “complete and simplified solution” to help IT personnel manage Macs in enterprise environments.

The tool, called Parallels Management Suite, is a plug-in for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) that extends System Center to manage both Macs and PCs, as well as virtual machines running on Apple’s operating system.

We’re not that different

“The product is essentially designed for businesses facing the fact that their employees want to use only the equipment they like,” Parallels’ PR Director Yulia Yasinovskaya told East-West Digital News.

“This recent trend of employee preferences has given rise to the number of Macs in use in the enterprise market, which in turn generated the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) and ‘Choose Your Own Device’ (CYOD) markets. But solutions for managing Macs had been lacking in the market,” she adds.

A Parallels survey of more than 500 IT and knowledge workers revealed that less than 30 percent of workers get automatic software updates distributed to their Macs, and that more than 42 percent of large companies have no system or tools in place for Mac security and management.

“This exposes them to potential security risks,” Yasinovskaya notes.

Developed in a Moscow R&D centre, the solution is being launched across the globe today, with a focus on markets where Apple’s penetration in enterprise environments is relatively high.

Just last, month, Cisco took a 1 percent stake in Parallels, interested in virtualization technology that enables businesses to run Windows, Linux and Mac OS X on the same machine at the same time.

This story originally appeared on East-West Digital News.

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