How does a business use the Mac App Store? Apple Support says to just make an Apple ID with the business as contact, but that cannot be the way to do it. Can I install software that I buy for $29 on hundreds of machines? That doesn't sound right. I've had this problem for quite som time without finding an answer, but now that Lion is ONLY released through the Mac App Store, there must be a way for businesses to upgrade? Apple can't be cutting support for businesses? There seems to be no information about this on Apple's site, no information to get from their support and little or no information on Google. Are we the only business using Macs?
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How does a business use the Mac App Store
- Thread starter paralyzah
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Unless the terms of sale specifically allow that, you wouldn't be able to do that regardless of where you purchase the software from.
What support?
Not to be rude, but what part of my question did you intend to clear up or answer by pasting from the agreement? This merely underlines my point. Businesses cannot use the Mac App Store and can therefor not upgrade to Lion. Employees CANNOT be required to use their personal accounts to upgrade their work computers, and as far as I know you cannot register a single credit card on multiple accounts, so a business cannot create individual accounts for their employees either. Not to mention, many businesses don't even have a credit or debit card.
Apple even has a page for businesses where they brag about Mac App Store for businesses, but provides no information what so ever on how. Apple Support suggested we just buy the software and install it on our computers. Obviously in direct violation of their own agreement.....
Apple even has a page for businesses where they brag about Mac App Store for businesses, but provides no information what so ever on how. Apple Support suggested we just buy the software and install it on our computers. Obviously in direct violation of their own agreement.....
The agreement clearly states how a business can use the Mac App Store.
Yes, they can. They need to purchase and download a copy for each computer, as specified in the quoted agreement.
Yes, you can.
Either the business would, or the business owner would, in most cases.
Perhaps you should wait until the product is actually released first? Oh, ever heard of gift cards?
What kind of business upgrades to .0 version of software?
What kind of business upgrades to .0 version of software?
You can't download multiple copies of apps with one account. So, the business needs to create a separate iTunes account for each instance of Lion they purchase? For some businesses that could be hundreds of account to manage. Even if it's only ten, it's still impractical.
I agree that it's not efficient for large Mac installations. The Mac App Store is obviously targeted toward individuals and small, rather than large businesses. I'm sure Apple will do something for businesses with large numbers of Macs. A phone call will probably be all that it takes. As Consultant suggested, why not wait until Lion is released, to find out what Apple intends to do for such situations? Also, it would be pretty irresponsible for a business to upgrade to a new OS version on the day it is first released. No prudent IT manager would ever do such a thing.
It is irresponsible to generalize. I can think of lots of responsible use cases for .0 software. That said, Lion was an example and is not the only piece of software in the Mac App Store. Neither is it the only piece of software in the Mac App Store that is ONLY available through the Mac App Store. Arguing about minor details besides the point doesn't do any good.
I've gotten the answer already. There simply isn't a good way for businesses to use the Mac App Store yet. And no one knows if there ever will be.
I've tried to register the same credit card with two accounts before and it didn't work. So unless they've changed policy recently I'm pretty sure it's not possible. Does anyone know for sure that it is possible now?
And in my country most businesses do not have credit or debit cards. It creates a mess with accounting.
I've gotten the answer already. There simply isn't a good way for businesses to use the Mac App Store yet. And no one knows if there ever will be.
I've tried to register the same credit card with two accounts before and it didn't work. So unless they've changed policy recently I'm pretty sure it's not possible. Does anyone know for sure that it is possible now?
And in my country most businesses do not have credit or debit cards. It creates a mess with accounting.
A simple yes would have been sufficient. This wasn't possible before.
It still doesn't solve much though as this would be insanely complicated to manage. The employees cannot be given access to the Apple ID and therefor there would have to be two e-mail addresses per employee which is just impractical. In reality this is Apple saying we don't support businesses.
It still doesn't solve much though as this would be insanely complicated to manage. The employees cannot be given access to the Apple ID and therefor there would have to be two e-mail addresses per employee which is just impractical. In reality this is Apple saying we don't support businesses.
How do businesses manage iPhones and iPad? Most of fortune 100 company have them.
There must be NO WAY to deploy Apple devices to the enterprise.
Exactly.
There must be NO WAY to deploy Apple devices to the enterprise.
Exactly.
How do businesses manage iPhones and iPad? Most of fortune 100 company have them.
There must be NO WAY to deploy Apple devices to the enterprise.
Okay? How? Can you outline how fortune 100 companies manage to access the Mac App Store? Don't tell me that they have one Apple ID per employee. That just doesn't make any sense. As far as I know, Apple have and internal distribution solution for iOS for businesses. This is separate from the Apple ID and employees can use their own accounts. How is this related to my question about the Mac App Store?
the app store on iOS devices can be controlled through Apples own enterprise tool, or through other tools like the Symantec Mobile Management Solution.
Yes, this is the kind of resources I'm looking for
only I'm looking for solutions for the Mac App Store, not the iOS App Store.
Doesn't answer your question but I recall during the WWDC keynote it was reiterated you could download content from the the same account on up to 10 devices, maximum 5 computers, so 5 copies of Lion. It's easy to burn a developer copy to disc, so probably easy once the final release is there.
It's likely for business they would have to go through Apple Enterprise. I guess for the time being it's wait and see. I read new Macs purchased from 6 June were eligible for a single free upgrade, so I'm guessing this is by redemption code. Buy a volume license for Enterprise, expect the same.
It's likely for business they would have to go through Apple Enterprise. I guess for the time being it's wait and see. I read new Macs purchased from 6 June were eligible for a single free upgrade, so I'm guessing this is by redemption code. Buy a volume license for Enterprise, expect the same.
So I have a question. Back when the store first came out, it seems to me that I saw plenty of people talking about the fact that if you simply went to an app's page, you could buy the app again, unlike the iOS app store. If that's true, then for smaller businesses at least, it could be quite practical to simply have one account, purchase on each machine that needed a separate license, and have legitimate separate copies on every machine that needs one. May not be quite as nice as the previous setups, but for small businesses it wouldn't be a big deal.
I agree with the consensus that larger businesses should just wait for Apple Corporate Sales to set something up.
jW
I agree with the consensus that larger businesses should just wait for Apple Corporate Sales to set something up.
jW
Yes, this is the kind of resources I'm looking for
You're not going to find one for businesses. You'll need to contact their business and institution group to purchase in bulk. I'm sure for the average CONSUMER the Mac App Store is the only way to get Lion. BUT, for businesses that need bulk amounts it will probably be the same way you've always gotten it.
In other words. You won't be using the Mac App Store for your purchase. It simply will not work for you. Period. End of discussion.
So then businesses cannot use other software that is only available through the Mac App Store? There will probably be more and more of that as it is a very convenient way for developers to distribute software. Apple do have a page where they brag about Mac App Store for businesses though, so I hope this situation is temporary.
End User software is fine for the Mac App Store. They're encouraging individual users of Macs, even in a business, to use the MAS.
However, they're not encouraging businesses that need 100+ copies of something to use the MAS. Those are things you need to work out with the business solutions center at Apple (or whatever they call it) and if you need more than 5 copies of a particular other piece of software on the MAS I'd suggest you contact the developer to see about a different distribution method. They'd probably happily sell you 1000 copies of something at a discount in one go if they could.
This situation isn't temporary, you just need to get your software the same way you always have. the MAS offers you nothing.
Oh, and keep voting me down because you're not getting the answer you want. You're clearly never going to get it.
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Most businesses are actually not 100+.
I certainly hope it's temporary. Getting the software the same way as usual is more messy than an elegant solution like the Mac App Store.
Excuse me? The answer I want is the correct answer. Which I've gotten. Voting you down? I didn't even realize it was a voting system here until now...
The fact that two different operators at Apple Support didn't know the answer to my original question underlines that this question did not have an obvious answer. So I'm thankful to the few constructive people in here who have helped clear this up.
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I'm guessing that this system they're implementing for Lion will become available to developers to set similar terms for businesses for their apps as well. Hopefully that will take care of the other software. Glad you've got the answer for Lion at least!
jW