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I understand that Apple consolidated some services and now calls this consolidation the these services the Apple Business Manager. There is also the Apple Enterprise Program.

Do you need to be part of the enterprise program to be part of the business program? Why would I choose one over the other?

Jon Vogel
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2 Answers2

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Apple Business Manager is used by organisations to deploy Apple devices and obtain both App Store apps and B2B apps using the Volume Purchase Program:

Apple Business Manager is a simple, web-based portal for IT administrators to deploy iOS, macOS and tvOS devices all from one place. When used with your mobile device management (MDM) solution, you can configure device settings and buy and distribute apps and books.

The Enterprise Developer Program allows organisations to develop and distribute apps to their own devices without uploading them to the App Store and without going through Apple App Store review:

Distribute proprietary, in-house iOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps within your organization. Securely host and deploy apps to your employees' devices.

You do not need have an Apple Enterprise Developer Program membership to use Apple Business Manager.

In summary:

  • You would choose Apple Business Manager if you want to manage devices using the Device Enrolment Program and to obtain apps developed by others using VPP
  • You would choose the Enterprise Developer Program if you want to develop apps for in-house use that are not suitable for the App Store or should not be available on the App Store.

You would use one or the other or both depending on your needs.

Update

Apple now allows organisations to "sell" B2B apps to themselves; This means that in many cases a B2B app can be used in place of an Enterprise app. Enterprise apps require periodic refresh of their provisioning profiles and certificates and also need Internet access to verify their signatures. Unless you are creating an app that will not pass Apple review (e.g. private API use), Apple now recommends B2B apps over enterprise program apps.

Paulw11
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  • Sir, My company developed an iOS app for **M** company. The app is basically for the seller and dealer purpose where they can manage the products, track products and few more functionalities. The company self is the seller and they have different dealer all over the USA. The apple rejects the app as its B2B for **M** company. Now I'm kinda confused now what option I would select to publish the app (ABM or Enterprise account). Pls suggest. Thanks – dahiya_boy Apr 08 '19 at 11:22
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    The difficulty comes if the people who will be installing and using the app aren't direct employees of company M - If they aren't then neither B2B nor Enterprise app is applicable; You may need to appeal to Apple and explain this. If the dealers are a reasonable size then you could make the app available to them as a B2B app, but if they are small organisations without significant IT departments they may not be capable of deploying a B2B app. – Paulw11 Apr 08 '19 at 11:51
  • We talked to apple and they clearly rejected the app and suggested ABM. Does it is required company M to have IT depart in USA for ABM distribution or we can distribute app from India w/o any issue? For futuristic purpose I also would like to know the app can be distributable in multi-nation from these options? As you mentioned enterprise account apps not been reviewed then I think it also work if we publish app there too. – dahiya_boy Apr 09 '19 at 06:03
  • Each company that manages their various iOS devices needs to register an AppleID with Apple Business Manager. You then add those Apple IDs to your B2B app authorised purchasers list in App Store Connect. They can then "purchase" your app (it may be free) in ABM. They can then distribute redemption codes to their users or distribute it via an MDM. I guess you could register your own AppleID with Apple Business Manager and then "purchase" the app yourself. You would then email a redemption code to each user to allow them to install the app. – Paulw11 Apr 09 '19 at 07:28
  • The terms of the Enterprise program only allow you to distribute the app to direct employees of your company. – Paulw11 Apr 09 '19 at 07:28
  • Does ABM distributes app in multi-nation ? – dahiya_boy Apr 09 '19 at 07:37
  • Not sure about *every* country but it is available in a lot of countries. – Paulw11 Apr 09 '19 at 07:38
  • Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/191510/discussion-between-dahiya-boy-and-paulw11). – dahiya_boy Apr 09 '19 at 07:39
  • @Paulw11, Can we distribute enterprise apps(In-house apps) using Apple Business Manager? – Kirti Nikam May 06 '19 at 09:52
  • No, you need to distribute Enterprise apps via a web site, Apple Configurator or an MDM. – Paulw11 May 06 '19 at 10:47
  • Actually, I am doing Enterprise apps distribution via a web site only, but my customer is going to enrol in Apple Business Manager. does it have any impact? Can customer able to install Enterprise apps via a web site? – Kirti Nikam May 06 '19 at 11:08
  • Apple Business Manager is used to add devices to the Device Enrolment Program and to volume-purchase App Store and B2B apps. There is no overlap between Apple Business Manager and Enterprise Apps. – Paulw11 May 06 '19 at 11:14
  • @Paulw11, Thanks for the clarification. So I understood that using "Apple Business Manager" we can enrol devices and control what apps should get installed on devices (app downloaded from Appstore or customer apps). Enterprise apps can be installed only using the website only. There is no connection between Apple Business Manager and Enterprise Apps. If the device enrolled in "Apple Business Manager" but still we can install Enterprise app using safari. Please correct me if wrong. – Kirti Nikam May 06 '19 at 11:31
  • No, with Apple Business Manager you can enrol devices in DEP which forces them to register with the specified enterprise MDM before they can be used. It is the MDM that actually distributes apps (enterprise or App Store), but yes, you are right; there is no connection. – Paulw11 May 06 '19 at 11:37
  • Hi , I was little confused with enterprise account and apple business manager. Our company is a product based . We are developing same app for different clients .(All the app doesn’t have sign up)How we distribute this app to different clients? . – Subin K Kuriakose Jul 01 '19 at 10:18
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    You can create B2B custom apps for your customers. These are uploaded to App Store Connect and reviewed like any App Store App, but they are not available on the App Store. Your clients provide their ABM Apple ID to you and you add that in App Store Connect. They can then make volume purchases using ABM – Paulw11 Jul 01 '19 at 10:22
  • @Paulw11 your last comment is really helpful and clear my doubt. – Aashish1aug Jan 08 '20 at 10:50
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In recent WWDC 2019, Apple has explained the process - https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/304/

Enterprise program is not required for business program. One can published in-house app to their employees either through enterprise program or (developer program + business program).

Abhay
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