Deploying an external enterprise Application

Question

I need to be able to deploy my application to other businesses, but not on the app store. The business app is for restaurant owners, and is different to the app that will be available on the app store for users.

I saw that Apple have an 'Enterprise' program, that allow users to deploy apps to internally within there company. For example to co workers. But I need to be able to deploy the app externally to businesses. Has any come across and solved this issue before?

One way you could do this is by writing a web application that is mobile-optimized, for the restaurant owners. Presumably *you* are hosting the database? — Robert Harvey, Jun 26 '14 at 16:22
@RobertHarvey We are indeed hosting the database. Thank you for your comment. We already have the app for the restaurant owners developed. We are looking for another option, other than uploading the restaurant owners app to the General App Store under a different variation of our name. — DevC, Jun 26 '14 at 16:25

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 26 '14 at 16:26

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You should consider the Apple B2B distribution program: https://developer.apple.com/programs/volume/b2b/

I haven't personally used it, but it appears to be a solution that fills the gap between Enterprise and App Store.

answered Jun 26 '14 at 16:26

Blake Schwendiman

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Dang so close, unfortunately its not available in my country (Ireland). This is strange because the European headquarters are based here and all. – DevC Jun 26 '14 at 16:33
Bummer! That's too bad. – Blake Schwendiman Jun 26 '14 at 16:41

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 26 '14 at 17:04

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One alternative would be to use the iOS Enterprise Program instead of the B2B distribution program.

But as you'd be developing apps for another company, I think the correct thing to do would be to ask your client (the other company) to license the iOS Enterprise Program and give you access to it. That's how the company I work at handles this cases.

answered Jun 26 '14 at 17:04

B.R.W.

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Thanks Bruno, I had considered this but felt that it was more of an internal service. There is going to be more than one Restaurant owner who are going to use the app. We are a company that is providing a service to many Restaurants. The normal user will be able to make a booking via the app to any one of the restaurants. Do you think an Enterprise Program is still relevant? Could you elaborate how your company uses the Enterprise Program, as best as you can, please? – DevC Jun 27 '14 at 08:07
Sorry for the delay. The Enterprise Program would be relevant for the Restaurant owners only, not for the end-users (which should use the second app, distributed in the AppStore). However, Restaurant owners might not like to have to sign up for the Enterprise Program, because it's a lot of paperwork. You could also use regular ad-hoc installations, the only issue is that they would have to update their app (or at least the provisioning profile) every 6 months. – B.R.W. Jul 23 '14 at 17:01

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 03 '14 at 13:43

If anyone else is interested in publishing an app for businesses that shouldn’t be on the public App Store, there is the iOS developer enterprise program which allows companies to distribute apps internally without publication on the App Store.

The program needs to be open by the companies as the distribution is only for their employees.

The B2B option is to distribute custom apps from businesses to businesses and only available in the following countries :

Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.

If you are not from one of these countries, the Enterprise program is the best option. You will need your customers to enroll in the Enterprise program, and then you will be able to join their development team and develop the app on their behalf. (Source: Apple Customer Support).

Deploying an external enterprise Application

3 Answers3