Apple Business Manager and DEP dashboard "partial" sync issues

[sshort]

Quick tip: After I updated my org's DEP portal to the new Apple Business Manager, the DEP dashboard in Meraki would fail a "partial" sync my existing devices.

Wait for the partial sync to fail, then click the Full Sync button. Your devices should re-populate in a few moments. It seems I have to do this each time the page reloads, might be something Meraki needs to fix on their end...

[MikeMandalorian]

Just out of curiosity is there any advantage to upgrading to the Apple Business DEP

[nextgenconcepts]

It combines both DEP and VPP in one place. It supposed to make it easier to manage the deployment without jumping from the different apple programs. It also makes it easier to create Apple IDs for employees. Think Apple School Manager for business.

Apple Business Manager lets organizations buy content and configure automatic device enrollment in an MDM solution. Apple Business Manager is accessible on the web, and is designed for technology managers and IT administrators. New enhancements from DEP to Apple Business Manager include:

• Support for Administrator account and multiple Manager accounts

• Any Administrator/Manager account may now accept new Apple terms & conditions

• Create and administer Managed Apple IDs for end users

• Assign Roles to end users

• Manage locations

• Purchase/Manage apps and books without separately managing VPP for Apps system

• Transfer licenses for apps and books between locations • Access activity log files

https://help.apple.com/businessmanager/#/tes40577306d

[vassallon]

Be aware the Apple Business manager is not for creating Apple IDs for users other than those who need to manage DEP/VPP functions. 

That is one MAJOR difference in the two programs. I was just at a meeting with Apple and that was one thing they could not stress enough.

[PeterJames]

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@vassallon wrote:

Be aware the Apple Business manager is not for creating Apple IDs for users other than those who need to manage DEP/VPP functions. 

That is one MAJOR difference in the two programs. I was just at a meeting with Apple and that was one thing they could not stress enough.

---

Haha this bit was very confusing 🙂

Peter James

[Lan19]

Why wouldn't this be used the same way in Business as in School. In an Enterprise environment, it would be great for us to create and manage the AppleID as we do with other Enterprise issued ID's.

[jared_f]

Off topic: but, where is the upgrade option to upgrade to Apple Buisness? I looked to do it when I saw the press release, but I couldn’t find how I move over. Do I reach out to my account manager at Apple?

Thanks,

Jared

[nextgenconcepts]

You login to business.apple.com with the existing Apple ID that you are using for DEP and VPP and it walks you through the upgrade.

[jared_f]

Thanks @nextgenconcepts. I was not signing in with an administrator account, just one that had access to DEP and VPP. 

After upgrading, I ran into a token issue with Meraki and DEP would not sync over. Re-uploading the token seemed to resolve the issue. I am not seeing the issue with full/partial syncs though so that may have been resolved.

Jared

[sshort]

This issue seems to have worked itself out. I'm not sure if Meraki did anything on their end to address it but the DEP list loads normally now.