Onboarding to ABM

Welcome to part four of the All-In-One guide to managing Apple devices with Microsoft Intune. Till now, we have discussed how the devices are enrolled in any MDM solution, different types of enrollment, and how to decide between Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials, or Apple School Manager. Here's the link to the first three parts:

1. The need to manage devices and data
2. Getting Started - Apple Device Enrollment types & MDM
3. Device Deployment: ABM or ASM, or ABE? (intuneirl.com)

Overview

Apple Business Manager is a web-based portal that helps IT administrators manage iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices. This portal works with a third-party MDM solution, allowing you to purchase content easily in volume.

Pre-requisites

To automatically add devices to Apple Business Manager, the following conditions must be met:

1. If the device was purchased directly from Apple, the purchaser must have used an enrolled and verified Apple Customer Number.
2. If the device was purchased directly from a participating Apple Authorized Reseller or a cellular carrier, the device must be linked to that reseller's Reseller Number.
3. The device must have been ordered after March 1, 2011, whether purchased directly from Apple or a participating Apple Authorized Reseller or cellular carrier.

Enrollment in ABM is simple and takes only a few minutes. Any business can sign-up for ABM subject to the service terms and conditions. The first thing to get started is registering in D-U-N-S.

What is the "D-U-N-S" number?

The Data Universal Numbering System, commonly abbreviated as DUNS or D-U-N-S, is a proprietary system developed and managed by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) that assigns a unique numeric identifier to a “DUNS number” to a single business entity.

It was introduced in the 1960s for credit reporting and is now standard followed worldwide.

A nine-digit number is assigned to each business entity with a unique, separate, and distinct operation to identify them. The DUNS number is random, and the digits have no apparent significance.

Why "D-U-N-S" number is required for Apple Services?

When an organization decides to buy Apple devices, they must buy Apple Enterprise services to buy & manage these devices. ABM, Apple Developer Portal, etc., requires the organization to have a DUNS number. If an organization wants to distribute apps to different geographical locations, it needs to have ABM subscriptions, and then for enrolling in ABM, you will need a DUNS number.

D-U-N-S Number will be used to check your organization’s identity and legal entity status as part of our enrollment verification process for joining the Apple Developer Program or the Apple Developer Enterprise Program. The company/business must be recognized as a legal entity (such as a corporation, limited partnership, or limited liability company) to enter into the legal terms and obligations of the Apple Developer Program agreements. It does not allow DBAs, fictitious businesses, trade names, and branches to register for it. Companies and educational institutions must provide a D-U-N-S Number registered to their legal entity.

Steps for requesting a "D-U-N-S" number

It could be possible that D&B may have already assigned your organization a free D-U-N-S Number. Before enrolling, look up your organization to see if you have a D-U-N-S Number. If your company is not listed, you can submit your information to Dun & Bradstreet for a free D-U-N-S Number.

You’ll be asked for the following information when looking up your organization:

• Legal entity name
• Headquarters address
• Mailing address
• Your work contact information

A D&B representative will contact you directly for more information (such as your business type or the number of employees) as part of their verification process.

1. Click or copy the following link to your browser  Get a D-U-N-S Number – Establish Your Business – D&B (dnb.com)
2. Select your Primary Reason for D-U-N-S Number Registration from the drop-down menu.
3. Complete the company information sections. You must provide information about your organization, like legal name, address, contact name & title.
4. Review Details
5. Click the “Submit” button to complete your request.
6. Once you have completed the entire process, you will receive a confirmation email.  It will take 24 to 48 hours to receive your D‐U‐N‐S Number, which you will receive via email for your records.

The next step is to get onboarded with Apple Business Manager. So, we continue with logging into ABM. The enrollment process is as below:

Sign-up for ABM

1. Sign in to Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager.
2. Click "Enroll Now."
3. Enter the information for your organization, like Organization Name, D-U-N-S number, Phone Number, etc.

The user signing up for the ABM for the first time by default becomes the first administrator on ABM as they enrol in ABM on behalf of the organization. This administrator should agree to the program and software license agreements of ABM. The initial account administrator can create/give four other users as "administrators" in the ABM. Also, these accounts can't be associated with any existing Apple ID or other Apple services.

Apple will review all the information provided and will contact this representative, and they may be asked for additional information by phone or email before the enrollment is approved.

Summary:

With this, you now have an ABM instance ready, and you can start adding devices to it or ask the reseller to add on your behalf. I have broken this part into two parts as ABM is a complex topic, and it won't be possible to cover everything in this post.

I will try to publish the next part of it by next week.