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Purchasing software for company use

Hi. I have 24 iPads here that I have to set up, and configure. I have done the config using iPhone Configuration Utility, and that has worked fine. Now I need to install the same set of applications across all 24 iPad devices, for use by 24 different people. How should I go about purchasing them, in terms of my Apple ID? Clearly I cannot use my personal, home-use Apple ID. Do I make 1, or 24 Apple IDs for this? Is there a special "Corporate Apple ID?" Thanks!

iPad 2, iOS 4.3.2

Posted on Jul 7, 2011 11:56 PM

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19 replies

Jul 8, 2011 1:09 AM in response to raymondu999

If that's the problem then why don't you just make an Apple ID under a company billing adress, or buy the song VIA iTunes Store Credit, like going out and buying a $100 iTunes Gift Card. That way, no billing information is to be stored on that account and you can still use it to install the "app" you are going to use on the 24 iPads. And if you do happen to leave the company there would be no further connection to yourself in any of the accounts (iTunes or Billing)?

Sep 22, 2011 1:40 AM in response to raymondu999

I have this same question and also the VPP does not apply to me as I am outside the USA. I would appreciate an answer if anyone has it.


I too am very disappointed that Apple does not offer clear guidelines. I am having to spend a lot of time researching and I have to admit that I am regretting "pushing" for the project I am working on 😟 Having previously worked in schools in the USA, I can imagine that this is a nightmare for school techonology facilitators as well, having limited resources and time.

Mar 28, 2012 6:01 AM in response to raymondu999

I assume there is still no resolution on this one? The issue of not being able to have an enterprise AppleID is preventing us to do some other things as well: as an example, we cannot upgrade to Lion because the Lion licenses are connected with the AppleID and we cannot manage the AppleCare registrations enterprise-wide. This is ridiculous! And yes, it would also be nice to purchase licenses for all the iPads and iPhones at the same time. For some reason, the VPP is still restricted to US companies with a valid D-U-N-S -number.

Apr 20, 2012 1:23 PM in response to Mark23

Apple is just so incredibly far ahead of it's competition IMHO that companies will adapt to their supplier instead of the other way around. It's best for Apple if they keep it like that, I think.


Apple thinks from the consumer or end-user (give it a name), those who have to work with the stuff and I love Apple for that - we all do, don't we?


Apple has gotten Business accounts for purchasing, but I heven't tried that yet.

May 11, 2012 9:28 AM in response to raymondu999

You must be in the United States and you must use the VPP program linked above by SombreSire. You have the option of having a single corporate iTunes account for all iPads (which would be your best choice since you only need to roll out 24), or creating a couple corporate iTunes accounts (if you have a large number of iPads to roll out to different groups requiring different iPad apps). If you are buying the charge station which charges up to 20 iPads, you could set up one corporate iTunes account per charge station to cover the 20 iPads it charges.


Standard iTunes accounts are only authorized for use by individuals. While I'm sure you could set one up for yourself and manage 24 iPad accounts, this would be in violation of the standard iTunes account agreement. Unfortunately, if you are outside the US, you are not allowed to take part in the VPP so you have no "legal" solution to your problem of managing multiple iPads.

May 11, 2012 10:11 AM in response to raymondu999

As I understand it, and as our legal department that reviewed this believes, the only option( in a business setting) is to have a seperate(whether business or personal) iTunes account for each device. Having one account on multiple devices being used by multiple individuals puts you out of licensing compliance. DodgeChallenger made the correct, though somewhat inconvenient choice. If you have questions about this, I would have your legal department review it. Perhaps they will give you a different answer than ours did. Here is the applicable section from the iTunes store agreement.


If you are a commercial enterprise or educational institution, you may download and sync an App Store Product for use by either (a) a single individual on one or more iOS Devices used by that individual that you own or control or (b) multiple individuals, on a single shared iOS Device you own or control.


Education Settings appear to be viewed differently by Apple. You can check that out here.

http://images.apple.com/education/docs/IOS_5_Education_Deployment_Guide.pdf

Purchasing software for company use

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