Bushel Offers Cloud-Based Management Of Apple Devices, And Now Has Its Eye On Partners

Bushel, which offers a cloud-based device management solution of the same name for Apple devices, Wednesday introduced an Affiliate Program for Apple consultants, resellers and partners.

Bushel, which was developed and launched in January by JAMF Software, currently has 3,300 customers. JAMF Software deploys Apple management solutions through its Casper Suite, but Bushel is a solution specifically targeted at small and midsize businesses, said Charles Edge, product manager at Bushel, Minneapolis.

Bushel includes an array of capabilities for Macs, iPhones and iPads, such as email configuration for Microsoft Exchange, Google Mail and Yahoo Mail; remote wipe; asset management; disk encryption; and warranty status.

[Related: Partners: Apple's Getting Ahead Of The Game With Enterprise-Friendly MacBook Pro, iMac Upgrades]

"We were selling direct before ... but we want that channel presence to create some stickiness with our customers," said Edge. "We want to make it easy for partners to help customers manage and protect their Apple devices through their relationship with us."

Bushel’s offering includes a free version for customers with up to three devices, and customers with more than three devices pay $2 per month for each device on a pay-as-you-go pricing model.

Now, through the Affiliate Program, Apple consultants, resellers and partners can earn an unspecified percentage-based commission for each paying customer they refer that enrolls more than three Apple devices with Bushel.

The Affiliate Program also includes a portal that offers customer management through the display of referrals, commission amounts, links to refer customers, and billable status reports for partners, said Edge.

In addition to commission, Bushel affiliates will be given a special link to Bushel that they can share through ads and social media to reach new customers.

Matt Woestehoff, director of operations at Minneapolis-based The Foundation, which is both an Apple partner and JAMF Software partner, said Bushel's SMB focus is key for The Foundation's customer base.

"Many of our Mac clients are smaller organizations with a user base of between five to 25 people, and they think Bushel is super appealing from a cost perspective," he said. "It's cheap enough for our customers' small-size agencies who want to do a little more in terms of management on their own but who don't want to buy gigantic MDM solutions.

"A lot of our clients are ad agencies or law firms, working with larger corporations that need data privacy policies," The Foundation's Woestehoff added. "Overall, these smaller companies are being given gigantic tasks from their clients to maintain contracts, and the Bushel solution is the answer to that problem by providing security and compliance."

Bushel's enterprise tools are particularly attractive to SMB customers because of their ability to wipe Apple devices and lock lost iPhones, according to Edge.

"About a quarter of our customers just want to wipe their devices, while others want application locks for lost devices or basic pass codes," he said. "Most customers just want that basic level of security for their products, and Bushel provides that easy-to-use function for those clients."

PUBLISHED MAY 27, 2015