As a prologue to Apple’s iOS 7, it may not be out of place to mention here that Apple sure needed to go big, especially with an interface that remained somewhat static since 2007. However, it did make it with iOS 7. Nevertheless, Apple has since added quite a few Enterprise Features to iOS 7, turning it as the most manageable and invulnerable Operating System that exists on our lonely planet today. However, some of the new features are still sketchy and may need further clarification from Apple (especially from Craig Federighi, Apple’s SVP of software engineering) at a later date. Meanwhile, here are some of the more relevant enterprise features of iOS7 that are listed below for the benefit of the reader.

Touch ID Fingerprint Reader

It is probably the biggest new enterprise feature, which may be considered technically as hardware but is enabled by the new software feature in iOS 7. Imperceptive yet embedded in the home button, this 500ppi fingerprint sensor is capable of keeping enterprise data more secure than before. Fascinatingly enough, Touch ID also provides two- point authentication to iPhone, integrating things that you know of, such as the pass-code with things that you possess, such as your fingerprint – all a measure of extreme security.

Single Sign on (SSO)

Enterprise SSO signifies that user credentials can be used across apps, which includes apps from the App Store. Whenever a new app is configured with SSO, it verifies user permissions for enterprise resources, while logging users in sans reentering passwords.

Mobile Device Management

The newly introduced MDM entente in iOS 7 consists of a number of commands, reservations and configuration preferences that is likely to make third party MDM solutions even more powerful. With the current iOS 7 MDM, IT administrators can set up Managed Apps, configure accessibility options, install custom fonts, AirPrint* printers and ‘whitelist’ AirPlay destinations over the air.It is a feature in Apple Inc.’s operating systems, starting with OS X Lion and iOS 4.2.1, for printing via a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), either directly to AirPrint-compatible printers, such as HP, Canon or Epson or to non-compatible printers by way of a Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X or GNU/Linux PC. AirPrint is not dependant on printer-specific drivers but connects via a Wi-Fi network and so requires a Wi-Fi router.

‘Open in..’ Management

Today iOS 7 permits businesses to protect company date by way of controlling apps that are used to open documents (and attachments). Managed ‘Open in..’ provides IT the capability of configuring the list of apps available in the sharing panel. While this keeps work documents in company apps and at the same time prevents personal documents from getting opened in managed apps.

Per app VPN

Today, iOS 7 apps can be configured to axiomatically connect to VPN (Virtual Private Network) when launched, providing administrators some control over company network access. This ensures that data transmitted by managed apps can travel through VPN, while other data, such as an employee’s personal web browsing activity does not.

Activation Lock

It is also a new security feature that has been added by Apple, which, inter alia, is designed to make it harder for burglars to resell stolen iPhones and iPads. Whenever a burglar will try to wipe data from a stolen device, he won’t be able to get it working again, sans the owner’s Apple ID and password.