IBM MaaS360

Hello,

I'm wondering if there is a way to manage the distribution of certain versions of an app on the enterprise .apk store in MaaS360. I know I can do beta/upgrade versions but it doesn't seem to let me control which distribution has access to that or not, and I can't intentionally keep certain user groups on lower versions while upgrading the baseline version for the rest of the group.

Example:

group 1: v1.0

group 2: v1.1

group 3: v1.1 with access to beta v1.2

Does anyone have some insight on how to do this? Or should this be a submission to the product team at MaaS?

Thanks!

Hi Scott 

I wrote a blog last year on app version control in general and it might be worth a look: https://community.ibm.com/community/user/security/blogs/eamonn-omahony/2022/04/07/app-version-control-in-maas360

For your use case I think the use of multiple apps might be the best approach and we have had customers who have done this. As you've mentioned APK I assume you are speaking about Enterprise apps for Android (not Android Enterprise). Here are a few suggestions as to how this might work: 

• Use the same filename and App ID on the App Catalog. This is possible if you ask Support to switch on "Allow multiple apps with same name in App Catalog" on your account whether it be production instance, trial (Sandbox) or both. You need to raise a ticket for this.
• Use different filenames and App ID's and track them so you know which is which for each deployment type and group. 
• Both of the above approaches allow you to have multiple versions in terms of a beta and production version for each, and each with its own distinct group distributions. 
• Typically customers use a trial MaaS360 instance (Sandbox) which helps them to test this before deployment. If you want one and don't have one, you can either ask the IBM Business Partner through which you purchase your licences to create one, or you can raise a new trial instance (search engine keywords "IBM MaaS360 trial") and just ask your IBM Sales point of contact to have it converted to Sandbox so that it isn't charged to you and remains permanent. 

With all of this information you should be good to go. Let us know how you get on as there may be a number of aspects you note / learn as you go along and the Community will be happy to learn with you!

Hello,

I'm wondering if there is a way to manage the distribution of certain versions of an app on the enterprise .apk store in MaaS360. I know I can do beta/upgrade versions but it doesn't seem to let me control which distribution has access to that or not, and I can't intentionally keep certain user groups on lower versions while upgrading the baseline version for the rest of the group.

Example:

group 1: v1.0

group 2: v1.1

group 3: v1.1 with access to beta v1.2

Does anyone have some insight on how to do this? Or should this be a submission to the product team at MaaS?

Thanks!