Centrify Corp., which specializes in Unified Identity Services, has announced the availability of the Centrify User Suite, Mac Edition. The company says it’s the industry’s first solution to provide robust Active Directory-based authentication, policy management, single sign-on (SSO) and user self-service for connected and remote Mac OS X systems.

With Centrify User Suite, Mac Edition (Centrify for Mac), on-premise and remote Macs and mobile devices are integrated into Microsoft Active Directory (AD), leveraging organizations’ existing AD infrastructures, processes and skill sets to deliver enhanced security and easy management for IT, and simplified, secure access for Mac users at work, according to David McNeely, senior director of product management, Centrify.

As a complement to its historic agent-based approach for providing Active Directory-based authentication and Group Policy management, Centrify has now added a cloud-based option for managing Macs. By extending the Centrify Cloud Service to manage remote Macs and providing administrators and users with self-service capabilities such as remote lock and remote wipe of a Mac, IT staff for the first time have the flexibility to use a single solution to manage Macs using a combination of both on-premise software and/or a cloud-based offering.

“Macs are picking up in popularity,” McNeely says. “We’re seeing a fairly large number of Mac users in the enterprise.”

New functionality enables IT to apply new MDM profiles for Macs (e.g. VPN, Wi-Fie, passcode) and configure Wi-Fi for user or computer PKI authentication. What’s more, enterprise managed Macs can optionally enroll in cloud-based management, while BYOMac systems can enroll to gain access to Enterprise Services.

Also, Centrify is combining its Centrify for Mobile offering as part of the Centrify for Mac solution to deliver a new combined solution based on a per-user subscription pricing. This allows IT staff to manage their employees’ multiple devices — including Macs, iOS and Android devices — under a single per-user license.

In addition, data on Mac systems is now secured through centrally managed File Vault 2 full-disk encryption security policies and institution encryption keys to ensure protection of data at rest on these highly portable systems. Filevault 2 configuration policies are centrally managed through Group Policies with support enterprise-managed Institution keys. Disk unlock rights are granted to AD users configured as the assigned manager of the computer, tightly controlling access to these portable systems.

The new Centrify User Suite, Mac Edition, is available today from Centrify and authorized partners worldwide. Pricing is US$48 per user/year for up to five devices (any combination of Mac and/or Mobile devices per user) and includes standard support.

Centrify User Suite, Premium Edition is also available and combines Centrify for SaaS with Centrify for Mac to provide users with single sign-on to an unlimited number of web and SaaS applications, as well as Mac and mobile management, and is priced at $72 per user/year for use on up to five devices and unlimited SaaS apps. To learn more, or to obtain a free trial, visit http://www.centrify.com/mac .