MaaS360 App Approval and Publication Workflows

Content

What is App Approval and Publication process?

App Approval workflow allows administrators to set up quality standards and guidelines for the app store. All the applications must pass those requirements before they are promoted to the App Catalog. 

The app approval process involves multiple stages:

1. An app developer or IT submits the app for review.
2. The app goes to third-party vendors for reviews as defined in the app approval workflow template. 
3. Third-party vendors send the results, and approver (security officer/compliance officer) approves or rejects the app based on the results.
4. If the app is approved, it is available to be promoted to the App Catalog.

Understanding roles and access privileges

The roles and privileges determine the actions that can be performed by MaaS360 administrators in the App Approval workflow. 

The following table lists the app approval workflow access rights (permissions) that are turned on by default for each preconfigured role:

If the preconfigured roles do not meet the organization's requirements, MaaS360 allows administrators to create custom roles with predefined access rights. MaaS360 supports three access rights for app approval process.

Enable App Approval workflow

Administrators can enable the App Approval workflow from App Settings. By default, the App Approval workflow is disabled. When the app approval workflow is enabled, administrators with appropriate privileges will see a new option Apps for Approval under Apps after a new sign in. 

To enable App Approval workflow,

1. Navigate to Setup > Settings.

2. In the Settings page, click App Settings > Advanced.

3. Select one of the following options:

• Optional: The apps that are required go through App Approval workflow can be uploaded via Apps > Apps for Approval workflow. Administrators have an option to skip the app approval workflow and promote the apps directly to the production catalog by adding the apps via Apps > Catalog workflow.
• Mandatory: All the apps must go through app approval and publication process before they are promoted to App Catalog.
• Disabled: App Approval workflow is disabled to always promote apps directly to App Catalog.

4. Click Save.

Create App Approval workflow templates

App templates must be created for each type of app before submitting apps for approval. For example, administrators must create a Google Play app template before submitting a Google Play app for approval. The menu options to submit an app for approval are disabled if a corresponding template is not found. 

Note: Only the administrators with valid access privileges can create templates. If the menu options for creating a template are unavailable, contact your administrator. 

To create app approval process templates

1. Navigate to Apps > Apps For Approval.

Result: The Apps For Approval page is displayed.

2. Click App Approval Process in the top-right corner and select the app type (Example: Windows > Enterprise App for Windows).

Result: The Default Approval Process page is displayed.

3. Provide the following details to configure the app approval template:

Note: Users can create a total of 8 steps for each template. The apps must pass all the steps in sequential order as specified in the template.

• Define Approval Steps: Provide a name for each step in the review process. Eg. Compliance Review, Legal Review, Security Review.
• Choose Vendor: Select a 3rd party vendor partner the app must be submitted for review. Note: Only MaaS360 Manual Approval action is available in this release. 
• Configure Action: Select the action to be taken to approve the app on each step of the review process.  Note: Actions are not available in this release.
• App Approvers: Select App Reviewers that can review each step in the approval process. Note: The app reviewer must have appropriate privileges to review the app. For details see, Understanding roles and access rights.

Note: Use (+) icon to create multiple app approval steps.

4. Click Save.

Result: The app approval process template is successfully created.

Submit apps for approval

If the App Approval workflow is mandatory, administrators can submit apps for approval either from Apps > Apps for Approval or Apps > Catalog workflow. If App Approval workflow is optional, administrators can submit apps for approval from Apps > Apps for Approval workflow.

For information on submitting macOS enterprise apps for approval, see Submitting enterprise apps for approval.

Prerequisite: An app template must be available for the app type before adding an app.

Submitting apps for approval from App Approval workflow

1. Click Apps > Apps for Approval.

2. Click Add App for Approval drop-down in the top-right corner and select the type of app that you want to upload.

3. Add an app and then click Submit for Approval.

Result: The app is submitted for approval.

Submitting apps for approval from App Catalog workflow

1. Click Apps > Catalog.

2. Click Add and select the type of app you want to upload.

3. Add an app and then click Submit for Approval.

Result: The app is submitted for approval.

Review the apps

When the apps are submitted for approval, an email notification is sent to the approver.

After reviewing the app, approver must do the following to approve or reject the app:

1. Navigate to Apps > Apps for Approval.

2. Select Reviews and Approvals against the app that is to be approved/rejected.

Result: The Reviews and Approvals page appears.

3. Do one of the following:

• Click Approve to approve the app.

Result: A confirmation dialog box is displayed. Provide comments and click Confirm.

Result: If multiple approval steps are defined in the template, the app goes to the second stage of the approval process.

• Click Reject to reject the app.

Note: If an app is rejected at any stage, it must be added all over again.

Promoting app to the App Catalog

If an app passes all stages of app approval process, an email notification is sent to the administrator and the app becomes eligible to be promoted to the app catalog. 

To promote the app to the App Catalog,

1. Navigate to Apps > Apps For Approval.

2. Click Promote to Catalog against the app that passed all stages of approval.

Note: An app can be directly promoted to app catalog in this release, regardless of the app's approval status. 

Result: The app is successfully promoted to app catalog and the app is available for distribution.