Last year Apple released their iOS App volume licensing program providing businesses a way to purchase iOS applications in bulk from the App Store. This special version of the App Store for businesses also allows for developers to provide custom B2B apps for business that require unique solutions. Since then, Apple hasn’t made much fanfare about this new way for business to buy apps in bulk, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising if this were news to you.

To enroll in the program head on over to http://www.apple.com/business/vpp/ and have your basic business contact information, a Dun & Bradstreet number (D-U-N-S) number, and a corporate credit card or PCard handy. During enrollment, I was unable to use an existing Apple ID so keep in mind that if you are already using an Apple ID to manage apps for your environment, you will have to create a new one and will not be able to migrate your existing apps over to the new account.

Once you’ve enrolled, you will be able to browse the available apps within the App Store and make purchases just as you would normally. One thing to note here is that not all apps within the public App Store are available for purchase, as developers must opt in to the program. So there is a possibility that the apps that you’re looking to purchase in bulk may not exist within the volume purchase program App Store.

Once you’ve determined what apps you require and the amount that you would like to purchase, Apple will then provide a list of codes similar to the ones supplied on an iTunes Gift Card, which in return can be provided to employees to be used to download the app.

Hopefully, that answers a few questions for those of you considering enrollment. If you have any additional details to add or run into some issues please use the comments to tell us about your experience.

For more detailed information here is a quick link to Apple’s VPP Business Guide PDF:

VPP_Business_Guide_US.pdf