Oculus for Business to Quest for Business - Meta's new MDM

Facebook (or Meta, the new overarching name) held its annual Facebook developers conference yesterday for all things related to virtual reality. Some significant plans have emerged that will impact Oculus for Business customers. Below we highlight the key changes:

• After 31-12-2021, you can no longer purchase OFB.
• Betas will be available in 2022, but it may not be possible to purchase new Quest headsets with MDM, Kiosk mode, etc. If you want to use the software functionalities of OFB, make sure to place your order before 31-12-2021, as there will be no standard solution available until 2023.
• You can convert current OFB headsets to the consumer version and start using Quest for Business when this service becomes available.
• The OFB account will not be renewed, and you also do not have to renew after your software subscription expires for €180 p/y, but you can still use the software for an additional year free of charge with the usual support and guarantees.

Essentially, it's the Oculus Quest consumer version with added features:

• Log in with a work account instead of a personal Facebook account
• Enhanced IT management: Account management, IDP and SSO integration, and third-party MDM
• Data security through third-parties MDM: Microsoft Intune, VMware Workspace ONE, and Ivanti UEM (formerly MobileIron).

• Closed beta release at the end of 2021
• Open beta releases in 2022
• Generally available in 2023

Meta is still pondering this, but the expectation is that the consumer hardware can be supplemented with an additional subscription to unlock the extra software capabilities.

You can continue to use your Oculus for Business headsets without any changes to your experience. Version 29 will be the last Oculus for Business OS release. Oculus will continue to offer business-level support and warranties for Oculus for Business in accordance with the Enterprise Use Agreement. This includes premium Oculus for Business support, security and vulnerability patches, hardware warranties, and rapid headset replacement.

Oculus for Business will no longer offer renewable subscription periods for Enterprise Support on supported headsets. There is no change in the limited warranty. So if you purchase an Oculus for Business headset on December 31, 2021, for example, you will receive a two-year Limited Warranty, starting on the date you make the Enterprise software available with the Device Manager mobile application (if applicable) or 90 days after the shipping date of your headset, whichever comes first. Renewed subscription periods for the enterprise software are not required.

You can convert OFB headsets to the consumer version and start using Quest for Business when this service becomes available. The OFB account will not be renewed, and you also do not have to renew after your software subscription expires for €180 p/y, but you can still use the software for an additional year free of charge with the usual support and guarantees.