Ensure your school’s OS upgrade goes off without a hitch

This fall, Apple will continue their annual pattern of OS X and iOS updates. Students and teachers will enjoy new productivity features like split-view, QuickType keyboard, and enhanced Spotlight search. IT Pros are looking forward to new deployment capabilities with the Apple Deployment Programs. Read on for ideas of how these new workflows will benefit your school's Apple deployment.

New DEP capabilities coming
The Device Enrollment Program (DEP) is the easiest way to setup a new Mac or iPad, and a huge time-saver for IT. And with new DEP capabilities included with OS X El Capitan, an IT admin has new options for creating user accounts, including passcode policies and hiding the admin account. This will speed up Mac deployments and ensure good security standards are in place.

iOS 9 helps schools speed up large iPad deployments as well. A new version of Apple Configurator works with DEP to setup iPads over USB, reducing the strain on Wi-Fi networks. DEP enrollment over Wi-Fi improves as well, adding wait-steps to streamline even the largest iPad rollout.

No Apple ID requred
The Volume Purchase Program (VPP) brings a new option for assigning apps that will be especially helpful for schools: Apple IDs are now optional for app assignment. IT admins can assign apps to a device, rather than to a student. For schools with a shared-device model, this significantly simplifies app deployment.