Experts discuss provisioning and zero-touch enrollments

Is imaging dead?

The short answer? YES. Monolithic imaging had its place once upon a time, but as IT professionals began to prioritize the end-user experience and seek out more efficient workflows, this traditional IT method is no longer as valuable.

But, if imaging is dead, how can you ready devices and get them into the hands of users without a bunch of work?

Answer: Zero-touch deployments

With a zero-touch deployment workflow, rather than interact with each company-owned device, you can sit at your desk and remotely do your work. Apple Business Manager and Apple School Manager enable this by automating enrollment and configuration from one central location.

The how and why of zero-touch deployments was prominently on display at the 2018 Jamf Nation User Conference (JNUC) as experts discussed the modern era of device provisioning. Panelists included:

• Dave Siederer, Apple Innovation Manager at SHI
• David Minnema, System Administrator at Grand Rapids Christian Schools
• Brian Messinger, District Coordinator of Classroom Instructional Technology at Sewanhaka Central High School District
• Dave Kagle, System Administrator at Thirty-One Gifts
• William Cheney, System Administrator and Teacher at Benilde-St. Margaret’s School

During the panel, these IT pros shared:

• Exciting stories of Jamf workflows with zero-touch deployment
• How Jamf fits into organizations' provisioning workflows
• Handling the bandwidth requirements of large-scale provisioning
• Personalizing and improving user experience through zero-touch deployment

"Going away from monolithic imaging to developing a provisioning process using custom triggers helped me build something that is very easy to maintain. [When] a new app comes through, now, all I have to do is enter one line of code into a script instead of coming up with the whole new image for everything." — Dave Kagle, System Administrator at Thirty-One Gifts.

As we come to a more agile process of deployment, IT pros can overcome obstacles of having to image or re-image computers one at a time. For example, Cheney shared a story of not having to break a teacher's heart over having to re-image her computer and reset all apps and bookmarks.

Watch the panel in its entirety to hear modern organizations discuss the new era of device provisioning, as well as how to work toward the experience that IT and users crave.