What is your Apple Fleet Worth to you?

Lifecycle management, from first to last boot

Many JNUC conversations are about device provisioning and on-boarding, but as Jamf Admins see their deployments grow every year, a new topic is growing in importance: fleet device refresh and asset disposition. At JNUC 2019, Diamond Assets and Millard School District shared the benefits they have seen operationally and instructionally from professionally managed buyback programs. Diamond Assets also showcased Clarity with Jamf Pro, an integration to that brings more data and strategy to the refresh conversation.

Amanda Kunes is the Technology Facilitator at Millard Public Schools. Of their 16,000 instructional devices, about half are Apple devices being managed by Jamf. Being a self-sufficient team, their first attempts at managing the buyback process were handled internally. “If we can do it better ourselves, we will.” Their first efforts looked like community auctions, educator buyouts, and eBay. All of these options led to improper eWaste disposal, decommissioned devices being brought back into the district, and pallets of devices that would just sit there while trying to haggle with strangers over the internet.

This scenario plays itself out far too often, and is a primary reason Diamond Assets was founded. Understanding that Apple lifecycle management is different than generic tech required a company that focused its process and people on a single goal. “We are a buyback partner for organizations that invest in the Apple platform,” said Matt Cooper, Sr. VP, Business Development, “…[and] we created our company to help organizations get the most value out of their Apple devices.”

Sustainable processes for sustainable technology

After meeting Diamond Assets, Kunes says that her district was confident they could get top dollar for their used equipment, and have a partner that handles the intense day of coordination that goes into a refresh. Thinking back on the experience, Kunes commented, “Diamond Assets was able to help with a very logistically messy buyback across 25 buildings.” Diamond Assets now acts as an advisor to help Millard get the most value from their devices by tweaking their refresh timing.

Treating Apple buyback as a strategic part of the technology lifecycle has helped Millard’s Apple deployments show incredible value and ROI when compared to the PC counterparts. Amanda and her team take this value and reinvest it back into the district. “One of our recent iMac buyback programs helped outfit an Apple TV in every classroom across the district.”

Announcing Clarity Integration with Jamf Pro

Diamond Asset’s CTO Jeremey Egger came to the stage with Jamf’s Solution Partner Manager Sam Weiss to discuss an integration that the two companies have been working on together. “Clarity aims to add transparency and data to the refresh cycle. And we’re going to do this in the MDM tool you already love: Jamf Pro.” Using Clarity, Jamf Admins can submit accurate device inventory to Diamond Assets, and receive back value statements regarding the best time to refresh a device. “We are excited to take our industry expertise,” said Egger, “and layer it into the rich inventory admins already get from Jamf Pro.” Districts interested in integrating Jamf Pro with Clarity can learn more at Diamond Asset’s Jamf Marketplace listing.