Mac Management
Casper Suite OS X - Rotator
The Casper Suite: Unified and Extensible Mac OS X Client Management
Increase IT staff efficiency, reduce cost of ownership, and minimize liability by enforcing software licensing, security, energy usage, and organizational requirements with the comprehensive platform designed to manage Apple OS X computers and iOS mobile devices.
Working hand in hand with Mac admins in business, education, and government, JAMF Software has identified eight tenets of Mac OS X client management and four tenets of iOS device management. The Casper Suite is the comprehensive framework designed to manage all twelve tenets in a single console.
Casper Suite OS X - Section 2
Manage the complete Apple OS X client lifecycle
Integration with Apple technologies—including Global Service Exchange (GSX), Software Update Server (SUS), and third-party software for Mac OS X—allows the Casper Suite to oversee the eight tenets of Mac OS X client management: Inventory, Imaging, Patch Management, Software Distribution, Remote Control, Settings and Security Management, License Management, and Usage Management.
Unify and extend IT systems with the Casper Suite’s powerful framework. Easily manage Mac OS X and iOS devices from a single console. Normalize IT administration with the only management solution developed exclusively for the Apple platform.
Inventory: The information you need, put to work
Easily keep an accurate inventory of major investments. Knowing what you have helps determine what you need. This is why the Casper Suite's advanced inventory functionality ensures detailed records of your current assets, while planning ahead for the future.
Cross-platform inventory reports provide standard collectable properties, and can be customized with extension attributes. The Casper Suite’s LDAP integration associates users with their devices. Email notifications are received when a hard drive is failing or a battery needs a replacement. Global Service Exchange (GSX) keeps track of warranty and purchasing information. If there’s any status you should know about, the Casper Suite will keep you informed.
No more spreadsheets, no more clipboards. Inventory information, organized to inform capacity and resource planning, reduces costs and targets needs.
Imaging: Innovations in building and deployment
The modular approach of the Casper Suite provides flexible, robust imaging, removing the issues associated with large image storage and maintenance. When building configurations from the library of custom packages storage is reduced, changes are tracked, post-imaging is eliminated and consistency is ensured. From automated drive partitioning in dual-boot machines to imaging for large lab environments, or mass deployment of a fleet of Macs, the Casper Suite provides innovations for any type of imaging scenario. Simple snapshot or drag-and-drop package creation ensures imaging projects aren't dreaded by IT staff.
Patch Management: Protect assets by automating updates
Applying security updates to every computer on the network is a regularly scheduled and necessary task. The Casper Suite's patch management solution reduces update times by automating the distribution process. It manages what patches are distributed, and when.
The flexibility of the Casper Suite allows you to choose the best distribution strategy for the needs of your organization. Schedule releases during "off" hours in order to minimize the impact of the update process. Release or force patches immediately. The Casper Suite integrates seamlessly with Apple's Software Update Server (SUS), in-house update servers, or SUS with approved updates. JAMF Software works with Apple technologies to provide the most intelligent tools for Mac admins.
Software Distribution: Reliable, flexible, and easy
Distribution of software is effortless with the Casper Suite, providing multiple distribution methods. Access to applications when they are needed most, however big or small a user’s software request may be Deploy software to managed computers from any web browser. Customize deployments based on user, department, location, or any inventory attribute. Use Casper Remote to immediately respond to user requests. And, the Self Service application allows users to install their own software on demand. Seeing only the software admins choose to make available—no administrative credentials or assistance needed.
Package and customize any piece of software for deployment with the Casper Suite. Whether applications need to be scoped to different users or installations need to occur at scheduled times, the Casper Suite works around the clock to cover all of your distribution needs.
Remote Control: Across the globe, or one desk away—it makes no difference
With the ability to provide remote support, the Casper Suite can resolve issues from any location, increasing the daily productivity and impact of each technician.
The Casper Suite's approach to screen sharing is unique. Storing login credentials centrally on the server, or on existing LDAP servers. VNC sessions are tunneled through an SSH connection to ensure maximum security,. And, since the VNC server is launched and quit each time an admin begins and ends a session, no active server is listening for inbound requests. This reduces liability and provides a stable, secure environment.
Remote control will save time and budget by minimizing user downtime, staff requirements, and IT travel expenses. With the Casper Suite it doesn’t matter if user requests come from the next room, or from across the globe.
Settings and Security Management: 360-degree reach and security
Modify end-user environments and Managed Preferences from a central location. Respond to needs as rapidly as they arise. Manage both system and user-level preferences through a simple user interface, scoping preferences to Computer Groups, User Groups from a directory service, Buildings, or Departments. Managed Preferences (also known as MCX) allow admins to natively enforce individual settings on any client computer. Over 250 default preferences are included with the JAMF Software Server (JSS).
Changing passwords on all accounts is crucial to maintaining a secure environment. Knowing when screensavers are activated and enforcing password requirements to wake up computers, greatly strengthen security. In addition, the ability to sleep or shut down idle machines helps reduce energy costs.
Management of user environments maintains continuity and keeps machines clean, especially in educational environments. Resetting user settings with each login or logout, helps managers of kiosk machines keep computers clean and uniform from user to user.
License Management: No more renegade Macs
The Casper Suite manages serial numbers and purchasing information, tuning organization integrity and reduces vulnerability. Users are often unaware that installing unlicensed software or fonts can create crippling liabilities for the organization, so knowledge of when and where it's happening is part of security.
Casper Suite actively monitors how many licenses of each application are deployed on networks and schedules notifications whenever overage occurs. It creates licensed software records that define applications in common software suites.
Provide efficiency in routine audits, track multiple serial numbers for each record, and attach purchasing documentation.
Usage Management: Avoid overspending, purchase only what is utilized
Software licenses are a significant expense. The Casper Suite tracks installed applications easily and automatically, reclaims licenses, and reduces software budgets.
A historical log of software opened and used in the foreground is provided. Information can be used to uninstall software from computers where it is not being used. The Casper Suite can see if a user required the entire Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection, or if they really just needed Adobe Photoshop.
Monitor software usage, and set restrictions on what’s allowed to prevent the use of illegal or unauthorized software. Restricted software settings remove applications and notify you when violations occur. These restrictions are active whether the computer is on or off the network.
Knowledge is valuable—with usage monitoring, the Casper Suite puts valuable information to work and provides powerful energy and money saving solutions.
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