Jamf Blog

Three flexible ways to deploy technology to users

Discover how the right tool gives IT deployment choices using the Volume Purchase Program (VPP), Device Enrollment Program (DEP), and Self Service.

Technology and the modern workforce have become synonymous with one another: users require technology to be productive and successful. The challenge for many IT teams is to ensure that the needed technology can be deployed to users in seamless and simple ways to allow the right users to get the right technology at the right time.

This can be done in three different ways, depending on your environment.

  1. IT assisted deployments
  2. Automated deployments
  3. User-driven deployments

IT assisted deployments

In environments where IT teams need more granular control over the deployment of hardware, software, and content, it is important to use a tool that can build, assemble, and deploy software packages, apps, and content in modular and pliable ways.

To do this, IT needs the ability to deploy and update new software via policy, new apps via Volume Purchase Program (VPP) managed distribution, and content via e-book distribution. All of these capabilities together provide IT teams with tools to control the entire lifecycle of hardware, software, and content deployments to meet the needs of the organization.

Automated deployments 

In environments where scale and simplicity are important, IT teams may need to automate deployments. By leveraging Apple’s Device Enrollment Program (DEP), IT can provide a simple, straightforward way for users to setup and enroll their own devices using the native Apple Setup Assistant. This automates the deployment of hardware, as it is a form of zero-touch enrollment for IT and only requires one additional step during the Setup Assistant for the user.

Following enrollment, software, apps, and content can be automatically deployed via policies and VPP using smart groups within the device management tool’s inventory.

User-Driven Deployments

In environments where user autonomy is important, IT teams can enable users to enroll their own devices into management via User Initiated Enrollment. To make self-enrollment even easier, network integration can be enabled to automatically direct users to self-enroll as they enter the company network.

Once enrolled, IT can provide the same packaged software, apps, content, and settings created for more controlled environments and make it available in a Self Service application. Users can then access the Self Service application on their computer at anytime to install, run, and/or provision their own software, content, and settings on their own time.

Why not have the option for all three?

A good device management tool will provide all three of these flexible and modular deployment options. Depending on your organization, you may need one or all of these capabilities. That’s why it’s important to choose a device management solution that allows you to select how to deploy technologies to users. Learn how the Casper Suite allows you to do just that.

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