Garth Schulte, SPOTO trainer, says Microsoft Systems Center Configuration Manager (or SCCM) is the “ultimate Microsoft Product.” Why? Because it automates so much of your work.
Think about where you spend the most time when it comes to managing your company’s network. Do you spend your time manually updating OS updates? Or installing and managing applications? Or manually optimizing the device settings?
SCCM makes these manual tasks much easier than ever. These are seven ways SCCM can automate admin tasks.
Update the process
Manual updates are only useful in certain situations. Manual updates are fine if you have one central location that can be used by a dozen employees, but not for more than that. It can be done in an hour. Both parts of this scenario must be true.
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Start trainingRealistically, you’re not doing manual updates because you’re using Windows Server Update Service (WSUS). Clients can download hotfixes and patches from WSUS, which acts as a central hub for Microsoft Update. The other great thing is: You can update your installations to an unlimited number of machines, even machines that users bring from home! All from one dashboard.
SCCM offers a lot of automation tools. WSUS is a great automation tool that saves time and money.
It’s easier to apply for a job
Microsoft SCCM allows you to manage all devices connected to your company network. This allows you to remotely deploy applications from one hub. SCCM optimizes the delivery of your application for you.
Every application you install, configure or remove might have different needs. SCCM allows you to choose how you want to do this. You can choose whether a local installation, virtual application stream or remote desktop service is best for you. The interface will work regardless the OS.
Many OSes, One SCCM
SCCM is extremely versatile because it was specifically designed for trans-device, OS independent use. Do your clients access your corporate data primarily through their PCs? Are salespeople primarily working on mobile devices? Maybe you manage the servers that users use. SCCM can be used to access all these devices regardless of their operating systems.
This might sound a lot like Windows Deployment Services. SCCM is a collection of network control packages. It combines the best of all of them into one platform. Its strength lies in the fact that all these options are available in one product, and the control it gives over client machines.
Flexible policies for user devices
Next, you might want to ensure that your clients are able to access the right parts of the network. SCCM’s central hub makes this possible. SCCM can be combined with Microsoft Intune for mobile device management (MDM), and mobile application management(MAM) capabilities. This allows you to create ideal user device policies, and enforce them with Network Access Protection.
Keep device settings in one place
SCCM gives you remote control over updates and installations. It also allows you to group clients, devices, and users. Once you have grouped them, it is possible to configure the desired states according each group and provide oversight either individually or in bulk.
This allows you to schedule and time the updates for different geographical groups, different devices, and different users. You can also monitor the settings that you have set for each group. It is easy to restore a group to the desired state if they drift out of their intended state by simply installing the update.
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