MacOS High Sierra drastically changed traditional imaging. Learn how organizations can better anticipate or adapt to large technology paradigm shifts.
Technology and disruption go hand in hand. The constant evolution of technology – devices, systems, applications, and processes – impacts organizations in every sector. Technological change can be obvious, such as the introduction of smartphone devices and the Cloud, or more subtle, such as the launch of macOS High Sierra putting a stop to traditional imaging. With each major paradigm shift, IT departments are forced to rethink how things are done and introduce or change existing processes and structures.
How can organizations better anticipate or adapt to large technology paradigm shifts?
Let’s have a look at a recent example of technology disruption and how continued disruption can lead to bigger long-term problems.
With the launch of macOS High Sierra, Apple stopped supporting “monolithic system imaging,” which required a full disk ISO image to be placed onto client computers. Right away, organizations relying on traditional imaging could no longer deploy new devices or firmware updates to High Sierra devices. As a result, IT departments still manually provisioning macOS devices experienced significant disruption.
For many IT departments, Apple represented a minority of devices, so they were ignored or managed outside of traditional MDM platforms. After High Sierra, some IT departments have directly leveraged the Apple Device Enrollment Program (DEP) to deploy devices; others sought a new MDM platform with Apple expertise. The most forward-thinking IT departments looked to multi-platform endpoint management solutions to consolidate the deployment and management of all their devices.
Now, let’s look forward. Today’s device landscape is no longer just Windows or macOS. With the number of device types exploding, IT departments are left juggling multiple management tools to deploy and manage a variety of new and legacy devices. This increasingly complex IT environment is time-consuming to manage, which leads to reduced visibility, security, and ultimately end-user productivity.
It’s important to future-proof your management with a simple multi-platform endpoint management solution that allows you to manage the devices and apps of today – and tomorrow.
When High Sierra was released, FileWave customers experienced a seamless transition to Apple DEP, since all of that integration took place on the back end. For our customers, it was business as usual – one unified, intuitive platform to manage all computers and mobile devices. In this case, Apple DEP allowed us to open up new functionality for zero-touch deployment: to deploy new devices with all the settings, configurations, restrictions, and personalizations built right into new devices as part of the out-of-box experience. Apple was the first to shift industry best practices around imaging – but they won’t be the last.
Future-Proof Your Organization
Technology will continue to be disruptive for IT. There will continue to be new devices, new platform functionality, new applications that make it increasingly important to implement strong processes and structures to ride out these paradigm shifts.
Deployment was never just imaging. It was, and remains, the process of fully configuring systems and delivering the apps and settings users need to be productive. FileWave provides tools to accomplish this in the most effective way on all of your devices. Our goal is to take the “disruption” out of new technology, helping you manage new technology without having to change how you work.
The end of traditional imaging on macOS is not a revolution, but an evolution long in the works. FileWave remains the best tool for managing both your older legacy operating systems and the newest technologies.
Contact us to find out whether FileWave is a fit for your team. Request your 30-day free trial now.
