Introducing BYMTest (Before You MDM) — Looking for Alpha Testers
Some of you may remember my JNUC 2026 presentation, Why Your MDM Works... Until It Doesn't, where I discussed some of the challenges I encountered managing Apple devices in a predominantly Windows-centric enterprise.
Those experiences, along with my subsequent paper, Follow the Decision Path, got me thinking about a broader problem: individually functioning systems don't necessarily add up to a coherent management environment.
I've advocated for greater interoperability among vendors, but rather than wait for that conversation to gain traction, I decided to see what I could build myself.
The result is BYMTest (Before You MDM), an open-source, vendor-neutral utility designed to help administrators identify potential environmental roadblocks before implementing Apple device management.
The command-line version is now functional, with requirements catalogs covering 24 providers, including Jamf Pro. It evaluates network connectivity, documented dependencies, and configuration profiles against Apple's published schemas, producing reports that distinguish between what can be established through testing and what remains unverified.
I've also begun work on a native macOS GUI, with Windows and Linux support planned. I'm exploring authenticated post-deployment assessments as a possible future capability.
The project is hosted on GitHub under MPL-2.0, although the repository remains private during initial development.
I'm looking for a handful of MacAdmins willing to alpha-test BYMTest, particularly those working in complex environments who aren't afraid to challenge its assumptions, identify gaps, or tell me when something doesn't make sense.
The objective isn't to certify that an environment will work. It's to identify potential problems early enough that administrators and implementation teams can address them before deployment.
If you're interested in participating, please reply here or message me to request access to the private repository.
