Deploying software and imaging Mac systems

As you've come to the "hub" of the JAMF Nation, you're likely going to find a lot of "Sure!" here. So much so that you may be a bit skeptical. However, JAMF is just that good.

What I'd suggest doing is setting up a demo:http://www.jamfsoftware.com/demo/

Should you decide to go forward with JAMF, what you'll find is:
A very mature product
An awesome company to deal with on all levels
* An amazing user community that will give you the shirt off their collective backs to help you out.

Go on, get a demo and hopefully we'll see you here on JAMF Nation.

get in touch with a jamf rep for a demo. only you can determine if it meets your needs and is powerful/usable enough for your support staff. if you don't have anyone on staff with mac deployment and management experience, hire someone to help you through. if you can't afford a full time position, perhaps you have local consultants who can help.

I'd second rockpapergoat's suggestion of bringing someone on, even as a temp consultant basis to help you out. Even though the Casper Suite is a great product and does a huge amount for you, having knowledge of OS X and iOS will help greatly. If you're as new to this as you say, you'll find that although the general concepts of imaging/deployment/patch management, etc are similar to the Windows world, the details are different enough that you'll have a learning curve to get through before you'll have a good handle on it. That's where someone who has been through this before can help you over those hurdles. The end experience will be much better.

But first things first; get yourself a demo from a JAMF Systems Engineer and see what it can do. Then, if you feel comfortable with it, ask for a time limited product demo that you can get up and running in your own environment and kick the tires.

We have just implemented Casper in the last year to help manage our iOS devices. We have Mac's (hundreds) and PC's (hundreds) spread between 7 schools. I come from the PC world.

Here is what I've found:

1. The Capser Suite is very well written and a very polished piece of software. It does everything we need it to do and more. It just works.

2.Generally,in terms of bugs and crashes etc,you will find OS X software to be of better quality than most PC software. Not all but a good percentage.

3.iOS management is a PITA. No matter what solution you are using, you will always be tied to iTunes and iTunes accounts on one computer. Mac management is better but still not quite as easy as GPO's with MS AD.

1. Why #3? Because Apple designs for consumer use and throws enterprise management a bone every once-in-a-while. If you keep this in mind it will help you cope with supporting Apple products.

2. We use Casper to manage iOS devices. We do not use it for Macs. Why? The per-device licensing cost for us was too steep to add our Macs and Apple does have good, free tools for managing them. (ARD, OD/Workgroup Manager/MCX and Deploy Stuidio for imaging) If you don't have or want OS X server for Workgroup Manager/MCX stuff, Casper will work great. (we have tested Macs and Casper)

6.I think we will move to Casper for managing Macs soon. I think Apple is slowly phasing out providing enterprise tools for us. Apple, hopefully, will still provide APIs for 3rd party companies to make products like Casper Suite.

1. I have found that managing Macs is much easier if you do the least you can. Users seem to think of it as "their" Mac and the more you deviate away from "The Apple Way" the more they get frustrated and things don't "just work". Not so with Windows I know.

2. For all that is holy don't sync home folders!!!

Just my 2 cents.

And we still use ZENworks. help.