GSX options?

[jhuls]

Recently I discovered GSX was no longer functional. After inquiring I found that our network guy who handles that aspect hadn't logged in within the every 30 day requirement to keep the account used alive. He contacted Apple about unlocking the account used and they said that we were a Limited Terms Service Account and that GSX access is no longer provided.

After emailing our Apple SE he said that the GSX team is has been evaluating customers with service accounts and deactivating any that were inactive. Our signatory should have received 3 notices regarding it. I've requested to know who is listed as the signatory but have not received a response. He also listed 3 requirements for GSX that need met and, of course, we don't seem to meet any of them.

So, I guess I'm curious if someone else knows of a way to get access to this for the Casper integration. It's a nice tool to have. It's a shame for Apple to suddenly pull this from us. One of the requirements is to have more than 1000 devices. We're sitting at around 300 so there's no way this is happening anytime soon.

[Asnyder]

We have GSX access because we have a self-servicing agreement with Apple. Might be something you want to look into if you can afford the time to do repairs in-house.

[jhuls]

@Asnyder At the moment there isn't time but it might be something to consider. Our current option is to take things to Simply Mac but I can't say they're always the most impressive. Can I ask how many devices you have at your location?

[Asnyder]

We have about 400 in JAMF right now. We've had self-servicing since we started our 1:1 in 2013. We're about to merge with another school next year (previously whole grade sharing) so I'll be managing about 1100 computers and 200 Ipads. We also go through an insurance company (SU (don't ask me what it stands for because I don't actually know)) and it pays us $50/hour for any repairs and is a blanket policy for parts for our school district. So we get paid for labor and the part cost reimbursed. They also over $40 per charger for replacing them and they cover third-party repairs (we send IPads to AGI repair).

[GabeShack]

Self servicing account is the way to go. Easiest (and cheapest) way to order bulk supplies as well. Think MagSafe 1 and 2 Power adapters in either 5 packs or 25 packs as well as lightning cables and 10/12W iPad Power Adapters in 25 packs and Keyboards and mice and vga dongles....its like Christmas in GSX!

Seriously though paying $69 for 3 years of APA (ApplePartsAgreement) instead of $183 for 3 Years of AppleCare on airs and 13" pros is quite nice. ($49 for 3 years APA on iMacs vs $119 AppleCare). Having at least one certified Apple repair tech makes it all worthwhile.

Gabe Shackney
Princeton Public Schools

[jhuls]

Now that starts getting intriguing when looking at possible financial advantages to it. My thought until now was with only ~170 Macs and ~170 iPads that it didn't make sense. We simply don't have that many hardware failures to deal with and I'm a one man show with a part-time person. On the other hand we'll be replacing various Macs over the next couple years and saving on AppleCare costs could prove attractive. Of course, if it's true that one of the requirements now are a minimum of 1000 devices then none of this matters. It's still something to think about. Thanks for the info!