Recommendation on Final Cut codes and deployment?

[jhuls]

Back in 2014 the campus here purchased 20 licenses for Final Cut Pro X and we received a pdf containing the codes for each one. From that there was one, I believe, selected to be used on the Mac App Store to download the software and deploy via Casper. This method has been troublesome at best for maintaining updates but it's possible it wasn't done correctly.

My question is what do some of you recommend for deploying Final Cut? My understanding is that I can ask Apple to convert the remaining codes to managed and then deploy via the store through Casper although I've not talked to anyone from Apple yet about this. Does anyone recommend this? We're currently using 15 of the 20 licenses but there's talk of possibly adding 15-20 more(probably with the Pro Pack Apple's offering...might replace Pro Tools with Logic as well). I'm basically a one man show maintaining 170 Macs and 130 iPads. I'm basically looking for what most are and that is the simplest, quickest method to deploy and maintain updates. Would getting the codes converted to managed be the way to go or is there a foolproof method to download, redeploy, and easily maintain updates?

[blackholemac]

If you have already "burnt the codes" so to speak (redeemed all of them to an iTunes account), you can't migrate them to Managed Distribution without somehow begging Apple for help in a non-traditional manner. If you only burnt a single code and followed this article: Deploying Final Cut Pro X with ARD, you can apply to Apple at the following address: Apple EDU VPP Support to convert the other 19 codes to Managed Distribution.

[jhuls]

Any kind of recommendation on which method to go with? If I recall when following that method to download and deploy, it was prompting for an Apple ID at the user's station which this documentation makes no mention of. Have you done this successfully? I'd like to convert one of those licenses to test and compare with but the department who purchased them wouldn't be too thrilled with that idea. Money is pretty tight here in Illinois.

[blackholemac]

In a perfect world, I would recommend managed distribution. In reality I'm guessing you've already burnt some Final Cut codes and wish to continue using them. In general Apple one not convert those that have already been burnt. You may have no choice but to use codes if you wish to continue using what you already have burnt. At Least for those. If you haven't purchased Final Cut yet or if you've purchased it and not deployed it to anyone choose managed distribution.

(Note to JamfNation: I want to apologize for the initial version of this post. I have a bad habit of using voice dictation to post on JamfNation.)

[jhuls]

@blackholemac Thanks for the info. Only one of the codes should be burned but I guess I won't really know until I request to have them converted. I was leaning toward managed but thought I would ask here if someone might speak up that it was a bad idea.