I have a confession: I spend way too much time in my MDM and WiFi dashboard. I love to poke around and see what knobs I can turn learn more about how the pipes are connected. One of the things that I heard was the "secret sauce" of the Casper Suite was Smart Groups. Smart Groups are for the people who have better things to do than spending time in their MDM system. It's about giving you a quick glance to see where your devices are at. The thing that has really changed with the iPad is that the users are more in-control of the device. As an MDM administrator, I just want to have a 10,000 foot view of the devices.Here are some Smart Groups that I like to use:
Are we on the latest version of iOS?
Have we checked into the MDM recently?
Do we have more than 2GB of space free on all devices?
Do any devices not have a passcode set, in the groups that should?
Which devices are more than 75% full?
Which devices are coming off warranty soon?
Do any devices have apps installed that we don’t want but can’t block (such as Snapchat)?
I have these smart groups pinned to my home screen. Thanks to the wonderful responsive Casper Suite website, I can view these from anywhere in the world.
What's even better is that you can setup these groups to send you email notifications when the composition of the group changes. For example, I get an email every time a student installs Snapchat or if a pupil disables their passcode.
Smart groups are also useful along with extension attributes. Casper Suite supports many attributes of devices - such as serial number, capacity and so on - but it also allows you to set up your own. You can add attributes that directly relate to the status of devices or users. For example, in school, you could create extension attributes for selected after-school clubs, then create smart groups to gather all devices involved in those groups. After that, you could scope apps, books or configuration profiles to just those groups.
I love tinkering with my MDM, but most people don't. Smart Groups is one of the features that let's your MDM do the heavy lifting for you. Which smart groups are you using? I'm always looking out for new ones. Let me know on twitter @bradleychambers.
