Jobos Posted March 4, 2020 Posted March 4, 2020 The HT is thinking of getting 30 iPads and has asked me to investigate how we could manage them. I've not dealt with iPads for a while and back then I used a MacBook with apple configurator which was a right pain, even more so than charging the iPads. Anyway, I've heard about cloud MDM solutions which sounds like the answer to what otherwise could be a nightmare. So what MDM solutions are there and how much? It's for a primary school and I work part time so want something quick easy to use.
atcoates Posted March 4, 2020 Posted March 4, 2020 (edited) If you can manage everything via apple school manager and all the Ipads are registered with DEP it will make using any MDM a lot easier. We use Meraki but they're all much of a muchness as can only use what apple allow you to. Meraki documentation is pretty good as well. https://documentation.meraki.com/SM/Device_Enrollment/Apple_Device_Enrollment_Program_(DEP) Edited March 4, 2020 by atcoates
chazzy2501 Posted March 4, 2020 Posted March 4, 2020 (edited) Apple School Manager has been a total disaster for me. They'll ONLY speak to the headmaster (not a lowly Network Manager) their technical support doesn't even know what apple school manager is! Out customer ID has never worked and 5 calls and many helpdesks later it just can't and will never work for us. Oh and my login stopped working (for this thread, I thought I'd check) and I'm stuck in an impossible loop of requiring myself to unlock my own account. EDIT: btw you still have to use the apple configurator, the apple school manager and an MDM of your choosing. A hat trick of management. I have a 1 to 1 ipad to management solutions. NICE... Edited March 4, 2020 by chazzy2501
atcoates Posted March 4, 2020 Posted March 4, 2020 Apple School Manager has been a total disaster for me. They'll ONLY speak to the headmaster (not a lowly Network Manager) their technical support doesn't even know what apple school manager is! Out customer ID has never worked and 5 calls and many helpdesks later it just can't and will never work for us. Oh and my login stopped working (for this thread, I thought I'd check) and I'm stuck in an impossible loop of requiring myself to unlock my own account. EDIT: btw you still have to use the apple configurator, the apple school manager and an MDM of your choosing. A hat trick of management. I have a 1 to 1 ipad to management solutions. NICE... You don't need to use apple configurator if you have the Ipads registered in DEP. Apple school manager will pass these straight to your MDM all you need to do is power on, you connect to the internet and they will pull down your profile and that's it. Agreed re apple school manager!!!
chazzy2501 Posted March 4, 2020 Posted March 4, 2020 You don't need to use apple configurator if you have the Ipads registered in DEP. Apple school manager will pass these straight to your MDM all you need to do is power on, you connect to the internet and they will pull down your profile and that's it. Agreed re apple school manager!!! Yes, sorry I meant for any Apple device you already own and ANY device you purchase outside of the Apple School Manager ecosystem. (So no recon or donated units and limited set of suppliers that support this)
Brimstone Posted March 5, 2020 Posted March 5, 2020 Yes, sorry I meant for any Apple device you already own and ANY device you purchase outside of the Apple School Manager ecosystem. (So no recon or donated units and limited set of suppliers that support this) Incorrect again..... Any device purchased from a DEP Registered reseller as far back as March 2011 can be added to DEP (there are at least 12 of these) Even devices purchased from a reseller that does not exist any more can be added if you know what you are doing and who to goto e.g. AT Computers Looking on the issues you have had I would say you need to some reading perhaps to better understand how this all works..? https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/apple-school-manager/welcome/web https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/apple-school-manager/tesd37cec318/web
round2it Posted March 5, 2020 Posted March 5, 2020 (edited) i have just done the same got 30 ipads I went with mosyle it is free for basic management so no cost to the school if you want ad intergration then you need to pay 5 dollars per year per device easy to setup the tech support is fantastic they even remote in and sort any teething problems for you hardest part is getting your devices in to the device enrollment program apple configurator 2 and a mac with at least mojave as the os is what you will require but get your school apple account sorted before you purchase any devices as the resellar can then add the devices to dep for you. i got 20 from a re seller before i had setup the management side this was a mistake and takes quite a while to get them sorted but i have had no issues with the devices enrolling with dep. Edited March 5, 2020 by round2it
Jobos Posted March 5, 2020 Author Posted March 5, 2020 Thanks all. I would rather not use apple configurator if possible so if I have understood correctly the school signs up to apple DEP and uses apple school manager buy apps. MDM pushes out said apps to the iPads. That sounds all too easy so I'm guessing I have missed something?
atcoates Posted March 5, 2020 Posted March 5, 2020 Thanks all. I would rather not use apple configurator if possible so if I have understood correctly the school signs up to apple DEP and uses apple school manager buy apps. MDM pushes out said apps to the iPads. That sounds all too easy so I'm guessing I have missed something? It's pretty seamless these days, to be honest.
password1234 Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 We just implemented Jamf School works beautifully costs the school around £5 per license per year deployed it across 20 iPads - 5 for Staff and 15 for Pupils and we were able to group them
Frugal Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 Mosyle Manager is really good. It's free unless you want premium features but you can do most remote management with the free version of it.
Jobos Posted March 12, 2020 Author Posted March 12, 2020 We just implemented Jamf School works beautifully costs the school around £5 per license per year deployed it across 20 iPads - 5 for Staff and 15 for Pupils and we were able to group them Mosyle Manager is really good. It's free unless you want premium features but you can do most remote management with the free version of it. Do either of these require Apple Configurator or Apple School Manager when setting-up the iPads?
RLR Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 Do either of these require Apple Configurator or Apple School Manager when setting-up the iPads? It depends how you want to deploy the iPads. To be honest, everyone should be using Apple School Manager now as it's how you purchase your app licenses and create apple ids. With any MDM you shouldn't need to use Apple Configurator as all the settings are pulled from your MDM. But, if you yourself are setting up iPads in bulk, then using Apple Configurator to bypass the ipad setup process and install the Wifi certificate and install apps as they are cached on the machine will speed things up. You don't need to use Apple Configurator but can help in certain situations.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now