You want to relieve your IT managers by implementing a software distribution solution? Automating this process offers many advantages. Your employees can concentrate on their core tasks again. This allows work processes to be optimized and resources and costs to be saved at the same time. A professional software distribution solution is designed for maximum efficiency, convenience and smooth processes. But before it comes to the actual installation, the software distribution goes through a total of 5 phases.
Structured planning and prerequisites
First, you should think about how many employees, workspaces and endpoints are affected by the software deployment. In addition, you should check the compatibility of the software to be installed with your own IT structure.
These are just some of the points you should consider when planning software distribution. In advance, you should also think about the Software packaging make. It forms the basis for software to be distributed in an automated manner. Furthermore, you have to make sure that you use the right software for your operating system. Here it is advantageous if all devices in the company run with the same operating system. This also simplifies the installation of the software on multiple devices. There is a suitable software distribution option for Windows as well as for Linux and macOS.
Software distribution plan concept
After answering the basic questions, you need to move on to the second step. Concretize your software distribution plan. What type of software distribution is recommended for the security of your corporate data and business processes? Is it necessary that all end users have the updated software available at the same time? Is delayed deployment acceptable?
Simulations in a test environment
The distribution of new software involves a certain potential for errors. Therefore, creating a test environment is one of the easiest ways. This helps to avoid unpleasant surprises in your IT environment. For this purpose, either a complete test environment can be set up or a small part of the productive computers can be used as test computers. It will be piloted first before going into area rollout. Use simulations that are very similar to your real environment. In the best case, it should fully replicate them. However, this is not absolutely necessary, as individual test computers are also sufficient for this process. Test the new software in a simulated environment. This way you can find hidden problems before they become a problem. Afterwards, you can be confident that the software will work as intended. Efficient resource savings can then be achieved by automating the process. A functional environment without complications saves time and money. In addition, the health of IT managers and users is also improved. Faulty systems as well as failed installations cost nerves and thus represent a burden for the employees.
Time planning and task distribution
The next step should be to decide whether to roll everything out or to initiate this process department by department. In rare cases, if necessary, employee training can be synchronized in preparation for a new version.
Installation and final steps
The actual installation of the software on the end devices is the last step of the software distribution. If you have carefully followed the steps in the previous section, everything should now run smoothly. Afterwards you can use the configured software directly. Furthermore, from this point on, you should look into a rule-based update behavior.
This ensures that the software used on all end devices in your company is always up to date. This not only optimizes performance, but also minimizes the risk of errors. However, the issue of licenses must also be considered here. By carefully reviewing licenses, you can ensure that your business is operating legally and avoiding unnecessary costs. It is necessary to check whether the software must always be installed in the latest version. Many licenses also require ongoing payments for updates or upgrades. This means that companies need to plan for these costs in advance. If the software should no longer be used, it can also be uninstalled automatically to save license costs.
IDERI helps you optimize your IT. With IDERI pace you can make your company’s installation processes more efficient. Our professional packaging solution can be ideally integrated into existing Software distribution solutions and can orchestrate them. This means that software distribution, from initial installation to configuration and subsequent maintenance, is efficient, convenient and complication-free.
