Best Practices for Deploying SAManage

Once you’ve signed up for your SAManage account, the next step is to see how intuitive and easy-to-use it is by deploying our on-demand IT asset management system throughout your network environment.  In an effort to help you do so as quickly and easily as possible, this post will focus on IT best practices in deploying SAManage across your network.

How SAManage Works

There are several implementation approaches you can take.  The steps below outline what we consider to be the most efficient and effective deployment options, please review the online deployment guides for examples and scripts you can use, or download the quick start guide which includes step-by-step instructions on how to get started with SAManage.

Enterprise Networks

Where most computers are connected to a network (LAN/WAN):

Our recommended deployment best practice is to use our Remote Deployment Tool (RDT) in combination with an Active Directory GPO/Domain Logon Script. RDT allows you to instantly create your computer inventory and software inventory by using the network administrator credentials to remotely log in to all computers on your network (or in a range of IPs) and install SAManage remotely on any PC that is currently connected to the network.  However, RDT will only install the agent on connected PCs, so any PC that is not turned on and logged into the network at the time of execution is not going to have SAManage installed on it.

That’s where the Active Directory GPO/Domain Logon Script comes in.  It provides a more comprehensive, broad-reaching solution over the long term, filling in any inventory gaps by ensuring that the SAManage agent is immediately installed on any PC the moment it connects to your network (if it has not already been installed).  This will not only take care of those PCs that were disconnected at the time the RDT was run, it also guarantees that any new computers – purchased or re-provisioned after your IT asset management system is already in place – are added to your hardware inventory immediately the first time they log in to the network.  Since the agent is automatically installed, the burden on you is significantly eased and you won’t have to remember to do it manually each time a new PC is introduced into the environment.

Note: You can run RDT multiple times on different schedules, to install SAManage on additional PCs that were not connected during previous executions. Simply check the “skip host if agent is already installed” option, and re-run RDT as much as needed until all your computers get the agent installed.

Distributed Networks

Where no centralized network exists (many branches/remote offices):

The issue with these types of scenarios is that there are multiple remote users who do not log in to a centralized network, and therefore the RDT can not be used. The recommended best practices in it to setup SAManage on those PCs is to ask remote users to follow the manual installation procedures, and install the agent themselves. Step-by-step instructions for manual installation can be found in our deployment guides on the support website.

With these deployment techniques, installing SAManage across your network will be smooth and seamless.  Your initial inventory will be logged quickly and accurately, and you’ll be able to more easily support the day-to-day usage of the solution across your business.  For more deployment tips and best practices, see our online deployment guides.

Related posts:

1. Best Practices in IT Asset Management
2. New: Mac Agent gets a new installer
3. New: Remote Deployment Tool (beta)
4. Agent vs. Non-Agent Discovery Tools: Which Are Better?
5. Best Practices in Migrating Your Help Desk to SAManage