BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Parallels® today unveiled Parallels Mac Management 6 for Microsoft SCCM (www.parallels.com/mac-management), which extends Microsoft® System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) (www.microsoft.com/sccm) functionality and enables IT managers to use one pane of glass to manage both PC and Mac® computers with ease, increased efficiency, and higher productivity.
MAC SCCM SCCM Software Management System Center Now that you've got the Parallels Mac Management for SCCM tool install and discovered your Mac clients on the network by following my post: HERE. You're ready to start deploying applications.
Parallels Mac Management 6 supports Microsoft SCCM's software metering, which enables IT managers to monitor and collect software usage data from Mac clients and make money-saving business decisions based on that data. Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM is ranked 18th in Configuration Management vs SCCM which is ranked 2nd in Configuration Management with 7 reviews. The top reviewer of SCCM writes 'Enables us to set up schedules, according to security needs, to automate server and desktop patching'.
Remote Wipe/Lock, which allows IT managers to lock a Mac or erase all data in the event it is lost or stolen, is a new data security compliance feature of Parallels Mac Management 6 for Microsoft SCCM, and now provides full Mac lifecycle management.
Parallels Mac Management 6 supports Microsoft SCCM’s software metering, which enables IT managers to monitor and collect software usage data from Mac clients and make money-saving business decisions based on that data. For example, now IT admins can determine how often Mac end users use each software application, which applications are used most frequently, and which licenses should be discontinued or renewed.
From an efficiency standpoint, Parallels Mac Management makes it easy for IT personnel to schedule software deployments and maintenance so they can minimize the impact on end user productivity, network bandwidth software deployments and maintenance in their organization. IT managers can also schedule application installations and software package deployment when a Mac is not in use.
“The highest levels of data security are critical for businesses today,” said Jack Zubarev, Parallels president. “With the increased penetration of the Mac into the enterprise, IT admins need a quick and effective method to securely manage both Mac and PC computers through Microsoft SCCM. Parallels Mac Management 6 provides IT departments a variety of tools that make it simple to manage and control Mac computers and Mac applications.”
Customer feedback inspired many efficiency improvements associated with the new task sequence steps, which strengthen on-screen display (OSD) features including:
- Install SCCM Application – Ability to re-use SCCM applications for macOS image deployment
- Format and Partition Disk – Formats and partitions a specified disk on a target Mac
- Join to Domain – Improved support with an additional setting requiring mobile confirmation
- Copy-Paste Task SequenceSteps – Allows IT admins to copy and paste task sequence steps between task sequences
- Modeless Task Sequence Properties Window – Edit multiple task sequences simultaneously
- Custom Settings Payload – Add a custom settings payload to a configuration profile via the built-in editor
- Duplicate Profile Prevention – Checks if configuration profile has already been applied as part of a baseline and all settings are correctly enforced
“Slalom is a rapidly growing organization with 4,500 employees in 25 markets, and we have seen our Mac footprint grow to almost 25 percent of all devices in a short period of time,” said Anthony McGinnis, Operations Engineer for Slalom (slalom.com). “This has presented us with unique challenges that Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM has consistently been able to meet. The ability to manage Mac and PC computers within the same platform has allowed us to easily address our increasingly stringent security, reporting, and administrative needs without requiring an increase in staff or further infrastructure.”
Parallels Mac Management 6 for Microsoft SCCM empowers IT admins and system architects, as well as CIOs, to quickly and cost-effectively extend their current Microsoft SCCM infrastructure to control Mac and PC computers through one interface. IT departments now have more tools at their disposal to increase security, efficiency and even help drive business decisions without the cost of an additional infrastructure.
Resellers of Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM can receive a variety of free benefits when they visit the enhanced Parallels Partner Portal; it provides them with free dealer registration, usage-based pricing, waterfall discounts, and a host of resources to help them succeed. To learn more, please visit parallels.com/partners.
Availability and Pricing
Parallels Mac Management 6 will be available on July 27 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time and starts at $30 annually per Mac.
About Parallels
Parallels is a global leader in cross-platform solutions which make it possible and simple for customers to use and access the applications and files they need on any device or operating system. Parallels helps customers take advantage of the best technology out there, whether it’s Windows, Mac, iOS, Android™ or the cloud. Parallels solves complex engineering and user experience problems by making it simple and cost-effective for businesses and individual customers to use applications wherever they may be—local, remote, in the private datacenter or in the cloud. Parallels has offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Visit www.parallels.com/about for more information.
Parallels and the Parallels logo are registered trademarks of Parallels International GmbH in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For organizations that are already managing their Windows systems using Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager (2012, 2012R2) that have Apple Macs in their environment, the company Parallels (maker of the virtual machine technology for Macs) released a plug-in for the Mac that provides extensive management of Macs from SCCM. (and no, you do NOT need to be running the Parallels VM software on the Mac to use this plug-in, two completely separate parts of the company).In a nutshell, with this Parallels for SCCM add-in, you can:More specifically, what the Parallels Mac Management suite includes:Parallels Suite adds right into the normal SCCM Management Console:Uses nMAP for Network Discovery, same issue as doing a discovery of PCs on a network, will need a helper service to hop across subnets for discovery, but will identify Macs on the network (just like SCCM discovers PCs on a network). Alternate option is to just have users launch/install the agent, just a normal DMG package. (note: for Macs that are already joined to Active Directory, a Summer/2014 release will discover Mac objects through the Active Directory Discovery mechanism of SCCM).System Center’s Resource Explorer takes device inventory and provides a view of the the hardware and OS configuration of the device. A unique function of the solution is that it takes the Service# of the device and checks against the Apple warranty Website to identify whether the device is under warranty or not, that confirms also whether the device is included in AppleCare extended warranty and support program.Application Packaging is fully supported and uses normal SCCM packaging functionality where a package can be created, but instead of an EXE/MSI package in SCCM used against Windows, when creating a package in SCCM, the package for the Mac will be a DMG installer package.The Parallels SCCM plug-in also integrates with System Center’s Compliance Settings and allows for the configuration of password policies, application settings, firewall settings, network settings, etc.Within each device’s configuration profile, settings can be made such as settings as they relate to Apple System Preferences like passcode enforcement, network options, security and privacy controls, as well as Application Settings like profile settings for email, Exchange settings, calendar settings, etc.
• Do bare metal imaging of a Mac from SCCM
• Discovery and inventory Macs (just like PCs)
• Create task sequences to manage Macs (just like PCs)
• Deploy and manage software on Macs (just like PCs)
• Set compliance settings and control Macs (just like PCs)
For organizations that use Parallels Desktop for Virtual Machines, the Parallels SCCM management plug-in includes options for configuring Parallels settings like coherence, resource allocation, backup, sharing options, etc.
Add Mac Softwares On Parallels Mac Management For Sccm 2012
The Parallels SCCM plug-in also fully supports bare metal installation of the Mac OS/X operating system on a Mac. For OS installation, a lightweight NetBoot app running on a Windows server needs to be installed on the network. When a Mac is booted up, the administrator just holds down the Option key and choose to boot to the network, which will redirect the boot to SCCM for the selection of an Operating System package on the system.Overall, the solution is impressive, especially for organizations that already have System Center Configuration Manager and are managing Windows-based systems, instead of buying a whole separate management tool to just manage Macs, load up an agent on the Macs and manage them just like the organization manages its PCs.Parallels is selling the agents on an annual subscription basis that includes free upgrades during the year as they update the SCCM management components and the agents to add functionality as well as keep up with the rolling updates in System Center and on Macs. The retail price is $30/user/year, however Parallels will aggressively price the offering for enterprises, and given the alternative of buying a completely separate Mac management suite with the accompanying servers, licenses, management, and training efforts, a sturdy discount from Parallels definitely is an attraction option.For more information, the Parallels Website has more details http://www.parallels.com/products/enterprise/business-solutions/#PMM