How the Cireson Portal for Configuration Manager Adds Value to Your Entire IT Team

Billy_Wilson

The Cireson Portal for Configuration Manager (CMP) is a web-based experience to help manage and standardize daily tasks outside of the native Configuration Manager Console. Empower everyone on your IT team with anywhere, anytime access to inventory data, collection membership, software management and deployment, OSD management and deployment, and more. Here’s a look at how some of the most common IT roles can benefit.

Configuration Manager Admin
The CMP is not designed to replace the OOB Configuration Manager Portal for actual Configuration Manager Administrators. It is designed to give Configuration Manager Admins what they have always dreamed of… a way to easily give others access to the parts of Configuration Manager they require that doesn’t involve deploying the default locally-installed Console to these folks (which the folks don’t need), spending a lot of time training the folks on how to use it (which the Admin and the folks don’t really want), and configuring targeted Security Roles in the Configuration Manager Console (which Admins generally find tedious).

With the Cireson CMP, Admins can easily configure targeted access for different Analyst Groups using Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) so that these Analysts can add Configuration Manager to their toolbelt and maximize the value they bring to the business.

With a localized web-based portal, there is no Configuration Manager Console localized deployment that needs to be created and maintained.
Another huge benefit of the CMP is that it is easy to use and intuitive, thereby limiting the Configuration Manager’s time that is required to spend on training Analysts.

Service Desk
For many organizations, the Service Desk (Level 1 Support) is a volume business. Time management and efficiency are the keys to success for incident and request triage, first-call resolution, and escalation. Correctly gathering and analyzing required information about an issue report or a request for service in an expedient manner allows for a faster path to resolution or fulfillment of service.

Cireson created the Service Manager Analyst Portal to make Service Manager more accessible and easier to use. The same creativity and dedication has gone into the Configuration Manager Portal, for the same purpose. Leveraging the Cireson Analyst Portal with the Configuration Manager Portal gives Service Desk Analysts the tools they need to gather and analyze the info they need to do their jobs more efficiently. Upon receiving an Incident Request, they can quickly use the CMP to gain information on affected resources such as:

• UDA lookup
• Current Inventory
• SW Deployment Status

The Service Desk Analyst can also use the CMP to initiate a Software Deployment on demand if process and RBAC allows for it.

Desktop Support
Service Desk and Desktop Support typically make up the majority of IT Staff. Desktop Support Analysts provide on-site services that cannot be provided remotely such as hardware-based incident resolution and computer deployment services such as OS imaging and migrations. Unlike Service Desk Analysts, Desktop Support staff spend much of their time away from their assigned workstations resolving issues and providing services at the end user’s location. Having to access a locally installed Configuration Manager Console can add unnecessary time when needing to get the end user back to being productive. This is where the Cireson CMP provides value for increased efficiency as the Desktop Support Analyst can access Configuration Manager from anywhere to be able to:

• View Computer Inventory, UDA lookup, and SW Deployment status for troubleshooting purposes
• Re-Deploy or upgrade software, if required
• Deploy a new OS Image to the computer
• Migrate the computer to an upgraded system build (such as Windows 10 + Office 365) using MDT

Server Team
Server Support teams put a premium on time, especially when dealing with server outages. The financial impact of an outage can range from minimal to critical and the distance between the two can escalate very quickly. Thus, Server Analysts need quick access to information and remediation tools for a server or servers either from their desk or in the Data Center, and sometimes at an office location directly. Cireson CMP gives them that flexibility to begin diagnosing server issues from anywhere they happen to be when they get the alert that something is wrong. They will have the ability to utilize the CMP to:

• Get inventory information
• Get software update status and apply patches when necessary
• Deploy software
• Perform a bare metal OSD task sequence
• View reporting for all of the above

Security/Applications Team
Over the last several years, cyber-threats have increased dramatically for businesses of all sizes and in all industries. As a response, companies are investing more and more in IT Security technology and staff. Also, Microsoft Operating Systems continue to be the prevalent business-level standard for workstations and servers. While there are many tools out there designed specifically to help ITSEC professionals monitor and remediate OS vulnerabilities, Microsoft Configuration Manager using WSUS is still a benchmark standard in assessing Microsoft OS and application vulnerabilities and deploying the security updates to patch those vulnerabilities. The Cireson CMP can provide ITSEC Analysts with an easily accessible tool to monitor OS and MS application patch levels throughout the business IT landscape and provide the ability to:

• View inventory to monitor for unauthorized software
• Report on OS Patch levels
• Deploy software updates on the fly
• Check SW deployment status
• Manage Role Based Administration within the Portal itself

Management/Excom
The number one role of IT Management from the Team Lead level, to Executive Committee Officer (CIO) is to maximize the business’ investment in technology to aid in revenue generation with minimal required overhead. While the Configuration Manager Console can provide some visibility into the areas it manages, it is generally not practical to install a console on every level of Management in the IT organization. The Cireson CMP provides the kind of infrequent, on-demand visibility for Management so they can access the following whenever they need it, where they are.

• Reports
• Statuses
• RBAC configurations

The Cireson Portal for Configuration Manager will be generally available in early 2017. Learn more and sign-up for first priority access here.