Desktop Deployment in the NHS an Overview
Optimising the Desktop Deployment Process in the NHS
Deploying desktops in the NHS is often an unnecessarily time consuming and heavily manual process. Trusts are often held back from upgrading existing PC’s to latest versions due to the time required to perform the upgrade using existing manual processes. By automating the upgrade and deployment process Trusts can significantly reduce operational costs and benefit from having a more secure and agile desktop platform.
The Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment
The Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment or BDD provides best practice tools and guidance to automate and streamline the deployment of Operating Systems and Applications
Topics Include:
Application Compatibility - Tools and guidance to streamline Application Compatibility testing
Imaging - Includes easy to use tools to create a standard repeatable build which can be deployed to different models of PC’s. Remove the need to create a new build from scratch each time a new model is released.
User State Migration - Understand how to automate the preservation of user data when upgrading existing PC’s
Deployment Processes
There are two main types of deployments:
- Light touch deployments – Fairly manual deployment utilising commonly used imaging technologies or Microsoft RIS
- Zero touch deployments – Highly automated deployment - utilising Microsoft SMS Server 2003 and the free Operating System Deployment Feature Pack – Upgrade PCs in whole departments without visiting them and preserving user data
There are 2 Versions available to NHS Trusts
Please see the article entitled "Which version of BDD should I choose?" for more information