The answer is simple: Full end-to-end integration of all build components, and ongoing management of the desktop after it is built.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) provides great guidance (and some extra tools) on how to use Microsoft’s free products to deploy Windows. Using them, you can deploy a hardware independent image, inject drivers during build, and install applications at build time. But the focus is on initail deployment of the machine – not ongoing management. MDT can’t deploy applications 2 weeks after the machine is built – you need to use Group Policy or another tool to do that.  And if you change your SOE, or deploy new patches to your environment, you will need to ensure those changes are reflected in the MDT build so that any new machines you deploy are up-to-date. If you don’t, deployments from that point on will be a multi-step process: build machine, then ensure SOE changes are applied (e.g. using WSUS or Group Policy software deployment).

Config Mgr can be used for all dektop deployment and management functions. It gathers inventory, deploys applications & patches, and reports on desired configuration drift. When you release patches using config manager to already deployed machines, those patches will automatically be installed on any new computers you deploy – and not 30 or 60 minutes after the build, but during the build before the user can log on.

Likewise, if you upgrade a version of software in your enviornment and use Config Mgr to deploy the new version to existing computers, it is very simple to ensure that new version is also deployed to new computers – again, fully integrated into the actual build process. This is true for both traditional and App-V virtual applications. So if you are virtualising your applications (which you should be), Config Mgr can deploy virtual applications in much the same way as traditional applications, using the same objects and terminolgy within Config Mgr – which means you don’t need to have seperate servers for App-V deployment.

And Config Mgr’s hardware and software inventory can be used to help plan your deployment. Yes, the Microsoft Assesment and Planning tool (MAP) can gather hardware and software inventory – but only for clients that are turned on and on the network at the time MAP is run. Config Mgr is client based, so the data it provides is more reliable and will be automatically updated if the inventory changes.

So whilst Microsoft provides a lot of great free tools for deploying Windows 7, they are, well, lots of tools. Config Mgr provides all the functions in one product, which means there’s not only consistancy in administration and reporting, but there is deep integeration between the functions. The end result is that deployment of a machine is fully automated end-to-end. That includes saving user data and settings from the existing installation, deploying Windows 7, patching Windows, deploying applications (including virtual apps), and restoring user data and settings. The deployment can be initiated by the user, or remotely by IT, and the user does not get a logon prompt until the mahcine is completely ready to use. And the whole process can be monitored by IT using web based reports. Plus ongoing management of the environment is performed using the same tools and processes – and changes that you make as part of that ongoing management are automatically reflected in new builds – with very little IT administrative effort. All of which is very important to ensure that future builds and rebuilds are efficient and correct.

If you would like to hear more of my thoughts on Deploying Windows 7 with Configuration Manager, checkout this video interview recorded at Tech Ed Australia in September

I’ve also been heavily involved with the Dimension Data internal TAP deployment of Windows 7, and with some early adopter customers.

A couple of weeks ago, Microsoft interviewed myself and some colleges about our experience with Windows 7. You can find the video on Microsoft Showcase

(yes, I know, a little self promotion.. but hey, isn’t that what blogs are for?)