How deploying an image with Autopilot works<\/strong><\/h2>\nWhy has installing a new Windows image traditionally been so challenging?<\/p>\n
Companies like Microsoft have had to continuously update their custom images to make sure they are current and secure, Aitelhadj says. Every month the Windows team issues patches and updates, and those have had to be woven into each image before it could be deployed.<\/p>\n
Before the company started using Autopilot (and in cases where it\u2019s not yet using the new tool), handling those month-to-month updates made deploying new images very challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur engineers have had to build and maintain our image on a monthly basis for all devices in our global ecosystem,\u201d she says. \u201cThey have had to send each image to the OEMs. Those images include our policies, certifications, profiles\u2014everything needed to get the devices ready for one of our employees. We\u2019ve streamlined how we create our custom image within Microsoft, and Autopilot streamlines that even further for both IT pro and users.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once Autopilot is deployed across the entire company, everything will get a lot simpler.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay I\u2019m a company and I have 10 users coming onboard,\u201d Aitelhadj says. \u201cInstead of having an IT pro load our custom image onto those PCs, the OEM will preload the devices with a universal Commercial OEM Image, they will register those machines onto Autopilot, and everything will get loaded onto those machines automatically, once the user logs in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using Autopilot, the OEM loads just the operating system and Microsoft Office onto a computer\u2014just what the employee needs to be able to turn their machine on and get started. Once online, Autopilot guides the user through a nearly hands-off out-of-box experience in which it not only handles all custom configuration settings, but also downloads and installs all needed applications. The other benefit is that the user does not have to be on the company\u2019s corporate network or in a campus building to setup the device\u2014they can do it from any internet connection.<\/p>\n
And the user experience?<\/p>\n
Thanks to Autopilot, it has gone from a struggle to an easy first log in. The trick was to then make it easy and intuitive for the employee to download and set up all the applications they need to do their work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe make it as simple as possible by provisioning the device with all the policies, certs, and core apps,\u201d Aitelhadj says. \u201cIt all loads in the background within a few minutes. We limit their interaction to just the stuff they need to click through\u2014like security and a few other required things.\u201d<\/p>\n
And yes, the team wanted to give the IT pros who spend hours and hours updating images each month time back, but the bigger goal was to create a simpler, more user-guided, less error-prone experience for users, thereby reducing end user frustration and the need for IT support. All this needed to be done without a time gap\u2014for security reasons, all current updates need to be made as the new employee\u2019s PC is booted up and handed over to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve saved our pilot users hundreds of hours\u2014we\u2019re getting them productive faster,\u201d Aitelhadj says. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty awesome to have that kind of impact.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The first experience a new employee has at Microsoft shouldn\u2019t be waiting for their laptop to get set up. \u201cWe\u2019re transforming the experience our employees have when they first turn on their PCs,\u201d says Sean MacDonald, a principal group program manager in Microsoft Digital. \u201cOur employees expect a best-in-class experience and we\u2019ve been working hard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":5032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"_hide_featured_on_single":false,"_show_featured_caption_on_single":true,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[381,328,382,300,91],"coauthors":[138],"class_list":["post-5027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-autopilot","tag-azure-and-cloud-infrastructure","tag-update","tag-windows","tag-windows-10","program-ms-digital-stories","m-blog-post"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Autopilot speeds up Windows 10 image deployment inside Microsoft - Inside Track Blog<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n