June 2025
Welcome to the latest update on the Shared Device Management (SDM) project.
Summary of June sprints
The team recently participated in the IT Services Spotlight Series with a session titled ‘Doing things differently: collaborative working.’ In this session, Rosanna reflected on working in an agile way within a cross-functional team. Lawrence and James also discussed the importance of focusing on user needs and how we’ve applied this to the project.
You can view the recording of the session via: Staff Spotlight - Doing things differently – Collaborative delivery-20250625_Shared Device Management Project.mp4
The team also presented at the 2025 ICTF Conference, discussing:
You can access the recording via: ICTF2025 : Panopto
Introducing Enrolment on to our Visiontype
We have completed work on device enrolment methods in Visiontype using Microsoft Intune:
What did we learn in June?
We consulted divisions and departments to understand current device management practices. We also reviewed the Managed Desktop and Device Service (MDDS) to identify relevant insights or dependencies for designing a future shared service.
MDDS consists of three teams:
Together, they manage approximately 5,500 Windows devices and 800 Mac devices through various support services.
Application Packaging & Deployment
The process of packaging and deploying applications to users is a collaborative effort involving EDMS, Desktop Services, and Platform Services. EDMS (Enterprise Device Management Service) oversees the management of both Mac and Windows devices within the MDDS, providing specialist expertise in application packaging and deployment. For Windows devices, EDMS handles tasks such as application deployment automation, compliance checks, antivirus packaging, encryption, and is preparing to transition imaging and deployment to a configuration manager.
Desktop Services manages the operational delivery of device setup and support, including sourcing hardware, packaging applications, initial configuration, and working closely with EDMS for application packaging and with Platform Services for infrastructure dependencies. Platform Services, meanwhile, maintains the underlying infrastructure, enforces policies, and manages Active Directory, ensuring that configuration and security policies are correctly applied during deployment. Together, these teams ensure that applications are efficiently packaged, securely deployed, and fully supported across the university’s diverse device landscape.
Below is a link to the Miro board the team used to map this out:
https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVJdROvdM=/?share_link_id=383525387008
What’s coming up in July?
In July, we’re conducting research interviews with device users and device managers to understand their experience when they receive their device. This will inform part of the discovery report.
We will also be refining the work on our Minimum Viable Product so we can experiment and test the first iteration of an end-to-end experience with users.
Questions or interested in joining our next sprint review?
The next sprint review is taking place on Wednesday 13 August from 14:30 to 15:30. Email us to join: shared.infrastructure@admin.ox.ac.uk
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