Getting at the data SCCM builds for us hasn’t always been as easy as it is today!
Remember SMS 1.2 by any chance? (Nope, didn’t think so, but we do.) It had zero integrated reports — it came with a license for Seagate Crystal Reports instead.
SMS 2003 did have web reports, but until SP4 they weren’t especially useful. And because there was no console node for them, users didn’t even realise they existed. In fact, the reports you’re probably familiar with didn’t appear until 2007, and the SQL Reporting Services node didn’t appear in the console until the rebrand 8 years ago.
So, whether you’re an SSRS fan or loathe it, the native reports that you’re used to in SCCM are (relatively speaking) quite new. So why aren’t they more user-friendly, you might ask?
Thing is, SCCM is still a tried-and-tested systems management product. It’s not a cutting-edge BI tool. There’s still limited reporting functionality, monitoring is complex, and the results are basic at best.
Well, that’s all about to change. We’ve already discussed how to get faster answers to those ‘quick’ questions management keeps asking.
Now, let’s take a look at OS Deployment monitoring, a notoriously complicated process in SCCM.
Monitoring Operating System Deployment in SCCM
Often, as humans, we accept that a certain process, no matter how clunky, is the only or best way to complete a task. We’re here to bust that myth with OS deployment.
OS Deployment is a key feature of SCCM. It’s widely used and enables complicated processes to be easily deployed across environments of all types. We even had a job deploying OS images to submarines, once!
But with OS Deployment comes Task Sequences. These are complex and have a lot of moving parts. With SCCM’s native tools, it can be incredibly tricky. You need to consider:
- Tracking where a Task Sequence is deployed
- How it performs
- Any failure status
- A general overall view of how your Windows 10 deployment is going
As with most of the SCCM console functionality, there’s a huge amount to look at. There are 28 Task Sequence reports. The Task Sequence Progress report claims to have a data visualisation option, but there’s a fault with it — there’s no data to show.
Frustrating indeed.
Callisto’s OS Deployment Dashboard
It needn’t be accepted that this unwieldy process is the only way to monitor your OS deployments in SCCM.
In Callisto, we’ve created an OS Deployment Dashboard. It’s a data-dense, auto-updating portal for absolutely everything Task Sequence related — perfect for tech teams, managers, and project managers. Essentially, it’s for anyone who cares about Windows rollout projects.
Here’s a sneak preview:
With this dashboard, you can quickly and easily:
- Plot Task Sequence performance statistics
- See completion and error rates
- Surface specific error counts
- Drill in for more and more detail
- Take immediate action to remediate where necessary
So, should you try it?
In a word, yes. You’re probably aware that SCCM contains vast amounts of data that you could be using to improve your life but, as always, it’s hard work getting to it.
With Callisto’s OS Deployment Dashboard, the days of being the only person capable of navigating SCCM are over. You can finally free up your time by giving reports and dashboards straight to your team to work from. Data is presented in a high-level overview, but you and your users can drill down and down again, depending how detailed you want to go.
With a free, no obligation trial option, there’s absolutely no reason not to give it a go. The OSD dashboard supports Callisto Wallboard Mode too, so you can have your OS deployment status up on a big telly.
To find out more about transforming your OS deployment in SCCM, take a look at our free playbook, From Essential to Beautiful.