SCCM V.Next Public Beta 1 includes a Software Self Service Portal which is a great thing! It looks really nice already in beta 1 easy to setup, works like a charm. Using the software portal it is possible for users to install applications themselves and also request them if the administrator have selected that approval is necessary
The user can search for software or browse for software based on Category or Publisher. When requesting the software the user is prompted to submit a motivation for why he/she needs the software. In this case I need it for my project.
On the My Software Requests tab in the portal the user can track the status of his/hers request in the portal to see the status of his/hers software requests.
When the user submits the request, it shows up almost immediately in the Configuration Manager Console where the administrator can either approve the request or deny the request.
After the approval the application is installed for the user based on the requirements configured for the software in the Configuration Manager console. I will cover the new software application object in later posts.
Under the My Systems tab in the portal it is also possible for the user to mark that this computer is my primary computer, which can be used in V.Next to set requirements that for instance some applications are only is allowed to install on the user’s primay computer. This is a great feature which enables administrators to think user first, instead of per-device as is the most practiced setup used today.
The user can also add a mobile device in this view.
More on SCCM V.Next coming up soon, I will deep dive into more features in the Beta. Download the beta and try it out yourself from Microsoft Connect.