Today, the digital ecosystem and IT requirements consistently grow more complex, yet the PC remains the core of how work gets done.
Historically, traditional deployment of a corporate PC required a computer to ship from the factory to a distributor, an integrator, IT, and then the employee received their new PC only after all of these steps. IT had to be joined to the network domain at a company office to set up, or image, the PC making this method far more cumbersome.
With continued social distancing and closed offices, most employees, including IT and other corporate employees, are either required or choosing to work from home. In these circumstances, what do you do when you have new employees? How do you prepare their PCs for their first day and then how do you get these computers to them?
The traditional method of PC deployment and imaging require high IT touch. Now, VMware Workspace ONE provides a more modern approach to deployment – via drop-ship provisioning. Drop-ship, or factory, provisioning allows PCs to be provisioned in the factory and then shipped directly to the employee at home. This solution eliminates those middle steps, making it faster for employees to receive their device and decreasing the time required of IT to deploy PCs. In fact, according to a study by Principled Technologies, Dell provisioning with VMware Workspace ONE saves more than a week of IT time per 1,000 devices deployed.
With drop-ship provisioning, employees can get their computers delivered straight to their home and be ready-to-work on their PC in minutes. This solution is especially useful when offices cannot be accessed and remain closed to non-essential employees. New employees can receive their PC and onboard remotely, and current employees who are due for a refresh can continue to receive their new computers, regardless of where they and their IT teams are working.
VMware and Dell Technologies not only provide this modern method of provisioning to their customers, they also utilize it for their employees. As a new employee at VMware, I recently received my corporate Dell computer by way of drop-ship provisioning. For those curious about what end-users can expect to experience, read on to see my unboxing and onboarding experience.
I received word that my PC was on the way with a tracking number. Later, a Dell-branded box arrived at my doorstep.
Upon opening the box, the very first thing I found was a short and easy-to-follow brochure explaining how to get started:
As you can see, VMware provides a how-to document that is branded with the corporate logo.
Next, I powered on my computer. The battery was partially charged so I didn’t have to plug it in to get started.
Once powered on, I walked through the initial steps common to home PCs, including selecting my region, language, and keyboard layout. Instead of signing in with a Microsoft account, I entered my company email address. Then, the Windows 10 PC completed its final steps to setup and the device was ready to use.
After I connected to my home internet, a few applications downloaded in the background but this did not affect my experience as I checked email on my new, shiny computer for the first time.
And that’s it. From receiving the PC at my door to being ready to work took only a few minutes. It really was that simple.
Want to learn how you can set up Windows 10 PCs that are ready-to-work for remote workers with Workspace ONE drop-ship provisioning? Watch this overview video and then head over to Tech Zone for even more information.
