App Protal /App Broker and SCCM Deployments

[PBolles]

When discussing workflow layouts with customer it was brought up if they could just add users to an AD group instead of configuring a SCCM package install. Than let SCCM handle if user is in the AD group and user does not have the application, kick the install off.

What are Pros and Cons of this scenario?  

[CharlesW · Accepted solution]

I know of at least one other user who does something similar.. Basically, they only use general catalog items to add users into an AD group. Group membership determines what software is deployed. They are now reconsidering their decision, and are thinking about moving back to a more standard deployment model. One drawback I can think of is that you would not be able to monitor status easily. You would also loose the ability to trigger actions for certain events. In addition, you would not be able to effectively use My Apps to reclaim software, as there would be no uninstaller associated with your catalog items. Finally, I'd expect that this approach would also be more difficult to maintain, as App Portal would not automatically handle the creation of collections/deployments. Thanks Charles

[jdempsey]

I echo every one of Charlie's cons for that configuration.  In addition, if you are using App Broker for ServiceNow rather than App Portal, general catalog items do not get synchronized into the ServiceNow catalog, so this would not work without some "non-standard" workarounds.