About User Readiness

When using the User Readiness feature, you create records that define a requester as “ready” for either a regular catalog item or a task sequence catalog item. Those users are informed, usually via email, that they are scheduled to have a catalog item or task sequence (OS deployment) installed on their device, and are prompted to select an installation date within the range of available dates.

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Typically used for OS deployment—User readiness records are typically used for operating system deployment, but can also be used to install or upgrade a software application that is used by the entire corporation (such as Microsoft Office).

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Use to target sets of users—Using user readiness records enable you to target specific sets of users at a time.

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Use to prevent installation of catalog items—User readiness can also restrict or prevent installation of a catalog item if a readiness record is required, but not yet present.

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Deployment window can expire, providing enhanced security—If a user has not scheduled a deployment within the deployment window, and the deployment window expires, the deployment is no longer able to be scheduled. This gives you an extra layer of security for sensitive catalog items such as OS deployments.

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Specifying that a catalog item requires a user readiness record—You specify that a catalog item requires a user readiness record by selecting the Require User Readiness record? option on the General tab of the Catalog Item Properties dialog box. Only those catalog items that have this option selected will be available for selection on the User Readiness view.

Delivery of a Catalog Item That Requires a User Readiness Record

If a catalog item requires a user readiness record, two actions must occur before the item can be delivered to the user:

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User must be added to user readiness record—For the catalog item in question, the user must have been added to the list of users for which readiness records are required.

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User must respond to notification—The user must have responded to the readiness record request notification.

Important Considerations About User Readiness

Note the following regarding the use of user readiness records:

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Adding users—You can associate a user with a user readiness record by manually searching for and adding the user, or by importing an Excel file containing a list of users. But you cannot associate users with a user readiness record by selecting an Active Directory group or a collection of users. You can only add users individually, or by importing an Excel file containing a list of users.

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Cannot target machines—You cannot use user readiness records to push a deployment to specific machines. User readiness targets the user, not the machine.

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No forced deployment—If a “ready” user does not schedule an installation date, the catalog item will not be installed. Even though a user readiness record for a catalog item with a start and end date has been associated with a user, there is no forced deployment if that person fails to select a date.

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User readiness record settings overwrite constraint settings—Each user readiness record has settings similar to those of a constraint, defining the start date, end date, and blackout dates for deployment. However, the start date, end date, and blackout date settings of a user readiness record overwrite those of a constraint.