Microsoft Surface 3 - Manual (Page 31)

© 2014 Microsoft Page 31
example, some applications cannot be configured through installation or scripts and require that they be configured in
the base image, or as mentioned before there are times when it is simply easier to create a fully configured image for a
project where deployment will only be to one type of device with one set of applications.
When selecting the applications to include in an image, there are some points which warrant consideration. Among the
most important is the interaction of an application with Sysprep. Some applications are aware of Sysprep, and will reset
configurations and activation information when Sysprep is run. An example of this is Microsoft Office. One class of
software noted for incompatibility with Sysprep is security software. Modern security software is often designed to
protect itself and the core system files from unauthorized access, but those same security measures can also conflict
with Sysprep in a way which produces an image which has been prepared but will not boot and which cannot be revered
to a pre-Sysprep state.
Also worth consideration are application deployment solutions that can distribute applications to a live operating
system. Some notable solutions include Windows Intune, System Center Configuration Manager, and a Post Deployment
MDT Task Sequence. In the case of the latter, it may be beneficial to include any application that is not explicitly
required in the base image as an application deployed by MDT. This allows for both deployment of the application with
a new operating system and a separate deployment of the application to systems that only need the application.
Planning for Deployment
When preparing for a deployment, there are several best practices which should be considered. These best practices
have been shown to increase efficiency and to reduce the impact of issues that might be encountered during the
deployment process. The more complex your environment or the larger the organization, the more likely it is that you’ll
encounter unforeseen issues. This section outlines some best practices to consider to minimize this impact.
Laboratory Testing
To help ensure that conflicts and incompatibilities are not encountered when performing a deployment, the first best
practice is to test your deployments in a laboratory environment before piloting and deploying into production. By
testing each task and process before it is implemented in a way that can impact users, issues which would otherwise
impact uptime and the ability to perform business are often found and resolved before users encounter them. This is
shown in Figure 2.2.