What Is Computer Imaging?
Computer imaging is an essential step when preparing PCs for end users or edge deployments. IT departments spend considerable time and resources on device imaging, which has been a well-understood process for decades. The question has become: How can an IT organization image and provision the devices it needs in the most efficient manner?
During the imaging process, a common practice is for IT staff to create a golden image that serves as the primary template for the devices they want to distribute to their workforce. Organizations may maintain multiple golden images—one for each device model they want to support—but creating and maintaining these images is a tedious process. An image requires extensive system testing and validation to ensure driver and application compatibility across an organization’s variety of PC configurations and form factors. Golden images are not required, but they do offer many standardization, compliance, and efficiency benefits over setting up and configuring devices individually.
Cloud-Based Imaging
In a traditional device-imaging use case, the image is deployed manually to devices on-site. Device imaging, however, has entered a transformative era that increasingly relies on cloud-based imaging, now regarded by many IT professionals as the emerging standard. Cloud-based imaging offers advantages in speed and cost efficiency.
In this model, images can be installed remotely on devices over an internet connection. For large device deployments, companies can work with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to ship devices directly to end users. When an end user first logs in, computer imaging software automatically downloads the OS—along with organization-specific apps, files, and settings—directly to the device. This reduces the time and cost for IT teams to both provision and ship devices.
Additionally, some PCs with hardware-enabled device management capabilities enable IT teams to remotely deploy images to managed PCs to complete reinstalls or setups for end users without needing to physically access the device.
Benefits of Computer Imaging
Computer imaging is a trusted step in setting up, deploying, and maintaining devices.
By deploying the same image on a fleet of PCs, IT gains:
- Consistency: A common image helps ensure that the initial set of applications, settings, and configurations on similar devices is the same. By applying a standardized approach, management and maintenance tasks can be less challenging.
- Time and cost savings: Using a common image, IT goes through the time-intensive initial setup and configuration process less frequently. While subsequent installations require validation, the overall time spent is less than setting up each device individually. Cloud-based imaging adds additional time and cost-saving benefits, as IT can provision or update remote devices without having to interact with devices in person.
- Scalability: IT teams can use a golden image to more quickly provision new devices and apply patches and updates to a fleet of devices.
- Security updates: By deploying a standardized image on multiple devices, IT can help ensure that security updates and configurations are consistently applied.
- Recovery and repair: Starting with a “known good image” state can help IT troubleshoot individual device issues and deploy fleet-wide fixes more efficiently. In the case of a downed device, IT can more quickly restore a PC to the latest image, helping reduce downtime and impact on productivity.
Challenges of Computer Imaging
Managing and maintaining computer images presents some challenges:
- Multiple images and updates: Image creation is a time-intensive process that must be repeated for each unique image needed, such as for different hardware models or operating systems. Each subsequent update requires retesting to validate configuration changes and ensure driver compatibility and that applications work properly. IT teams must also schedule and deploy a new rollout, which can be disruptive to employees.
- Version control and documentation: It’s important to keep clear records of images and changes, as gaps and discrepancies can complicate troubleshooting and maintenance and, in some cases, cause security and compliance lapses.
- Security considerations: Each image must be tested to ensure applicable security settings and patches are applied, often in compliance with security frameworks, both during initial creation and with each update. Access to images themselves must be controlled to secure images and prevent unauthorized handling or tampering. Secure protocols should be used when images are applied remotely to prevent inception and tampering.
- Device control: In cases when OEMs ship devices directly to end users, there is less visibility and control over what goes into a device, and there are vulnerabilities in the go-between stages leading up to final delivery into the users’ hands. When selecting a vendor to work with, it’s important to understand what processes are in place to ensure supply chain visibility from assembly to provisioning. Some PC platforms also provide hardware-based security capabilities that help protect PCs at runtime.
Thin and Thick Device Images
IT’s goal in successful computer imaging is to lower overhead as much as possible while delivering functional devices into users’ hands. To help meet this goal, organizations can choose between thin and thick device images.
- A thin device image consists of your organization’s preferred OS (e.g., Windows, Linux), with some essential apps and tools layered on top. The purpose of a thin image is to be generic and simple enough to work for the majority of a business’s device fleet. The key benefits of thin device images include simplicity, speed, cost efficiency, and easier manageability over time.
- A thick device image includes a specific OS version, software tools, and drivers while also being tailored for a specific device. Organizations with multiple devices will therefore require multiple thick images, which demand the most effort and overhead. However, the key benefits of a thick device image are maximum consistency and control. Additionally, once devices loaded with these images are delivered, users can start being productive immediately without having to install much or anything else.
Computer Imaging and PC Life-Cycle Management
Businesses are constantly buying and deploying new devices to equip new hires, replace downed devices, and upgrade old hardware. The good news is that device imaging is a well-understood challenge for businesses and solution providers of all sizes.
Device purchasers can now expect comprehensive support options for computer imaging rollouts over devices’ varied lifespans. In particular, your organization may need to redevelop golden images across device batches, which is why device manufacturers’ support initiatives often guarantee certain features remain fixed or unchanged for select spans of time. With such guarantees in place, your IT department can factor in periods of cross-fleet stability when assessing its computer imaging needs.
Remote workforces are a key instrument of digital transformation, but managing a remote device fleet introduces numerous complications to the imaging process, especially for repairing downed devices. In kind, comprehensive tools are available that allow IT departments to remotely remedy and reimage devices—regardless of device state or whether inside or outside of your organization’s firewall.
The Future of Computer Imaging
Managing computer fleets of all sizes will continue to become more complex, thanks to factors like advanced cybersecurity threats and an increased volume of distributed endpoints. Computer imaging will remain a crucial element of managing a fleet of local and remote devices alike, and the future of that work will revolve around increased speed and sophistication.
Devices with hardware-enabled remote management capabilities can offer IT teams further imaging, maintenance, and security benefits. These capabilities will become more imperative to counter cyberattacks that are increasingly difficult to detect and remediate. Having hardware-enabled remote manageability capabilities in place may better future-proof devices, enabling easier, more frequent updates and helping to reduce device downtime and IT support costs.