Expanding Our Use of Casper

Jamf Software's Casper Suite is an essential tool in an Apple Blended Learning Environment of any size. Casper allows one to do everything from imaging machines to collecting inventory information. It is the latter that we have chosen to extend.

Using Casper's Extension Attributes we have added information to the database that was previously stored in several separate spreadsheets and databases. Pulling as much data as we could into Casper has helped us to streamline our repair procedures as well as helping us to better maintain a detailed record of all issues and damage we are seeing. Casper further eases some of these processes by allowing for the easy creation of custom reports.

We have added the following Extensions Attributes: Been To AppleCare, AEA Job Number, Repair Costs, Repairs/Issues so far. The "Been To AppleCare" item is a simple yes/no, but it allows us to quickly see if a machine has been to AppleCare, and, in conjunction with GSX, lets us quickly produce a repair/issue history for a machine. Since we do not send non-warranty repairs to AppleCare, we need to track those repairs as well. The "AEA Job Number," "Repair Costs," and "Repairs/Issues" items allow us to produce custom reports very quickly showing various versions of all of that information.

Prior to expanding our use of Casper, producing a repair/damage history for a machine was a process that involved several spreadsheets, paper copies, and a database or two. Now everything we commonly need is at our fingertips and accessible within seconds of logging in to Casper along with all of the other wonderful information it already gathers.