Acronis Snap Deploy is an imaging solution that is ideal for rapid bare-metal initial deployments to a large number of workstations and servers with an effortless on-going deployment to that same hardware. Snap Deploy allows IT to provision hundreds of systems quickly and efficiently, letting you create an exact disk image from any configuration you choose and at the same time deploying the image to multiple devices in one step.
Snap Deploy helps improve IT productivity by provisioning to bare-metal machines, and other features such as automatic machine post-configuration and the ability to automate the process by scheduling your deployments. The user interface is intuitive and very user-friendly, and machine licenses come with the first year of support/maintenance included (optional renewal).
Snap Deploy has flexible deployment options that allow you to utilize manual, user-initiated, automatic and scheduled deployments. You can even start deployment to live Windows machines to avoid manual booting for each machine from the network or CDs. You may also create and provision the same image to different machines simultaneously even if the hardware is dissimilar.
Another great benefit to Acronis Snap Deploy is that it offers flexible licensing options.
Machine Licenses: These are used more frequently in academic institutions as they provide perpetual license rights. In Education, machines/devices tend to have images provisioned to them more regularly than in some other use cases. A machine license licenses the machine to which images are being provisioned, and you may image that device using Snap Deploy as many times as needed. Machine licenses come with 1 year of support included, to which the maintenance/support renewal is optional in subsequent years.
Deployment Licenses: These are more commonly seen on the server side, as they are imaged less frequently than desktop PCs and other devices. The deployment license is a single-use license that provides the same great experience as the machine license at a nominal cost.
Acronis offers competitive pricing for academic institutions that are looking to move away from another imaging solutions such as Symantec Ghost or Microsoft, and I have had a great experience working with their support staff and sales engineers. If you would like to coordinate a call to discuss your institution’s imaging needs, or are interested in running through a demo of Snap Deploy, the Acronis Team is always willing to help. Acronis also has trials available on their website.
ScholarBuys can assist with licensing questions and establishing a trial or demo, and are always happy to connect you with our partnered resources at Acronis.
