Zero-Touch Enrollment: What it means to you and how to use it to your advantage
Enrolling large quantities of Chromebooks always presents a challenge but now you have the option for Zero-Touch Enrollment (ZTE). Let’s discuss how this option works and the benefits of this type of enrollment. First and foremost your model Chromebook must be designated for this type of enrollment. Manufacturers like Acer, HP, CTL, Lenovo, and Samsung currently support Zero-Touch Enrollment.
What do you have to do to use ZTE?
First, you need to generate a pre-provisioning token from your admin console. These tokens are associated with an OU and can be revoked at any time. Tokens are alphanumeric strings of 30 characters. To generate the tokens, log in to the Admin console and navigate to Devices > Chrome devices. Select the top OU (root) or select a sub OU depending on where you want the devices placed after enrollment. In the bottom right corner, click Enroll devices.
To generate the tokens:
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Log in to the Admin console.
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Navigate to Devices > Chrome > Devices.
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Select the top OU (root) or select a sub OU depending on where you want the devices placed after enrollment.
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In the bottom right corner, click Enroll devices.
This will generate a token for you which you can copy and provide to your pre-provisioning partner along with your domain name. The token associates newly enrolled devices with that specific OU. If you want to associate devices with different OUs simply select the OU from the left and generate the token in the same way.
Now, this may seem a lot like White Glove enrollment and that’s because it is. This process enables pre-provisioning partners to quickly and easily associate devices with OUs. But what benefit is this to schools and districts? If you are working with a pre-provisioning partner they can enroll devices into OUs based on your specifications. This helps with keeping things organized when enrolling large quantities of devices. With typical White Glove enrollment services, devices end up at the Root of the OU structure. However, there are a few differences that we should highlight.
The first one is with a White Glove enrollment all of the devices are checked for dead units. Second, devices can also be repacked into easier to deploy bulk packaging. These two benefits can save schools a lot of time and headaches, but with ZTE there is no reason to unpackage devices and therefore these checks will not happen. Other White Glove options like laser engraving and asset ID tagging are also eliminated with ZTE.
Another factor you should consider is that Zero-Touch Enrollment will not be aware of your Wi-Fi configuration set in the console. Devices will need to be manually connected to some form of Wi-Fi at your school sites after drop-shipping. During typical White Glove, devices are powered on and receive Wi-Fi policies before being shipped to your sites.
To wrap things up, Zero-Touch Enrollment is a compromise but it allows manufacturers to offer an enrollment option that previously was unavailable to schools. So if you are looking at new Chromebooks and working with pre-provisioning partners you might be interested in exploring this option. Want to learn more? Here is a quick support article describing the process along with a list of compatible chrome devices. Need help deciding on your next Chromebook purchase? Let’s chat!
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Kendal Shomura
Google for Education Training Consultant -
About the Author:
Kendal Shomura joined the Amplified IT team in 2018 after 7 years working in Public Schools as an educator, Instructional Coach, Technology Integration Specialist, and as Professor in Masters of Educational Technology program at Touro University. He spent 3 years as a Google administrator while training staff on how to integrate Google Workspace tools into their classrooms. Kendal’s wide array of experiences with educational technology allows him to understand the important nuances of technology in schools. Today, he is a Google for Education Consultant who works to help schools better understand and leverage their Google environment for student learning.