Nomad removes the need for distributed servers and intelligently uses only available bandwidth for all content distribution, so business is never impacted by Microsoft Endpoint Manager Configuration Manager (MEMCM) or Windows deployments. What’s more, it continues to deliver benefits even when employees and their devices are working remotely. Applications such as voice and video conferencing are extremely bandwidth sensitive, but by detecting and monitoring the true end-to-end available bandwidth, Nomad automatically minimizes the impact to both your VPN infrastructure and the user’s internet connection.
With work well underway on the new Nomad dashboard, implemented on the 1E Platform, I wanted to bring you up to date with what we’ve done since Nomad 6.3, some new security options, how real-time management helps, how client health improves compliance and what’s coming next.
Here’s 5 reasons to upgrade to Nomad on the 1E platform:
1. Single client, fewer agents
In response to customer requests to reduce the number of agents, 1E have merged the client functionality of Nomad, PXE Everywhere, WakeUp, Shopping and Tachyon into a single 1E client, meaning you can turn on the required functionality as and when its needed.
With the 1E client deployed, further optional functionality is available through the 1E Tachyon platform for remote endpoint management. Built around a real-time engine and providing both holistic digital experience monitoring and remediation its designed to significantly improve IT’s ability to support the Work From Anywhere Enterprise.
What’s more, once you are on the 1E Platform, you can enable further Tachyon features including Experience, User Sentiment, Guaranteed State and Patch Success, as well as opening up real-time management to any task by acquiring the appropriate license.
2. Enhanced security
With many organizations now not allowing local user accounts access to computers on the network, we’ve added the option for certificate-based authentication for peer-to-peer communication. We’ve also added support for Enhanced HTTP in Configuration Manager, including support for removal of the CM Network Access Account. Nomad also supports multiple Certificate Authorities when using HTTPS for peer-to-peer communication.
3. Real-time management of Nomad
When deploying content, you need to be able to see what’s going on and as importantly be able to act if something goes wrong. With Nomad you are able to hit the ‘Big Red Stop Button’ to immediately stop Nomad downloads across your network on specific CM Collections. You can then take a look at what Nomad is doing on the devices. With Nomad specific instructions that work in real time you are able to quickly carry out remediation on clients as required, then resume the Nomad service on all paused devices.
4. Improved compliance and client health
When you are doing software distribution or updates, the success depends upon the health of the clients. Nomad Client Health was ported to the 1E Tachyon platform last year in Nomad 7.0 and includes a pack of health checks and fixes which constantly keep an eye on Nomad, ensuring that it is running, can communicate through the firewall, is correctly registered with the CM client and its cache is accessible.
There’s also a new MEMCM health pack which has over 30 checks and fixes for the CM client. The health of your clients can be viewed in Guaranteed State in the Tachyon portal, which provides an overview of the policy rules that have been applied to devices, and you can see which rules are compliant, or not, and drill down to take a look at the non-compliant ones.
5. Getting ready for Modern Management
As more organizations are cloud-attaching their CM environments and, especially now, managing more remote devices than ever before, many have configured CM so that clients go directly to Microsoft Update to get updates and patches and use a content-enabled Cloud Management Gateway (CMG) for applications and packages rather than going through the VPN to Distribution Points on the corporate network. Nomad supports downloading content from a CMG and Microsoft Update, so will continue to provide bandwidth management and caching for remote workers, and if they do ever return to the office, that content will be available for other peers.
When it comes to Intune, Microsoft Update or Microsoft Store, Delivery Optimization is coming into play. But there are a couple of challenges with Delivery Optimization. Firstly, knowing what it’s doing and secondly being able to manage and configure optimally for network conditions at the time. To overcome this, in the next release we are providing visibility and control over Delivery Optimization downloads using the intelligence that Nomad and the client has for optimization.
What else is in the product roadmap for Nomad?
We are developing more features to extend Nomad functionality and solve other problems relevant to our Nomad customers on the 1E Platform. For customers using ActiveEfficiency today, the next release will upgrade your ActiveEfficiency server to the 1E Platform. Single-Site download, Pre-caching and a new Dashboard will be delivered through the platform. For customers moving to Modern Management, Nomad will be able to provide visibility and control of Delivery Optimization, which is used by Intune, MS store and MS update.
To see all of the benefits of Nomad, you can download our benefits-at-a-glance sheet.
Or watch this on-demand webinar 5 reasons to upgrade to Nomad on the 1E Platform and see Nomad in action.
