Deployment methods-Describe Microsoft 365 apps and services

With the deployment plan in place, administrators can proceed to use any of the following Microsoft 365 deployment methods:

• Microsoft Intune For exclusively cloud-based organizations, administrators can deploy the Microsoft 365 apps using Microsoft Intune, as shown in Figure 2-62. Intune makes it possible to select the apps to install and configure all of their settings, including the update channel. Then, the administrator selects the users or groups to receive the apps.

FIGURE 2-62 The Add Microsoft 365 Apps page in Microsoft Intune

• Configuration Manager For organizations that already use Microsoft Configuration Manager, administrators can deploy the Microsoft 365 applications as they would other apps, with no special modifications to the procedure. Administrators create collections representing groups of workstations with different installation requirements, then configure the Microsoft 365 Installer with settings such as the update channel to use and whether to add language packs. Once the application is configured, administrators can schedule the deployment to occur at a specific time.
• Office Deployment Tool (ODT) with cloud source The ODT is a command-line tool that uses an XML script file to specify installation settings for Microsoft 365 applications. Administrators can modify the XML script manually, but Microsoft also provides an Office Customization Tool website, which uses a graphical interface to generate the XML code. The default Installation Options setting—Office Content Delivery Network (CDN)—causes the ODT to use source files in the cloud to install the applications, as shown in Figure 2-63. Cloud-based installations perform delta updates, which download only the data each system needs, and can use delivery optimization to share source data among peers, both of which minimize the amount of data downloaded from the Internet. Then, to perform the installation, run the ODT executable, naming the script file on the command line as follows: setup.exe/configure scriptfile.xml.

FIGURE 2-63 Office Customization Tool

• Office Deployment Tool with local source The process for installing the Microsoft 365 applications using the ODT with a local source calls for administrators to create an XML script with the Local Source value in the Installation Options setting and a path name to a network share. Running the ODT with the /download switch—as in setup.exe /download scriptfile .xml—causes the program to download the Microsoft 365 installation files to the path specified in the script. Microsoft recommends using cloud-based source files rather than local ones because they need regular local source file downloading and maintenance and cannot perform delta updates or use delivery optimization. Once the download is complete, administrators can deploy Microsoft 365 by running the ODT with the /configure switch using the same script.
• Self-install using the Microsoft 365 portal The self-install method is typically used for workstations that are not connected to the internal network and do not have access to installation tools, such as Configuration Manager and ODT. Users install Microsoft 365 themselves by signing on to the Micrsoft365.com website using their Microsoft 365 accounts and clicking Install Apps, as shown in Figure 2-64.

FIGURE 2-64 Microsoft 365 portal installation controls