3.2 Managing Devices (Google)

Basics

You can manage all your district-owned devices—mobile devices, laptops, desktops—in one place in your Google Workspace Admin console. Any device that connects to the school network from either within or outside its firewall is called an endpoint. Company-owned devices are devices that your organization purchased through a reseller or device vendor, and your company secures and manages these assets for your employees (Google set up guide). 

You should know the following terms:

  • Apple Business Manager
  • Apple School Manager
  • Endpoint

As an administrator, your Google Workspace Admin console can keep an inventory of the computers and mobile devices your company owns. The inventory lets you review details such as device type and who the device is assigned to. When you list a device in your company-owned inventory, it's automatically approved to access your organization's data.

The setup process for all platforms is often similar, but each platform can be a little different. The following steps provide a guide to set up devices and management policies, for all your device platforms. (Google set up guide)

Setting up school-owned mobile devices. This requires a Google Workspace edition that supports advanced mobile management and enterprise Google endpoint management features. School-owned iPhones and iPads are automatically added to the company-owned inventory when you add them in Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager.

Setting up school-owned laptops. This requires, at a minimum, a Google Workspace edition that supports fundamental Google endpoint management features. 

Windows device management. This requires a Google Workspace edition that supports enterprise Google endpoint management features.

Mac or Windows devices. To enroll school-owned Mac or Windows devices to the inventory, follow these steps from Google.

ChromeBooks. To mass enroll ChromeBooks, follow these steps.

To manage settings for endpoints, follow the steps for the appropriate devices:

Here are additional resources you may find useful:

Complete the following task or self-assessment:

Use the resources in this section to enroll several devices, preferably of different types, to your network. Reflect on the following questions during and after setup?

  • What challenges present themselves for you? 
  • What challenges do you anticipate facing on a regular basis after you have enrolled more devices? 
  • What are some potential solutions to these challenges?