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1000 iPads: MDM built in

As part of our deployment of 1000 iPads we were advised by Apple that to run things properly we would need to use a Mac Mini Server to manage the iPads and profiles. Contrary to what many people believe, you don't want to pull the iPad straight out of the box and hand it to a student. How are you going to get all the apps on there? How are you going to get all of them to connect to your network?  How long should you spend planning all of this out?  A month? Two? Six?
No matter how much you plan, you will never think of everything. I say this for two reasons.

  1. You remember Murphy don't you?  He has a law named after him. No matter what you do or how hard you try, there are always going to be problems. The trick will be keeping those problems, issues, or obstacles from being fuel for the naysayers you have around you. (Maybe you don't know anyone like that where you are)
  2. We are dealing with kids. You know what I mean, insatiable curiosity, problems solvers deluxe (unless you assign it as homework), can find the back door into anything. Blocking YouTube?they know a way around it. 
Apple gives you two free tools to try to help out with some of these problems. Configurator and profile manager if you have a Mac server. I like configurator, it lets you create groups, add and remove apps, preload wifi settings, assign to users, transfer documents.  Big drawback is the cable you have to reconnect every time you make a change.
Profile manager (Apples version of a MDM solution) promises to get rid of the cable and allow you to remotely "push" the apps out to the devices. Sounds like an answered prayer to me. 
Wait for it....
Here it comes....
But (there is always a but, and sometimes a big one) the don't they don't tell you that it isn't as simple as clicking on the app and it is instantly on the iPad. What you really need to know is that there are usually 4 or 5 handshakes between your server, the apple servers, your firewall, and the iPad for every setting or app you push out. This has the potential to bog down your network especially if you try to do this during the school day when you have your regular traffic. Aside from that problem and the fact that you can't push out paid apps using profile manager, this really is a nice solution.
Are there other options?  Yes.  I will explore one of them over the next few days and get back with the results. 
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