Introducing user-driven deployments
There may be situations when you need users to self-download and install Microsoft 365 Apps to personal devices. Maybe this group of employees doesn’t have much engagement with the internal systems, tools, and employees within the organization (i.e., external consultants or other specialists), or perhaps it needs to be present on a machine that is not being managed by the organisation.
Irrespective of the situation, user-driven deployment methods involve the user self-installing Office 365 from the cloud directly to devices from the Office Portal.
Controlling user-driven deployments
As an administrator, you’ll want to have some level of control over the user-driven installation of Office 365.
While you’re unable to control the specifics of the deployment, you can control:
- whether Office 365 is available for installation.
- if Skype for Business is available for installation.
- the frequency of updates the user receives (update channel).
How to install Office
The easiest way for a user to install Microsoft 365 apps is from the Office 365 home page.
Here’s how a user can install Microsoft 365 apps in three steps:
- Select the Install Office button from home page (this downloads the Setup.exe file).
- Run Setup.exe (This installs click-to-run environment and then installs Office).
- Wait until completed.
For a bit more control, you can visit Office portal page and select the Apps & devices section. This will allow you to select the language and choose to install the 32-bit version or the default 64-bit version.
Limitations of a user-driven deployment
User-driven deployments have a major limitation that can prevent them being used in many situations.
The initial part of the installation installs the click-to-run environment on the user’s computer. The user will require local administrator rights on their computer to install this; on most corporate computers, users will not have this permission.
This is often a major driver for companies to use a centralized deployment.
What’s next?
Next up, you’ll look at various management options for user-driven deployments.
When you are ready, select the Next button.
In this course, you’ll look at deploying Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise and you will explore the difference between user-driven and centralized deployments.
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