Endpoint Services, What Is Endpoint Services?

Systems

All Technology Services Endpoint Services

Affected Customers

University of Illinois IT Pros who manage campus endpoints.

Sections

• EPS Mission
• General Information
• Cost
• IT Pro Responsibility
• Signing Up
• Service Maintenance Windows
• EPS Portal

EPS Mission

The mission of the Endpoint Services (EPS) team is to provide exceptional service and training to IT Professionals within the university system, in the use of industry standard tools for the cost-effective delivery of software, operating system patches, and system configuration; automated collection of computer inventory; and device setup.

General Information

The EPS team is responsible for running services that provide these types of tools to IT Professionals. EPS tools provide the opportunity to reduce operational costs for supporting campus desktop, laptop, and mobile computing devices. These tools provide secure updates, patch management, logging, inventory maintenance, and overall quick remediation abilities for IT Professionals. Endpoint Services solutions include highly automated and integrated tools to significantly reduce the effort required to manage and secure desktop computers.

Current service offerings include the following; specific offerings may change as appropriate and as the technology and/or best practices evolve.

• Jamf Pro
• Munki/MunkiReport
• Microsoft Intune
• Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM, formerly SCCM)
• Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)

The EPS team provides additional value to these services by:

• Packaging and updating applications provided by the EPS team and/or vendors.
  • A list of EPS-provided applications are available for the Intune, MECM, and Munki Services.
  • Requests for additional software packages can be submitted at https://go.illinois.edu/EPSHelp and will be reviewed by the EPS team.
• Facilitating operating system updates for use by Microsoft Intune, Jamf Pro, MECM, Munki, and / or WSUS.
• Deploy application and/or operating system updates on an emergency basis as directed by the Technology Services' Identity, Privacy & Cybersecurity team
• Deploy default security configurations to all devices enrolled in Microsoft Intune and Jamf Pro.
  • Additional information on Intune and Jamf Pro’s default security configurations are documented in the following KB article: https://answers.uillinois.edu/illinois/internal/page.php?id=152939
• Providing solutions via EPS services for common needs of the community where appropriate.
• Providing current thin OS base images to allow for initial device setup, where applicable and appropriate.
• Providing training for individual work groups in the basic use of these systems, with community training available as needed.
• Providing documentation in the basic use of these systems via Answers Knowledgebase system.
• Providing guidance to IT Pros on packaging items and authoring policies that are unique to their unit.
• Providing service provisioning and initial setup support to stakeholders.
• Investigating new solutions and staying abreast of industry changes.
• Working with other Technology Services teams to leverage solutions as needed (e.g., Microsoft 365)
• Providing best effort to create or modify reports or other solutions to help service stakeholders with endpoint hardware inventory, configuration, security compliance and software inventory / compliance.
• Depending on the needs of the unit, helping automate software updates with minimal delay; EPS will work with the unit IT Professional to determine solutions to meet their needs.

Are there costs associated with using EPS services?

EPS service fees are levied on a per-endpoint basis, and are dependent on campus affiliation. See our offerings and costs article for more information.

What is the unit IT Professional responsible for?

• Working with the end user to determine needs and configuring the service to provide them.
• Setup of the endpoint to use the service.
• Purchasing, licensing, or metering any software that is packaged and distributed using any of the EPS services, as necessary. This includes evaluating the software for compliance with campus accessibility, security, and legal policies and requirements, and ensuring that applicable licensing agreements have been approved by Campus Purchasing. 
• Ensuring endpoints are secured according to campus standards and policies and file exceptions with the Identity, Privacy, & Cybersecurity team.
• Deciding when to install a package, patch or security update using industry best practices.
• Direct management of an endpoint.
• Ensuring that endpoints are contacting the services appropriately and consistently.
• Ensuring that endpoints are appropriately backed up.
• Ensuring that data is appropriately secured on the endpoint.
• Informing the EPS team in the event that provided applications or updates are out of date or if there are issues with the software installation.
• Removing endpoints from the service when they are no longer in use or before they are sent to surplus or transferred to another unit.
• Informing EPS of IT Pro staff or Administrative staff changes within their unit related to EPS Tool usage or billing contact.
• Make changes to Active Directory or Entra ID objects as needed and notify EPS of any changes that may impact tool usage.
• Manage, administer, and troubleshoot Active Directory Group Policy Objects (GPOs) and unit-created Microsoft Intune policies. EPS will assist with service-related GPOs and EPS-managed policies; however, units are responsible for the implementation, administration, and support of their own GPOs and policies. 
• Ensuring that unit-created policies do not conflict with or circumvent EPS-managed policies or security benchmarks. 
• Reviewing inventory information.
• Reviewing endpoint error logs and making best effort to remediate issues.
• Following best practice documentation provided during provisioning and available via the knowledgebase.
• Participating in relevant service-based email distribution lists.
• Removing unneeded unit-created content and / or applications. 
• Keeping endpoints and assignment of EPS-managed content updated to allow for retirement of old software and versions 
• For MECM: providing access to a system or virtual machine to be used as a distribution point (DP). It is the unit’s responsibility to administer, manage, and update this system.

How do I get more information or sign up to use these services?

To request provisioning for an EPS service, please visit our EPS support request form; choose the desired service and select the “Provision” request type. General service and support questions may be submitted via the form or by emailing TechSVC-EPS-Mgr@mx.uillinois.edu.

Service Maintenance Windows

Maintenance windows for EPS services are listed here.

EPS Portal

Visit the EPS Portal, a landing page for EPS services.

Contact the EPS team