Information is key for any business to function optimally. That is why there is such a massive increase in the use of big data during the last decade. But, this information is not only that which you can obtain externally. It’s also information concerning your internal operations. And this is where Microsoft’s Product Lifecycle Dashboard enters the fray. It simplifies the way your organization functions in a big way. By providing you with information concerning all the products that you have installed on devices that are managed by Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, tracking is simple. This is a fantastic feature that has fresh improvements, too. We’ll be going over all the latest below.

Getting started with Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Microsoft made a few changes over the years. And from version 1806 you’ll now be able to use the Configuration Manager product lifecycle dashboard to view the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy. So what exactly does this ‘dashboard’ do?

The Product Lifecycle Dashboard is a management tool. It shows the state of the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy for any Microsoft products installed on devices managed with Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager.

Not only that, but you also receive data concerning the various Microsoft products in your environment. This includes supportability state, and support end dates. Therefore by using both Asset Intelligence and the Asset Intelligence Synchronization Point, the dashboard can give you a clear overview of the lifecycle of each product.

By using the dashboard, you can easily find out what support is available for each product. With this information in hand, it will allow you to plan accordingly and update all products before their support expires. And then from version 1810, the dashboard also adds information for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and later.

What are the requirements?

As a product continues to improve, the requirements to use that product will also expectedly change. For you to see data in the product lifecycle dashboard, you need the following:

• Internet Explorer 9 or later
• You need to install and configure a service connection point role. And the latter must be online or synchronized regularly if offline.
• For hyperlink functionality in the dashboard, you need a reporting services point.
• You need to configure and synchronize the asset intelligence synchronization point.

Using the dashboard

This tool looks to make it easier for your organization to have access to up-to-date data about the products that you are using. And by leveraging the inventory data that the site collects from managed devices, the dashboard displays information about all current products. However, not all versions are supported. Only Windows Server 2008 and later, Windows XP and later, SQL Server 2008 and later, will have information displayed for OSs and SQL Server. To access the lifecycle dashboard in the Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager console:

1) Go to the Assets and Compliance workspace,

2) Expand Asset Intelligence,

3) Select the Product Lifecycle node.

What else do you get?

Clients will find that from the newer version of SCCM 1902, they’ll get information for installed versions of Office 2003 through Office 2016. And this data is available after the site runs the lifecycle summarization task, which is something that occurs every 24 hours. In addition, you can also benefit from using the dashboard even if you don’t have Configuration Manager. You can use Azure Monitor Logs to provide a Dashboard to help with managing the supportability of your environment.

Upgrading products with Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Taking a simple look at your dashboard will allow you to see any products that need to be updated urgently. When you have several computers to deal with and you need to know which ones need upgrades, all you need to do is click on the hyperlinks in the Number in environment column and that will show you a report.

And doing this will direct you to the Lifecycle 01A – Computers with a specific software product report. This is a huge improvement when you consider that in the past you had to investigate problem clients individually to find out whether or not an upgrade was needed.

Reports in the product lifecycle set

In addition to the dashboard, you have additional reports that are available as well. These you’ll find in the Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager console, where you then go to Monitoring workspace and you expand Reporting. The new reports, which are found under the Asset Intelligence category are as follows:

• Lifecycle 01A — Computers with a specific software: See a list of computers/pcs on which a specified product is detected.
  
• Lifecycle 02A — List of machines with expired products: This report, which you can filter by product name, shows you all the computers/pcs which have expired products on them.
  
• Lifecycle 03A — List of expired products found: See details for products in your ecosystem that have expired lifecycle dates.
  
• Lifecycle 04A — General Product Lifecycle overview: Here you can see a list of product lifecycles and filter by product name and days to expiration.
  
• Lifecycle 05A — Product lifecycle dashboard: From version 1810, this report will have similar information as the in-console dashboard. All you have to do is choose a category to view the products in your environment as well as the days of support remaining.

Wrap up about Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Every organization needs products that will help them to optimize their time. And as the number of available products increases, the choice of which product to go for becomes harder. Microsoft’s Product Lifecycle Dashboard gives your business many benefits that businesses have needed for a long time.

Reduce the time you spend trying to keep track of all the products you have installed on countless devices with a simple, easy to use dashboard. If you’re looking for a tool that gives you a more efficient way of device management, then the Product Lifecycle Dashboard is one that is certainly worth a look.