We’ve all been there: staring down a massive fleet of Chromebooks and realizing you need to make the exact same policy change across a dozen different Organizational Units.
Managing devices in bulk through the native Admin Console is incredibly tedious. Making batch changes can feel like a full-time job. One of my core goals for this blog is to find and share helpful tools and utilities for bulk Chromebook management to make your job as an IT admin a little more manageable. Over the past year I’ve been using a great tool for managing Chromebook policies called Instinctive.
Instinctive is a Chromebook audit and security utility built specifically for K-12 schools. What makes it truly stand out is its pedigree- it was created by a Google engineer who spent 8 years working directly on the ChromeOS enterprise team. He understands the architecture of the Admin Console intimately, and he built the exact tool IT admins have been asking for to manage fleets at scale through effective bulk Chromebook management.
Here are my favorite Instinctive features:
- Instant policy scanning: quickly scan all of your Chromebook user and device policies to identify misconfigured settings or security vulnerabilities.
- Powerful batch actions: reset, disable or move up to 250 devices at a time!
- Policy export: Finally, a simple way to export your policies! This is fantastic for creating historical backups, maintaining a “known good” configuration, and providing documentation for compliance audits.
- Copy policies between OUs: This is the ultimate time-saver. Instead of manually clicking through hundreds of menus to match settings across elementary, middle, and high school tiers, you can simply copy and apply policies from one OU to another.
Free Security Check (try it out!)
I’ve partnered with Instinctive to offer a free automated Chromebook security check. With just a few clicks, you can instantly compare your current settings against 10 of my most critical policy recommendations. You can also get pricing information on the full version of Instinctive with access to dozens of powerful features to simplify Chromebook management.
(Disclosure: I have an affiliate relationship with Instinctive.app. If you sign up using the link below, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.)
Related Post: Quick Wins: 5 Essential Chromebook Policies for Your School
More tools from Instinctive:
Beyond policy management, Instinctive also offers some incredibly smart, real-world solutions for managing your daily fleet operations with bulk Chromebook management:
- Device check-in / check-out: Easily manage loaners or daily deployments using scannable barcodes and QR badges.
- Device lock: This feature makes reality match your inventory. It physically restricts a student to only log in on their specifically assigned Chromebook, preventing them from using a sibling’s or friend’s device.
- Student 2FA (No cell phone required): Student accounts are often a weak link in K-12 cybersecurity. Instinctive has built one of the first 2FA solutions I’ve seen that successfully protects student accounts without requiring a mobile phone.
If you spend more than a few hours a month wrestling with Chromebook fleet management and OU settings, Instinctive is a tool you need to look into. Test it out by accessing my free security audit.
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