Oxford's very own Orchard

Here at IT Services, we provide a range of services for managing desktops, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, and other devices, but did you know we also have a dedicated service that's available to help look after Apple devices at the University of Oxford?

What is Orchard?

The Orchard Managed Desktop service provides a suite of management services for University-owned Apple devices running macOS and iOS. Our more technically inclined readers might be interested to know that Orchard provides configuration of device authentication, printer configuration, laptop encryption, application software, operating system and software updates and more.   

What’s the benefit?

Arranging for your devices to be fully managed, or getting help with managing them, can make valuable time available for your IT staff to spend on other more pressing local IT needs. 

You'll also have easy access to a range of applications – including site licensed software like Office, Teams and EndNote – through the Orchard Software Centre which provides a friendly interface for installation.    

While we recognise each part of the University that we work with has its own unique needs, a managed service also adds consistency in provision and reliability.

Who is it for?

Orchard services could be of benefit if your IT staff time could be more usefully spent on specialist local issues, or indeed if your IT section could benefit from more capacity without hiring extra staff. 

Any Oxford University department or unit can sign up for Orchard services.

How to access Orchard services

You can arrange to have the Macs and iPads in your department or unit fully managed through the service, or we also provide a service to help ITSS staff manage them with our tools. 

You can find out more about the Orchard service and how to sign up, on our IT Help website.