Time is money. And when it comes to keeping staff morale and productivity high, it’s essential they have the technology resources they need current and connected during their optimal working hours. Because every employee works differently — and you may have team members in different time zones — VMware Workspace ONE’s Time Windows can revolutionize how you deploy updates.

What they are: Time Windows allow you schedule updates and content delivery in the Workspace ONE UEM while taking into account defined business and maintenance hours. Make your Time Window by scheduling start and end dates, duration, and repeat options.

Why they help: Time Windows allow you to deploy updates during critical maintenance windows. You can make a Time Window dedicated to Maintenance Hours and a separate Time Window for Business Hours, allowing you to tailor a schedule suited for each.

How they work: Currently only available on Windows desktop devices, you can deploy Time Windows as follows.

  • Make a Time Window.

    1. Navigate to Resources > Time Windowsand select the New
    2. Complete the Name, Description, Category, and Time options.Category – You can make a Time Window dedicated to Maintenance Hours and a separate Time Window for Business Hours, allowing you to tailor a schedule suited for each. This arrangement can be useful in high traffic, high availability environments.

      Time – You can select the timeframe on which your Time Window is based. If your updates depend greatly upon the difference between business hours and non-business hours, then Device Time can be used for your Time Window. However, if you must sync an update across all devices regardless of local time, then you can select UTC for that particular Time Window.

    3. Complete the Repeat, Start Date, End Date, and Duration The minimum Duration period is 1 hour.You can add more than one schedule per defined time window by selecting the Add New Schedule button, then making another set of Repeat, Start Date, End Date, and Duration selections.

      The reasons for multiple schedules per time window can vary: you might have multiple activity peaks in your maintenance hours, you might have multiple valleys in your business hours, and so forth.

      When multiple schedules exist, you can delete a specific schedule by selecting the trash can icon in the upper-right corner of the window.

    4. Finalize the time window.
      • Save– Save the time window without assigning it.
      • Save & Assign– Save and immediately assign the time window.
  • Assign a Time Window to devices.

    1. Navigate to Resources > Time Window. The Time Window List View displays.
    2. Locate and select the time window you want to apply to your device by selecting the radio button to the left of its entry in the listing.
    3. Select the Assignbutton that displays above the listing. The Assignments screen displays.
    4. Assign the Time Window to a smart group using the Smart Groupssearch bar. For details, see Create a Smart Group. Keep in mind that Time Windows currently only work on Windows Desktop devices. Any smart group selected here that includes devices that are not Windows Desktop, the Time Window is not assigned to those devices.
    5. Once you have selected a smart group in the Smart Groupssearch bar, select the Assign button to complete this step.
    6. Use the Time Window in a Workflow Condition. Follow the steps shown in Create a Workflow with a Time Window Condition.

If you have questions or need support implementing Time Windows, contact support@techorchard.com for help.