AZSMUG Q4 2025 Meeting

Date and time: Friday, December 12, 2025, 7:30 AM - 2:00 PM MST-AZ

Location: phoenixNAP 3402 E University Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85034

Agenda:

7:30 AM – 8:00 AM Welcome 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM How OEMs Publish Drivers - Nathan Ziehnert 9:00 AM – 9:10 AM Break 9:10 AM – 10:10 AM Old-time OS deployment - Michael Niehaus 10:10 AM – 11:10 AM Sponsor Session - 2Pint Software 11:10 AM – 11:40 AM Tour 11:40 AM – 12:15 PM Lunch Sponsored by 2Pint Software 12:15 PM – 12:30 PM User Group Member Presentation 12:30 PM – 12:40 PM Break 12:40 PM – 1:40 PM TBD - Andreas Hammarskjöld 1:40 PM – 2:00 PM Closeout

From IHV to Your PC - How OEMs Publish Drivers - Nathan Ziehnert We all obviously yeet every new driver released straight into prod without testing, but have you ever wondered how those drivers get published into Windows Update in the first place? Discover how drivers are born and shipped to computers around the world, including how drivers are tested and targeted to hopefully give you the best experience possible.

Topics will include:

• Where exactly do drivers come from?

• What sort of testing is done?

• Is it mutually assured destruction that keeps OEMs from publishing drivers for each other nefariously?

• Differences in OEM release to WU release schedules

About Nathan - I work on secret stuff. Or maybe not so secret stuff. I'm in research and development. Easier for me to tell you I can't talk about it. I dig Windows systems from consumer to enterprise, I'm in an eternal love affair with PowerShell and C#, and I also like to play in Azure. I have a blog... you can read my blog... (z-nerd.com). You might also find me doing karaoke whenever the opportunity arises.

If you've got the time, let's talk about desktop engineering... or curling... or cooking... or guitar... or cycling... or whatever, I like to hear about new stuff!

Old-time OS deployment for the "modern" customer - Michael Niehaus Bare metal OS deployment processes are becoming a lost art. In this session, we'll resurrect these processes and talk about best practices in this "modern" world.

Michael Niehaus is a Programme Director and Master Inventor at 2Pint Software, working on device management and OS deployment technologies. Previously, Michael spent 16 years at Microsoft working on MDT, Windows as a Service, Windows Autopilot, and related management and deployment technologies. Prior to that, he spent 14 years working as an IT pro.

TBD - Andreas Hammarskjöld Something really cool!

About Andreas - First network was a home Network when I was 11 with our neighbours, running Novell Netware. Since the release of the SMS 2003 OS Deployment Feature Pack, Andreas has developed significant experience implementing 100% automated deployment solutions with ConfigMgr. Now it’s all about P2P and making networks go faster, harder Linux!

Sponsors

2Pint Software specializes in advanced IT infrastructure solutions for large enterprises. We help organizations manage clients and network traffic efficiently in complex environments. Our products ensure software, operating systems, updates and other data is delivered efficiently no matter the network condition, infrastructure, cloud or vendor. The products are platform agnostic and work with all of Microsoft's management solutions like Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager as well as Microsoft Intune, or any third-party solution.

phoenixNAP is a global IaaS provider founded in 2009 with a goal to commoditize enterprise-grade technology and make it accessible to organizations of different sizes. For over a decade now, our mission has been to provide outstanding value using state-of-the-art technology and service, while continually improving our technical and human assets.

Registration link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/GrmqCfmYym

Thanks,

AZ Systems Management User Group