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🧪 Pilot First

Test SEP Deployment on a Pilot Group Before the Full Rollout

The riskiest minute of an antivirus rollout is the first push to every PC at once. A pilot group of two or three machines costs you ten minutes and shows you every problem while it is still small — a blocked push, a fighting old antivirus, a slow old PC — instead of fifty copies of the same problem on Monday morning. Here is how to run the pilot the way careful admins do.

✍️ Technical Anshu🖥️ SEPM Console⏱️ One day of watching
🎥 Watch the full deployment in the video — SEPM console, wizard and push, step by step

A pilot is not extra work; it is the same deployment done small first. You use the same package, the same Client Deployment Wizard and the same Remote Push you plan to use for everyone — only the audience is tiny. If the pilot rolls cleanly, the full rollout is a repeat, not an experiment. If it breaks, it breaks on three desks you can walk to.

SEPM — Clients — Group: PILOT
Computer Status Definitions OFFICE-PC01 Online Current OLD-PC07 Online Current LAPTOP-HR02 Online Current
A healthy pilot group the next morning: every machine online, in the right group, with current definitions. (Illustrative panel.)
1

Create a Separate Pilot Group in SEPM

Make a client group just for the test, so pilot machines are easy to find and easy to move later:

  1. In the SEPM console, create a new client group called something obvious like PILOT.
  2. Give it the same policies the production group will use — a pilot with softer policies tests nothing.
  3. Point the install package at this group when you run the wizard.
  4. After the pilot passes, move the machines into the real group; their agent keeps working.
2

Pick Pilot Machines That Tell the Truth

Three identical brand-new PCs prove almost nothing. Choose machines that represent the office's real problems:

  1. One ordinary office PC — the normal case.
  2. One older, slower PC — install load and scan impact show up here first.
  3. One laptop that leaves the office and comes back — it tests check-in after time away.
  4. One PC that still runs the old antivirus, if any exist — this is where the removal behaviour gets tested.
3

Push, Restart, Then Watch for a Day

Run the wizard exactly as you will for the full rollout, then resist the urge to conclude anything for one working day:

  1. Push with Remote Push and note anything the Deployment Summary complains about.
  2. Restart the pilot PCs and confirm they appear, online, on the Clients page.
  3. Let a definition update land and a normal day's work happen — documents, printing, the office's own software.
  4. Ask the pilot users directly: anything slow, anything blocked, any strange pop-up? Silence from users is not the same as a check.
4

Then Roll Out in Waves, Not All at Once

With a clean pilot, expand in groups you can support — one department or one floor at a time:

  1. Keep the pilot machines as your reference for what 'good' looks like in the console.
  2. Take the failure list from each wave into the next wave's preparation.
  3. If a wave produces a new kind of failure, stop and fix the cause before the next wave — waves exist so you can stop.
🟡 Honest note: a pilot tests people as well as software. Tell the pilot users what is being installed and why. Surprise security installs generate fear and helpdesk tickets, and a user who knows can tell you exactly when the PC felt slow — that information is half the pilot's value.

🎥 Watch the Full Video

See the complete SEP agent deployment on screen — every wizard screen and the result in the console.

▶ Watch Full Video
❓ Common Questions (FAQ)

How many PCs should be in a pilot group?

Two or three machines are enough for a small office, up to five for a bigger one. Pick variety over quantity: one normal PC, one old PC, one laptop and one machine with the old antivirus teaches you more than ten identical PCs.

How long should I watch the pilot before rolling out?

One full working day is the practical minimum — long enough for a restart, a definition update and a normal day's work on each pilot machine. If your office has weekly peak loads, waiting for one of those is even better.

What if the pilot deployment fails?

That is the pilot doing its job. Fix the cause on the one affected machine first — credentials, firewall, old antivirus, or check-in — using the failure ladder in this set. A cause you understand on one PC is a preparation step for the whole office, not a crisis.

This guide is based on the Technical Anshu video on deploying the SEP agent • Stuck on a step? Ask in the video comments 🙏