Application deployment

Apps, as part of the setup

A device isn't ready to hand over until it has the software people actually use. StageReady installs applications as an ordinary provisioning step: add an Install applications step to a template, pick apps from the catalogue, and they install in order during setup — reported live, recorded permanently. One step, a whole list.

How it installs — and why that's cheap and safe

• Straight from the vendor. MSI/EXE apps download from the vendor's own official URL at install time (Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, and so on). Nothing is re-hosted or mirrored, so you're never shipping — or paying to store and serve — gigabytes of installers. The device pulls the latest version directly from the source.
• Signature-verified. Every downloaded MSI/EXE has its Authenticode signature checked before it runs. A tampered or invalid signature is a hard stop; a valid signature is matched against the expected publisher. That's the trust evidence shown against each app in the catalogue.
• Silent and machine-wide. Apps install unattended, for all users, as part of the automated pass — no clicking through installers.
• Winget too. Where an MSI/EXE isn't available, catalogue entries can install from Winget (these run once a user has signed in).

The ready-to-deploy catalogue

A curated, pre-tested set ships out of the box — installed machine-wide from the vendor, signature-verified:

• Browsers — Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox
• Communication — Zoom, Microsoft Teams (machine-wide), Mozilla Thunderbird
• Productivity & storage — Google Drive, Dropbox
• Utilities & dev — Visual Studio Code, PuTTY

…plus a broader set available via Winget (Adobe Acrobat Reader, Slack, 7-Zip, VLC, Notepad++, LibreOffice, TeamViewer, AnyDesk, and more).

More apps are added continuously, and platform-curated additions appear for every client automatically.

Your own apps, your own catalogue

• Add your own. Any organisation can add its own applications — a line-of-business MSI/EXE on an official HTTPS URL, or a Winget package — and they sit alongside the curated defaults.
• One catalogue, every template. Apps you add are reusable across every template and client; you never paste an installer or a hash by hand.

What can't be a machine-wide install

Some consumer apps — WhatsApp, Company Portal, and similar — are Microsoft Store (MSIX) or per-user installers by design, so they can't be installed machine-wide before someone signs in. Company Portal is best delivered through Intune/Autopilot; Store apps arrive after first sign-in. StageReady is honest about this rather than shipping a default that quietly fails.