For reasons both good and bad, 2023 was a year to remember. Luckily, we here at PDQ mainly experienced good stuff — apart from a few bad facial hair choices by team members, which we’ll never speak of again.
We’ve been incredibly busy looking for ways to make the life of sysadmins easier, but it’s time for a quick break to look back on highlights from the last year. A lot has changed, so buckle up and prepare for the ride.
Wondering what’s been going on at SimpleMDM? Check out the 2023 recap.
Connect launch
Connect entered 2023 in beta before officially launching in late July. Our palms are still raw from all the high fives we gave ourselves.
In case you missed this major moment in PDQ history, Connect is our agent-based Windows device management solution. It’s quick and intuitive, and devices don’t need to connect to a VPN for you to collect data or deploy packages. You can expand your reach without leaving your beautifully cushioned office chair.
Customer appreciation event
Around the time of the Connect launch and Sysadmin Day, we hosted a customer appreciation event at our office in Salt Lake City. Needless to say, we were in the mood to celebrate. Area sysadmins came out to try their luck at casino games, enjoy hors d'oeuvres and cocktails, and participate in a raffle for some sweet prizes.
Releases
Throughout the year, we issued regular releases for both Connect and Deploy & Inventory. Can’t stop, won’t stop. Here’s a quick taste.
Connect
Connect saw 14 releases, mostly to add new features. Since the product is still young, we’re actively applying feedback from customers to make it the best it can be. In the last few months alone, we added role-based access control, custom reports, custom scanners, and custom variables. Our product & engineering team is justifiably exhausted, but we still have a robust roadmap for them to work on. Looks like it’s time to restock the energy drink fridge.
Deploy & Inventory
Because we love Deploy & Inventory (and need to make sure no sibling rivalry emerges between our products), they also saw 11 releases in 2023, including key performance improvements and bug fixes.
Conferences
It’s a well-known fact that we can’t resist wearing polo shirts and handing out swag. After we were not-so-politely asked to leave many a TSA security line, we decided to redirect our energy to conferences. Between PDQ, SimpleMDM, and SmartDeploy, we hit eight conferences in 2023.
We talked about our products. We got to know some of you. We saw how much ice cream we could put on our company credit cards before accounting started asking questions. And the good news is that we plan to do more of the same as we attend conferences in 2024. (But maybe less ice cream. We discovered the hard way that lactose intolerance is a real thing.)
Discord community
PDQ launched its official Discord server to connect everyone in the PDQ community. Over 1,300 users, enthusiasts, and socially inclined PDQ employees joined to discuss PDQ software, PowerShell, and the sysadmin life.
PDQ Week
We hosted a h̶e̶c̶k̶ o̶f̶ a̶ p̶a̶r̶t̶y̶ highly professional internal gathering called PDQ Week. We discussed upcoming plans, got to know each other better, and learned from some awesome customers.
And yes, we had a PDQ Week in 2024. And no, we don’t want to tell you about it (at least for now). The first rule of PDQ Week: You do not talk about PDQ Week.
At PDQ, we continue to update our products, release new features, and look for more opportunities to simplify Windows device management. The reasons for this are twofold: we ❤️ sysadmins, and we ❤️ having a valid basis for our continued employment.
Want to stay up to date on what we’re doing to improve our solutions and stay on the payroll? Check out our releases for Deploy & Inventory and release notes for Connect for the latest updates. And if you haven’t already enjoyed a free trial, sign up today to see our latest releases in action.
