Dependencies :

Dependencies : The ability to specify dependencies between different deployments has been available since the release of SMS 2.0. Until Configuration Manager 2012, however, these ependencies were not so straightforward and creating multiple dependencies often resulted in confusion.

Dependencies in Configuration Manager 2012 are a much more elegant solution and allow administrators to configure other applications on which the one being configured depends. Single dependencies may be specified or multiple. When adding dependencies it is possible also to select whether a given dependency will be automatically installed in the event it is absent. Setting Auto Install for a dependency is not a requirement but can help ensure deployments execute error free.

Adding dependencies essentially joins the current application with whatever dependency is being specified, so later, if a dependent application is removed, a warning will be displayed about potentially breaking a dependency relationship.

While dependencies are a big step forward for controlling and predicting application deployment results, there is still no way to define order of installation for dependencies. Typically this fact isn’t a big deal, but if multiple dependencies are configured for an application, it could be a concern. If it is required to know the exact order of execution for a deployment and its related dependencies, consider using a task sequence instead.