The impact of the app store on InstaDMG

I'm new to instaDMG, but this touches on several related issues I've come across trying to use InstaDMG vice the "Gold Master" methodology for creating a deployment image. Given a viable deployment image, "recovery image" issues are not much of a concern (fire up net boot, reinstall image from server. Go get a beer). That said, many applications are simply not being distributed on DVD anymore. iWork, for example, is still available via the apple store to buy as a DVD, but iLife isn't (though in all fairness I can still track down a copy on Amazon). This affects not only software that comes preloaded on new macs (iLife) that you want to create an InstaDMG-based image for, but any third party software you want to add to the deployed Macs as well. From an individual user's perspective, the app store is great. Buy the app, re-download it whenever you need it if your drive dies, or if you switch to a new computer. From a deployment perspective - especially with limited bandwidth, this is less ideal, but still workable. You can buy apple apps in bulk (http://www.apple.com/mac/volume-licensing/) - and redeem them, but do you really want 30+ computers downloading their own copies of iPhoto, etc? And if the computers aren't individually assigned you're not going to keep buying copies for everyone who potentially touches the computer, and I for one don't want to track appleID's on a per-computer basis. Alternatively, you can use the other method - keep a "golden" mac for updates (because the deployed macs won't see the updates), and re-image that. Or better yet, use something like composer to create install packages that can be incorporated into instaDMG. This of course requires you to keep a "golden" mac around. What there currently is NOT an apple-based solution for, is a way to volume license third-party software that is app-store only, without having to purchase or redeem each copy through a separate appleID (and even redeeming is on the order of "buy a gift card" for non-apple products). Perhaps in those cases one can talk directly to the software company about paying them for x licenses and then buy a copy in the app store for the actual deployment.