Desktop provisioning and management is the Achilles' heel of the network administrator.
In even a midsized network, the number of workstations alone can quickly become
a management nightmare for the already overworked administrator. When you don't
have any automated tools, installing an upgrade to an existing application can
be a monumentally daunting task.
You'll find a number of tools on the market-that can ease your burden by helping
you with day-to-day desktop management. However, you'll also quickly find a
wide disparity among products that purport to offer the same basic functionality.
Some vendors concentrate on one or two aspects of desktop management, whereas
others offer packages that address virtually all desktop-management concerns.
Key aspects of desktop provisioning and management software include the following:
- OS and application rollout to new and existing desktops
- management of service packs and patches
- remote desktop and Help desk support
- migration of user settings and documents from old desktops to new desktops
- application version and licensing management
- hardware configuration and inventory
- health monitoring
- security and IT policy compliance
Considering the number and variety of packages on the market, how do you decide
which one is right for you? It's a task not to be taken lightly, and you'll
probably find yourself frustrated by the process. You'll not only have to weigh
the importance of individual features, but you'll also have to consider other
determiners, such as the size of your environment. If you manage an enterprise
environment, you'll probably have to deploy two or more desktop-management packages
to obtain the breadth of functionality your company requires. Even midsized
companies might end up with multiple packages.
Although finding the right tool can be a challenge, it can be a relatively
easy sell to management. Simply present your management team with the significantly
more expensive alternative: hiring additional staff. Another approach is to
talk about your company's desktop-management pain points and develop a series
of real-world scenarios that illustrate the potential power of the software.
Armed with this ammunition, you'll be able to explain in clear terms how a desktop-management
package can benefit your environment. Consider, for example, the following real-world
scenarios.
Disaster Recovery
You've just completed your annual audit, and your audit firm has asked to review
a copy of your disaster-recovery plan. Slightly embarrassed because you don't
have an official disaster-recovery plan in place, you gracefully inform the
auditor that it's "in progress." Many aspects of desktop management can assist
in the formation of a disaster-recovery plan, as well as the recovery process.
An integral part of any disaster-recovery plan is maintaining a current inventory
of IT hardware and software so that you know what you need to order to replace
any equipment that's damaged in a disaster.
A desktop-management application that offers IT inventory-management functionality
for tracking hardware and software can save your company a significant amount
of time while generating such an inventory list. More important, the disaster-recovery
plan should be a "living" document that you review quarterly or at least annually.
Inventory management can not only help with the initial inventory list but
can also help you update your inventory list to ensure that your disaster-recovery
shopping list is always current. Of course, the primary goal of the disaster-recovery
plan is to ensure a successful recovery, but recent emphasis has been placed
on reducing the time necessary to recover.
Desktop-inventory features can help expedite any insurance claims by providing
current inventory lists of items damaged in the disaster, thereby helping a
cash-strapped company get back on its feet. Make sure the inventory functionality
can track serial numbers of both hardware and software, because insurance companies
often require serial numbers for hardware to settle a claim, and valid software
serial numbers can help you obtain replacement media for lost software.
Desktop-management software that automates workstation provisioning can quickly
roll out images of a base computer and applications, significantly reducing
your recovery time. If you have many desktops to support, look closely at the
amount of time it takes to roll out an image to a desktop: 15 minutes of save
time per desktop can be substantial if you have many desktops to image. Assuming
you have to move into temporary office space, using wireless networks is a quick
way to bring up a temporary network, but how secure is it? Using desktop-management
software that checks compliance with security and IT policy will ensure that
the workstations are using the proper wireless encryption standard, are updated
with the most current antivirus/anti-spyware patterns, and are up-to-date with
the latest OS and application patches.
Some desktop-management applications offer automatic-remediation features that
fix computers not up to company's standards, and other applications automate
the patch and update process. Automatic remediation can fix a desktop without
requiring IT intervention, freeing up the IT staff to concentrate on the recovery
process.