squeezeIT

6 Ways to Cut IT Costs …

Part 3 - Automated Desktop and Applications

A disproportionate amount of time is spent by technical staff, end users and management in making sure that applications are installed on PCs where a user is going to work, in additional to providing a stable operating system for those applications to reside on.

Implementing an infrastructure with automated desktop builds and applications that install wherever the user goes will dramatically cut the amount of time spent by all parties, but especially IT staff, in keeping the show going. End user productivity can be measurably enhanced when you take away the frustration of getting the tools they need and fighting with the system.

Most businesses don’t realize that Microsoft ships all the tools you need to “hands free” install Windows and any application. Sure you can buy Systems Center Configuration Manager or a third party product too, but all you need, especially in a small and medium business (10 to 1000 seats) environment is included.

What’s the Deal?

A scenario: a new user joins your organization (yes this must be a public sector example!), you un-box their PC that meets the corporate standard, plug it into the network, power on and hit a few keys. Shortly afterward you have a pristine operating system installed with all the base configuration, core applications and security settings deployed and applied. The new user sits in front of the PC, signs in for the first time and immediately the 3 specific applications they require are installed in a few minutes. Finally, the system is automatically patched for the latest security holes.

If the user then has to use a PC over the other side of the building for a week, they can sign in at that PC and once again the users applications will install instantly for them and their environment will be exactly as they expect.

Finally, if the user encounters a problem with the system, you can simply pick up the old system, swap in a pre-built one, and have the user log in.

What Do I Need?

So how do you achieve all this.

Well firstly it has been possible since the NT4 days – give or take a few items. Some of the components and tools have been renamed (some many times),some have been improved, expanded and gained sophistication, they have even given you a multitude of ways to do the same thing, but bottom line you can have a fully automated (that reacts to new hardware and devices), centrally controlled, standardized desktop infrastructure out of the box. No extra costs, no extra software and this is just the tip of the iceberg of whats available FOC.

Here’s what you need:

1. Windows Server (2008 preferably)
2. Windows XP (or Vista or Windows 7)
3. Active Directory (included with Windows Server)
4. Group Policy (included with Active Directory)

That’s it. Now, you can add to this, embellish, but this solution will scale to many sites and many thousands of users, desktops and applications.

At this point people will stop me and say, yes but we use Ghost and it only cost $70 to do the whole company. My usual answer to this is twofold, Yes, Ghost is great the first few times for automating a build. It is very fast and when you only have one to two types of PC it is easy to manage, however once you have multiple hardware types, multiple configuration standards then Ghost loses it’s appeal quickly. More importantly though, Ghost rightly has to be licensed per system managed and one retail copy supporting 500 users is actually breaking the law.

Anyway, you will already have all the items on my list , even if you are a Small Business Server operation.

Remind Me of The Benefits?

Ok, so by doing this kind of infrastructure you can ensure that users have the applications they need wherever they go, always installed in the prescribed way with no deltas. You can ensure that, all PCs are built and maintained to corporate standards for usage, approved applications, system lock downs, security policies and all this without ever having to get out of your seat.

The savings flow through also in greatly reduced support calls and desk side visits. This means you can re-deploy helpdesk staff and minimize the waste of your user’s time – which over a year adds up to significant numbers.

We have seen 40% drops in overall logged calls when this is applied and it is viable for any size business – though once you scale, you will definitely want to consider further tools or systems that address particular enterprise requirements.

The Same Only Different

Over the years I have seen organizations avoid dealing with a proper managed desktop infrastructure by going down solution routes that have been totally inappropriate and horrendously expensive and eventually deemed a failure, when they had the tools and proven methodologies to make this work. In the past, Terminal Server / Citrix was the solution du jour for avoiding the problem of delivering a managed desktop, all it did was move the issues to the data center but you still had the desktops out there essentially un-managed, and I see the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is trying to become the new flavor. Beware! See a future blog on this topic.

For more information on this, please see my web site for the expanded version of this topic (www.squeezetech.com).