UPDATE EXTRA: Simplified Desktop Management

SecurityUpdate Extra The following is an advertorial sponsored by ScriptLogic. December 23, 2008 Top Wireless Firm Simplifies its Desktop Management   One of the largest wireless services providers in the United States dedicates itself to providing wireless technology designed to enrich the lives of its more than 24 million voice and data customers. Providing cellular/PC service in 43 of the top 50 markets nationwide, it also provides corporate email and other advanced data services through its GPRS, EDGE, and Mobitex packet data networks. The company’s vision for its internal systems mirrors its vision for customers: Simplify. For its customers, simplification means offering easy-to-understand, affordable rate plans and excellent customer service. For its IT department, it means simplifying systems maintenance across its vast data centers with software from ScriptLogic. The Challenge: Complicated Solutions to Complicated Systems Issues IT department heads needed to find a way to make troubleshooting easier for the more than 1,200 PCs that its department supports at the California call center facility. They were overwhelmed with the multitude of different applications they needed to use to keep the PCs running and up-to-date. When problems cropped-up, the first order of business was always to figure out which program was causing the problem. When a new supervisor was appointed to oversee IT for desktop systems, he found that they were using a lot of broken tools and which required too many hours to get things done efficiently. For example, shortcuts were created in old batch files, Internet favorites via a Microsoft utility, and Outlook profiles with a shareware tool. With no centralized way to handle desktop administration tasks, it was taking too long to set up and launch anything new. Sneakernet was a regular part of administrators’ days. The Solution: One Tool that Does it All Fortunately for that new desktop IT supervisor, the decision to purchase ScriptLogic’s Desktop Authority solution had already been made when he took on responsibility for the function, so he didn’t have to put up with the headaches for too long. Once Desktop Authority was up and running, he put it to work. Over the last two years, he has used Desktop Authority to add icons, set up multiple Outlook profiles, create new configuration INI files, apply Microsoft patches, make proxy changes, update virus definitions—everything—across 1,200 desktops. With that many users to service, the job becomes nearly impossible to do well without a tool that allows changes and updates to be made without visiting workstations. Each and every change made in the desktop environment across the entire call center has been via Desktop Authority, and the Desktop IT supervisor claims that it would be nearly impossible to say how much time it has saved him and his staff over the years. Award-winning Desktop Authority centralizes the multi-function management of Windows-based networks. Its graphical user interface makes desktop management easier by eliminating redundant tasks and streamlining a host of time-consuming activities. With this valuable application network administrators can manage Windows clients and applications more efficiently, applying settings to a specific computer or user and delivering that configuration for each user every time they logon – no matter if it’s the same PC every time, or a different one. In this wireless provider’s call center, the users move from building to building, desktop to desktop. Desktop Authority lets them access their standard, familiar setup as they move around each day. Backgrounds, email set-up, Internet favorites and program access are all set for each individual user. When they log-on, their settings are applied, so they see their workstation, no matter where they are. So, Desktop Authority not only makes the company’s IT department more productive, it makes each and every user more productive, too. Desktop Authority combines the functionality of logon scripting, group policies and user profile management into an intuitive management console without the need to write or debug a single line of code. And, with Desktop Authority, all of the benefits can be performed remotely, so IT staff doesn’t have to travel building to building, or come in to troubleshoot when they’re on-call. All they need is Web access to put problem solving at their fingertips. Desktop management at the California call center is truly streamlined. According to the IT supervisor for desktop systems, they use it for “almost everything,” including setting backgrounds, legal notices, mapping drives for all the various departments, mapping printers, setting all the local security policies, locking down control panels, redirecting favorites and My Documents to network shares, all the start menu icons, their email profiles, Internet home page and proxy settings… a true simplification success. The Benefits: More Quality in Less Time The IT supervisor for desktops and his team started seeing improvement almost immediately after installing Desktop Authority. They were able to quickly eliminate old applications that hadn’t worked very well, and can now maintain everything from one central location. And the end-users saw the improvements, too – their system configurations began happening faster in the background, and the corruption issues that had users canceling login scripts before Desktop Authority came along were Desktop Authority’s report feature, introduced with version 5, was an especially big hit with the wireless provider’s IT department, too. With it, they can see exactly what each script is doing in one snapshot. With Desktop Authority, the desktop administrators at this leading wireless provider’s California call center launch new applications, push registry .REG files and install programs, deploy Windows updates, Citrix configuration files, Java installers, virus scan updates, applications and updates—across 1,200 PCs remotely in a snap. And the machines don’t even need to be powered on for IT to work their magic. Updates wait for a user to log-on, when the user logs in, they get the updates. The IT department at the California call center has counted on Desktop Authority to deliver, and it has. The power of its logon scripting functionality exceeded their expectations, and they feel they do a better job maintaining desktops, and with fewer resources. To download a demo of Desktop Authority, a tool that reduces the total cost of desktop and application ownership by enabling administrators to proactively manage, inventory, secure, and support desktops from a central location, please click here. Contact Us About the newsletter—letters@windowsitpro.com About technical questions—letters@windowsitpro.com About product news—products@windowsitpro.com About your subscription—windowsitproupdate@windowsitpro.com About sponsoring this UPDATE—emedia_opps@windowsitpro.com.com Subscription Info This email newsletter is brought to you by Windows IT Pro, the leading publication for IT professionals deploying Windows and related technologies. Subscribe today! 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