Initial situation
The client had a fleet of 2,500 heterogeneous and ageing workstations with insufficient performance. The operating system was at the end of its life and the heterogeneity of the machines and software (up to 6 versions of the same program!) posed insurmountable logistic problems.
The lack of precise knowledge of the configuration of each workstation, compounded by the "uncontrolled" installation of software by employees themselves, not only posed the problem of licence control, but also made maintenance and support for users extremely difficult.
The implementation of a new application required testing on a large number of machine types and deployment to the relevant workstations was a considerable effort.
In addition, the storage servers for user files were reaching saturation at an ever-increasing rate, due to the natural growth in the amount of data being managed and the changing nature of the data towards multimedia.
The lack of tools to manage the whole system made the situation even more precarious.
After detailed analysis, the decision was made to replace the entire fleet.
Goal
The aim was to modernise and standardise the hardware and software and to reduce support costs and the investment budget.
Concept
The client engaged Lambert Consulting to provide the tools needed for application packaging, as well as to manage and implement software configuration.
2,372 workstations were installed in three months. Thanks primarily to the tools used— Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), and Preset Installer from Lambert Consulting —each workstation was installed fully automatically in less than one hour on-site, whereas the process normally takes more than one day. A total of 140 applications were packaged, requiring an equal number of workdays.
But once that's done, installation on a machine takes just a quarter of an hour. Preset Installer includes a database listing everything that needs to be installed and communicates with System Center to ensure that the actual situation matches what is planned.
Result
- The reduction in operating costs amounts to CHF 500,000 per year, and investment budgets are reduced by over CHF 2,000,000 per year.
- Improved employee performance: All users have access to fast, modern workstations, as well as the latest, user-friendly versions of software Windows, with the assurance that these systems will be updated in a timely manner.
- Improved disk space: Employees have sufficient disk space to store their files. In the event of a problem, they receive fast and efficient service.
- Uniformity of hardware: The identical hardware configuration of the PCs, whose supplier's warranty period has been extended to 4 years to prevent any hardware failure, obviously simplifies the management and maintenance of these machines considerably. The same applies to the uniformity of software versions.
- Easier software deployment, security patches and application control: Industrialised software distribution avoids the need for on-site interventions and is much faster. The efficiency of this operation is such that in the event of a problem on a workstation, it is often preferable to reconfigure it completely.
- Working in collaboration with SCCMLambert Consulting ’s Preset Installer knows exactly what should be installed on each PC and what is actually installed. Unauthorized installations are thus quickly detected and corrected. In addition, SCCM it handles the deployment of security patches, thereby helping to simplify maintenance of the entire IT infrastructure.
- Licence control: The system also provides precise control of the number of licences used, so that the customer is not faced with surprises related to supplier contracts. The same efficiency gain is seen in the management of storage space, which previously involved constant "juggling" with remaining resources.
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