The self-managing desktop
One company discusses new automation tools that give desktops the respect they deserve.
By
Beth Schultz
,
Network World
, 10/24/2005
- Share/Email
- Tweet This
- Print
When it comes to the automation portion of your new data center strategy, don't forget the desktop.
So says Herb Schmoll, manager of end-user services at Jarden Consumer Solutions, the Boca Raton, Fla., company formerly known
as Sunbeam Products. As much as automation is changing network and server operations, it is affecting desktop management , he says. So great are the implications that companies need a "desktop architect" on staff, he believes.
At Jarden CS, for example, a desktop architect has helped craft automated patch-management processes and has investigated
the use of application virtualization. The primary tool at the desktop architect's disposal - the Altiris Client Management Suite (CMS) - is a class of tool that differs from the typical help desk products usually associated with desktop management. This
systems management suite performs functions such as software distribution, IT asset management, remote control, PC backup
and configuration management.
"Tools like Altiris ... have huge implications [for desktop support] - suddenly, I can do things the server and network groups
have long been able to do. That's an order of magnitude more sophisticated than desktop management has ever been," Schmoll
says.
He offers his automated patch-management system as an example. With the help of The Blue Willow Group, an Altiris integrator, Schmoll's desktop team has built a "package server" network for distributing Windows XP and Office
patches to 21 Jarden CS facilities around the world. At all but one site, a desktop running XP acts as the local package server,
housing patches it receives from an Altiris Notification Server located in Boca Raton. Only in Boca Raton, which serves 450
users, does the package server reside on a server-class machine, he says. When a user machine, which talks periodically to
the Notification Server, learns that it needs a patch, it taps into the package server on its local subnet for the appropriate
download. This automated process is transparent to users - even the reboot is handled automatically, after hours.
Fast and easy
Automated patch management, served by low-cost desktops, is saving Jarden CS's desktop team thousands of hours of manual effort.
For instance, Schmoll recently determined that over the course of a couple of months, this automated process resulted in 110,000
"touches" of user machines. Undertaken manually, at 10 minutes per update, those patch updates would have required 17,000
hours, or about 2,000 working days, Schmoll calculates. Instead, one technician spent about 120 hours testing the patches
and readying them for deployment.
Likewise, using the software distribution capability found in Altiris CMS, Schmoll's team recently installed Office 2003 on
300 employee desktops in the course of about an hour. Previously, that effort would have meant desktop support technicians
going on-site (or asking local "super users" to help with the installs) and spending a half-hour per user machine, for a total
of about 150 hours, he says.
Partner Content
Blue Stripe Software
www.bluestripe.com/
Improving Application Performance Troubleshooting
Diagnosing why an application is slow is hard, at times taking days or weeks to isolate and resolve. This paper explains the challenges involved using current management tools, provides a 'wish list' for application management and analysis, and explains the need for an application system-wide approach that monitors entire applications, not components.
Download Whitepaper
Virtual Vigilance: Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments
This paper highlights the impact of virtualization on application performance. "Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments" states: "Best-in-Class organizations are predominately taking actions around improving visibility across both physical and virtual systems, assessing the business impact of application performance and understanding interdependencies of applications in virtualized environments."
Download Whitepaper
Application Service Requests: The Missing Link for Pragmatic ITSM
Forrester Research analyst Glenn O'Donnell and BlueStripe co-founder Vic Nyman discuss a breakthrough approach to application problem management. Learn the new approach for ITSM problem management, which provides: Rapid isolation of application slow-downs to specific components for quick problem resolution, 24/7 monitoring for proactive notification of potential issues before end users are impacted and much more.
Register for Webcast
Comment