Customer Success Miami University Altiris Total Management Suite consolidates management of IT resources AT Miami Miami University, located in Oxford, OH, needed to significantly automate its many manual processes. The University chose Altiris Total Management Suite (TMS) because of the breadth and depth of the solutions offered. By automating formerly manual processes, the University has been able to free up time for its IT staff to concentrate on more strategic initiatives and be more proactive rather than putting out fires. Consolidation Needed Keeping track of the computers for a university with more than 20,000 students, faculty and staff is a difficult job. Keeping track of those machines with just an Excel spreadsheet is virtually impossible. That was one of the problems facing Robert Howard, senior director of support services & campus partnerships for Miami University located in Oxford, Ohio. Howard wanted a more efficient method for tracking IT assets so he and the University administration could make better informed decisions. “For me to be able to manage the university’s technology, I need to have accurate data to know exactly what I’m managing,” Howard said. “The way we were tracking assets before would be the equivalent to asking a CFO to manage company finances without providing a budget. It wasn’t a good way to make decisions.” “With Altiris, we’re able to understand our resources and our assets better. Because of this we’re able to allocate our resources more effectively, leading to a better academic experience for both ” students and faculty. Robert Howard Senior Director of Support Services & Campus Partnerships Miami University Another pressing concern for Howard and his staff was their process for managing security patches. With more than 10,000 machines, it was difficult to ensure all were patched and secure. Howard’s staff had little time to do anything other than manually react to threats as they were discovered. Ultimately, they wanted to automate processes and move from a break-fix approach to a more strategic model. They also wanted to reduce costs. After an initial evaluation, three vendors rose to the top: Altiris, Computer Associates and LANDesk. TMS Offers Needed Breadth in One Console Due to the breadth and depth of Altiris solutions, and most notably the ability to drive the benefits of virtualization to the PC with Altiris Software Virtualization Solution™, Miami chose Altiris. “Altiris Total Management Suite (TMS) just made the most sense,” Howard said. “It was a good deal and gave us what we needed now with the flexibility to grow our capabilities in time. We expect long-term benefits from our investment in Altiris.” Howard’s biggest challenge became educating the university on the new Altiris tools. “The hardest part of the implementation was cultural,” Howard said. “Our faculty was Organization Profile Founded in 1809, Miami University was named for the Miami Indian Tribe that inhabited the valley. The University’s main campus, located in Oxford, Ohio, is home to 15,200 undergraduate and 1,700 graduate students, while 2,500 more students are enrolled at three satellite campuses, including a European center in Luxembourg. Miami offers 100 undergraduate areas of study and another 50 graduate programs, along with a number of doctoral degrees. Industry Higher Education Solution Endpoint Management Customer Success Miami University not ready to have their technology managed and the IT staff wasn’t used to automated IT management. Anything different that also happens to have a corporate look and feel, tends to receive push back.” to consolidate the purchase process. The university now plans to buy computers and other IT assets collectively for all departments to take advantage of volume discounts. After some initial resistance, Howard was able to show how Altiris would benefit the organization. For example, Altiris deployment and migration solutions will help the IT organization refresh hardware every three years instead of every five by helping to reduce the cost and complexity of computer upgrades. “When we really brought it home and showed them what they were going to gain, people really started to come around,” Howard said. Security Threats Avoided Miami is performing a phased rollout of Altiris solutions. They currently have implemented Altiris Inventory Solution, Patch Management Solution™, Deployment Solution™, Carbon Copy® Solution and PC Transplant® Solution with plans to roll out Recovery Solution™ and Server Management Suite™ in the near future. Accurate Inventory Achieved The biggest benefit the university has realized since implementing TMS has been the accuracy of its IT inventory. Prior to Altiris, Howard estimates their inventory information was only 50 to 60 percent accurate. This was because each individual department was handling their own inventory collection and there was no policy in place for how the data should be collected. “Every department had their own way of doing it,” Howard said. “Pick your flavor. Anything you can think of, we probably had a little bit of that going on.” Now with Inventory Solution, discovery and tracking of IT assets has been automated. Inventory data is taken once the machine is received from the manufacturer and the data is managed from a single console, instead of several disparate documents. Howard estimates his inventory is now approximately 90 percent accurate. Howard said his team will use this inventory data Miami has also been able to simplify patch management processes. After being hit by the Blaster virus, Miami implemented temporary measures to protect against future outbreaks by quarantining infected machines, preventing users from logging on to the network. This approach was frustrating for students who couldn’t figure out why their computer wasn’t working and added a lot of stress to an already stressful situation. “Now with Altiris, we can reduce downtime and improve security by automating patch management from a centralized management console,” Howard said. SVS Reduces Stress on Students In the Fall of 2006, Miami plans to rollout a student notebook program. These notebooks will act as virtual labs for students, providing access to all of the applications a student needs for their course of study. Howard and his team plan to virtualize all applications and place them on the new laptops using Software Virtualization Solution™. SVS will provide Miami IT with complete control over the university’s software applications including instant activation, deactivation and reset. Also, because the notebooks will be managed by Altiris software, Howard and his team will be able to provide students with remote support. Ultimately, Altiris provides Howard with the information and automation he needs to efficiently manage his environment. “With Altiris, we’re able to understand our resources and our assets better,” Howard said. “We can now allocate our resources more effectively, leading to a better academic experience for both students and faculty.” SOLUTION AT A GLANCE Business Drivers • IT inventory tracking was tedious and inaccurate • Needed to secure thousands of systems to avoid threats from viruses • Needed to evolve from a break-fix approach to a proactive model Technology Results • IT inventory accuracy from approximately improved from 60 percent to 90 percent • Patch management automated, vastly improved security • Time savings allow University to be a more proactive and strategic organization Symantec Products • Altiris® Total Management Suite™ Technology Environment • Operating Systems: Windows XP, Server 2003, Mac OS X • Desktop Brands: Dell, Apple • Number of Desktops: 10,000 Why Symantec? • Manage environment from single console • Flexible Solution • Automated “One of the things students dislike most about our current academic environment is the specialized labs they have to go to that are only open certain hours and have limited space,” Howard said. “Giving students access to the applications they need on their notebooks will be a huge benefit to them.” Copyright © 2008 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec, the Symantec logo and Altiris Total Management Suite are all trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.