The Kier building group has migrated 4,500 desktops and
laptops across 28 offices to Microsoft Office 2003 and strengthened
its patching system.
The upgraded productivity suite is now supported by a unified
patch management policy to make sure users are given the most up to
date security and productivity patches.
Kier also
now has a tighter grip on its IT assets with an automatic tracking
system to control software licences and hardware deployments.
To help with the technology roll-outs, Kier brought in software
management firm Altiris.
Before adopting Altiris’s system management solution, Kier also
considered similar solutions from Landesk, Microsoft and
Symantec.
Kier chose the Altiris Client Management Suite for its
simplicity, ease of use and fast implementation time scales, said
Mark Crane, desktop technology team leader at Kier Group.
Crane said, “We needed a system which would help us centrally
deploy, manage and troubleshoot systems across our 28 offices, from
our headquarters in Bedfordshire. After completing a trial with
each vendor we opted for Altiris, who we felt could offer products
best suited for our system which are competitively priced.”
He added, “Patch management is one area where we have seen a
large improvement. Prior to implementing the Altiris Patch
Management Solution, patching was a huge dilemma for us. Not only
time consuming, it also wiped our bandwidth which was frustrating
for staff who couldn’t be sure if they were installing the correct
patches.
“The solution automates the patches and prioritises which ones
are vital to our system, making the ongoing management stress
free,” he said.
Kier Group is looking to upgrade to Windows XP in the future,
and plans to use Altiris’s software to manage the migration to
ensure an easier implementation.
Microsoft launched the Windows Vista OS and Office 2007 this
week, but Kier’s roll-outs illustrate how most firms don’t
immediately jump to the latest solutions offered by the likes of
Microsoft.
Symantec to acquire Altiris
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