Saving IT Costs with ‘Base’ Systems Management Part 2 – Software Delivery
Saving IT Costs with Software Delivery
In my previous post I discussed the best options to deploy a new computer or server. To follow up on this I will talk about installing software. There are a few methods of this just like how to install the operating systems. One is to install the software manually with the CD or installation files, the others are to use a pre-packaged install and to mass deploy packages.
Many software installations happen directly from the installation media. There are some serious flaws in using this procedure. Unless there is extremely good documentation and it is followed completely, many computers can end up with the same software but different options or even different versions installed. This adds to the complexity of the support environment thus adding more costs.
To help improve the efficiencies of IT departments, software packaging with programs such as Wise Package Studio became the best practice but could be very complex. By packaging applications, there was an assurance that all deployments were exactly the same, with the same options and the same version. Installing these packages were quite easy as the program would install without asking for any input.
To further automate the software delivery process, tools were built to be able to automatically deploy the software packages to multiple computers at the same time. Microsoft’s SMS and Altiris’s Client Management Suite perform these tasks quite well. A few other options are out there as well, but in my opinion these are the 2 main players in this market space. Using these tools during the deployment of a new computer or server can add some valuable cost savings to a company.
In summary, there are different options to deploying software and different values and benefits for each. It is of my opinion that automating every possible part of the delivery of these applications is where the highest value in IT cost savings are. Ensuring that all applications are deployed the same way and the same version is installed will keep the IT costs to a bare minimum. This is where the investment in some base systems management tools can really help the bottom line.
Bill Sullivan
