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Seeking to stretch their budgets in a tough economic environment, IT managers are subjecting every technology purchase to rigorous scrutiny and looking for every opportunity to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO). Given this mandate, IT best practices are more important than ever. By following best practices and managing the client base effectively, IT can enhance the value of the business client and drive down the costs of deploying, managing and supporting client PCs. These six best practices can help.
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A proactive PC replacement policy allows IT to rationalize its client planning and budgeting. In fact, it is often more economical to follow a regular replacement cycle and remove older PCs well before they no longer run the current set of applications, let alone before they reach the breaking point. So, it is not surprising that a clear majority of large companies worldwide perform planned, periodic client refreshes.
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Reducing the number of supported platforms and variations greatly simplifies the work of managing the client base. IT and help desk staff can develop processes and knowledge of a discrete set of software rather than needing to cover a wide spectrum of images. This consistency can produce measurable improvements in total cost of ownership and an increase in end-user productivity.
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While simplifying and standardizing might drive IT toward a single PC standard, segmenting your user base provides a healthy counterbalance to that practice. This best practice emphasizes delivering business value by providing the optimal machines for the way users work and the demands their jobs place on them. Its goal is to ensure that these groups are well equipped for their jobs, and aids IT organizations in choosing client systems that deliver sound business value and maximum return on investment (ROI).
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Maintaining a number of different versions of OSs and applications is impractical and expensive. The more operating systems and service pack versions your IT organization supports, the more complexity and variability your IT staff has to contend with. For maximum cost effectiveness and business agility, companies should deploy the newest operating system and purchase new PCs on which to deploy it.
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Optimize the Deployment Process
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Transitioning users to new PCs has several costs, however, if you've simplified your environment, reduced the number of images, followed a stable platform roadmap, combined major operating system upgrades with platform transitions, and are refreshing your client base proactively, you've laid the groundwork for a smooth and cost-efficient deployment.
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Manage the Mobile, Distributed Workplace
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Today's workforce is more mobile and distributed than ever. While your IT organization and call center staff may be centralized, your employee base is not. Modern operating systems and management applications offer a wide range of tools for managing client systems remotely, including taking inventory, troubleshooting problems and installing or upgrading software. Implementing these tools can result in significant cost savings and assist in implementing other best practices.
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Top Ten Technology Risk #5
PC Lifecycle Resource Centre
Case Studies
Mobile Computing
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