The value of a common operating environment

The desktop dilemma that faces companies today is the escalating costs of maintaining a fragmented landscape. These escalating costs are the joint result of:

* The wider deployment of desktops/laptops to end-users
* The growing number of mission-critical applications
* The un-scalable nature, significant costs and manpower involved in providing end-user support

This is happening in the face of declining productivity, characterised by an environment where:

* External security breaches have widespread impact
* There are greater service level requirements
* End-user productivity being under pressure when end-user devices do not work properly

The initial capital investment in the end-user device is secondary to the support/maintenance costs of that device through its life cycle. The external security threats posed mean desktops/laptops need to be consistently patched through a reliable mechanism.

Knowing where end-user assets are located at all times, controlling them, and being able to restore faulty geographically-spread devices to working condition add further complications to desktop management. These factors highlight the need to outsource desktop management to a specialist vendor that has the service capabilities to deal with all such issues.

This is where UCS Solutions adds value to our customers, not only by providing a managed desktop service, but by assisting to create a common operating environment (COE) in our customers' environments.

COE refers to the creation of a commoditised desktop service through the design and implementation of standardised:

* Hardware and software images
* Routine desktop processes, services and operations
* Group policies that facilitate lockdowns in the environment so that users are only allowed functionality directly related to their jobs

The implementation of COE has the following benefits:

* Reduces the management complexity of the desktop environment
* Reduces the time required to deploy new services on the desktop
* Improves the ability to respond to:

* New opportunities/technologies
* Changes in the business environment
* Security threats
* Reduces desktop TCO by:
* Leveraging vendor's abilities to manage complexity at a lower cost
* Eliminating the hidden costs of asset management
* Increasing end-user productivity through lower downtime and improved service levels

Our managed desktop service is based on the remote end-user device management model which integrates people, processes and technology to bring reliability to the end-user device through a centrally managed, standardised hardware and software infrastructure.

After all, it is the level of lockdown and management that drives the reduction in desktop TCO. UCS Solutions have a skilled, experienced, geographically-spread desktop team that will assist customers in creating a COE by designing and implementing:

* Standard desktop processes and procedures for installs, moves, adds, changes, removals, etc
* Standard hardware selection and procurement best practices
* Standard end-user images (based on user profiles)
* Sound, auditable asset management processes
* Standard lockdown policies
* Standard virus and patch management processes
* Standard support and repair/replace processes
* End-user utility models (eg, price per seat)

Our value proposition is to offer a cost-effective, flexible, end-to-end desktop service offering throughout an asset's life cycle, with a key focus on creating and maintaining a COE. We will assist in the migration process to minimise business risk and impact, and will facilitate the upskilling of end-users if required. It is our goal to ensure customers realise the full value of a managed desktop service through the implementation of COE.

Want to know more? Contact Adrian via e-mail at adrian.beemiah@ucs-solutions.co.za or call him on (011) 518 9000.