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Why Upgrade?
by Caroline Moncur
In today's business environment, Business Owners & Managers are focused on building new capability for the business without increasing their cost base. As such, the pressure is on IT to "do more with less". Businesses need solutions that can drive operational efficiency and drive costs down, but at the same time drive business growth and new capabilities.
IT Managers need to be skilled at delivering high quality service at a low cost of ownership by operating and managing their technology infrastructure efficiently.
However, the current state of IT Management is one where manual tasks dominate. At least 50-60% of routine IT tasks within organizations are manual. Manual activities are people intensive which drive up the direct cost of IT. So even as the costs for hardware and software are tracking downward, the costs of managing and supporting your infrastructure are increasing as your networking infrastructure becomes more complex. Over time, you have added an application here, you have added functionality there. You added people across the board. Yet the more variables you have added to your infrastructure, the harder it will now be to manage, and more importantly, secure, in an environment where the majority of IT tasks are manual.
Some of the key challenges for IT are managing the abundance of user permissions and access, validating the security of the network, monitoring the entire environment including unauthorized desktop changes as well as dealing with a constant flow of helpdesk calls.
These are all people and time intensive activities resulting in a long cycle time to fix problems. In addition, it results in a high risk of unauthorized access to the company's network.
In this environment, the Business Manager is faced with rising costs whilst trying to get on top of business information, secure business data as well as attempting to remain competitive.
The first step we believe in responding to these challenges is by deploying Microsoft Windows 2003 Server. The focus of Microsoft Windows 2003 Server is on building a secure, well managed infrastructure to increase operational efficiency. This translates as more automation of routine IT administration tasks, therefore reducing time spent on these tasks and freeing those people to do other activities that create value for the business. It also translates as enabling a far more secure environment as well as less costly downtime.
A simplified infrastructure makes it much easier to manage and more reliable and has been shown to reduce total cost of ownership of IT infrastructure by as much as 30%. Network Administration costs are decreased by automating desktop management tasks and by delegating security authorization without compromising overall network security.
The cost of downtime with Microsoft Windows 2003 Server is reduced by as much as 50% compared to older versions such as Windows NT4.0.
The key to the success of Microsoft Windows 2003 Server in delivering operational efficiency is its Active Directory component. Active Directory simplifies IT management and strengthens IT security.
The typical situation in most companies is that you have one IT Administrator who is responsible for managing many end users and many computers. Active Directory automates Desktop Management including such aspects as security settings, distribution of software, desktop configurations, remote installation of Windows/Desktop images and restrictions to software downloads
Single sign-on reduces the complexity of managing multiple user IDs and passwords and decreases the risk of security compromise. Active Directory enables single-sign on with any application that uses Windows authentication.
Active Directory centralizes security management and enforces role-based security consistent with an organisation's business processes.
Building a secure, well managed infrastructure is the key driver for IT efficiency as well as enabling innovation. Upgrading to Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Active Directory will not only decrease your total cost of ownership of IT infrastructure but also enable you to focus your IT efforts on business growth.
To provide feedback on this column, please email makingITwork@providencetg.com
About the Author:
Ms Caroline Moncur is Manager, Business Development at Providence Technology Group. Ms Moncur has over ten year's business development experience, primarily within the Information Technology industry. Providence Technology Group is one of the Bahamas' leading IT firms, specializing in Networking Solutions, Consulting & Advisory Services and Software Solutions.
