Desktop Management

Standardization with the use of automated technologies is one of the key drivers to our Desktop Management Services. By standardizing the computing environment, problem-causing variables are greatly reduced. Support personnel spend less time investigating problems and more time solving them, which allows your team to be more productive. Since a workstation using our Desktop Management  Services takes less time and effort to support, the cost to departments utilizing these services is appreciably less. Departments can redirect those monies back into other department functions. The primary goal of our Desktop Management Services is to improve reliability and reduce support costs for the customer.  For each computing device using our support services, customers can receive: 

1. Standard Desktop
2. Centralized Patch Management
3. Help Desk Services
4. Centralized Application Installation

Vanderbilt IT recommends staying within the lifecycle of each hardware, which is the length of the warranty plus one year.

Desktop Management Services

Standard Desktop

By purchasing a standard desktop from our recommended models, our team will be able to utilize all of our available tools, such as an automated workstation build, to support and manage the desktops in your department. The installation of these tools allows field personnel to support these workstations quicker and reduce user downtime. In addition, this type of standardization integrates the support across our support teams-- making it easier for staff to maintain service levels and provide backup services faster and simpler.

Centralized Patch Management

Our team utilizes Active Directory group polices to manage workstation patching. Our tools not only allow us to make sure that right patches are chosen for security reasons but also to make sure they are installed. This patching includes the operating system, applications and our antivirus software called Microsoft Forefront. By centralizing this patch management, customers can be certain that their systems are protected from potential viruses or malware.

Help Desk Services

The help desk provides departments with immediate support and resolution to problems they might encounter on a daily basis. Agents are in direct contact with workgroup support personnel and immediately log problems for customers and route them to the appropriate support workgroup. This creates an environment in which problems can be tracked and resolved more efficiently. Requests for service from field support staff are submitted through the help desk at ext. 3-HELP (3-4357).

Centralized Application Installation

By utilizing this service, a customer can be certain that an important application is installed correctly onto a department workstation. Our team will also make sure it is the correct version and will install any required patches to ensure it is working correctly. Our team will also maintain an inventory of all software licenses and manage the installation and configuration of all software onto each workstation. By not using this service, customers have a higher level of access (administrative rights) to a workstation that has the potential of creating unnecessary problems, resulting in more downtime than anticipated or causing events that result in the loss of data.

Hardware Lifecycling

In order to utilize the cost savings of the Cost Reducing Value Added Service hardware lifecycling, the customer agrees to replace each workstation using this service on a 3-year augmented lifecycle.  The augmented lifecycle means that these workstations must be replaced before they are 4 years old, or if they have a hardware failure in the 4th year (whichever comes first).