Middlesbrough College takes control of its assets

Middlesbrough College, a further and higher education institution for 10,000 students, has chosen to use LANDesk Management Suite to improve software and hardware deployment. The solution gives Middlesbrough College greater control over its 1,600 desktops and several hundred laptops.

The college’s previous centralised management solution was saving the college time, but lacked functionality such as the ability to deploy a wide range of software remotely, automatic security patching and inventory management for both software and hardware.

The strategic platform from LANDesk gives full visibility of software licensing, ensuring compliance and reducing licensing costs, while patching is automatic, saving time and boosting security. 

LANDesk recently announced the launch of its latest Management and Security Suite 9 which went on general availability in 2010. As an existing user of LANDesk Management Suite, Middlesbrough College is keen to take full advantage of the enhanced technology. 

 “We wanted greater flexibility in the types of software package that we could deploy, and to enable automated security-patch management for our Windows XP machines – both to save effort and to plug potential security holes more rapidly,” said Gary Porritt, Middlesbrough College core systems administrator. Going forward, we will be looking to roll-out Windows 7 across our IT infrastructure.  By using LANDesk Management Suite 9, we will be able to identify which of our machines meet the necessary specification to run Windows 7 and which we need to replace. We will also be able to roll-out the software in a staged and managed approach to minimise any potential security threats or glitches.”

LANDesk® Management Suite also provides the college with a full hardware inventory, smoothing the way for a recent upgrade to 1Gb RAM for all PCs and laptops.

“Middlesbrough College has to manage a huge turnover of students, each requiring connectivity while maintaining security and cutting administration effort” said Andy King, area director, LANDesk Division. “Our solutions provide the college with a full visibility of their software and hardware inventories and OS patching while at the same time cutting their costs.”

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