Episode II- Endpoint Management: Automation Strikes Back

In Episode I, Leia Organa discovered the benefits of managed services, and how outsourcing her IT needs allows her to focus on managing her business. Little does she know, however, that her users and computers will become more efficient than ever before through the power of Endpoint Management.

In the past, the staff came to her with their individual computer problems, and she would address them when she had the time. Recently though, several employees’ computers have been infected with the Darth Vader virus, which wreaked havoc on their files and caused them to lose a day of work while she tried to fix the issue. In addition, she would stay afterhours once a month to update users’ computers with new Windows patches, so her staff could stay productive during business hours. 

Endpoint Management solves the headaches that are often associated with managing users and their endpoint devices through automation capabilities. Through proactivity, businesses obtain a firm grip on their workstations to ensure security, consistency, and support across their environment. Endpoint Management includes the following proactive services: 

• Preventative software patch management
• PC performance tuning
• PC inventory management reporting
• Automatic anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-malware, and anti-ransomware updates and scans
• Software licensing management and compliance reporting

Many of these features are automated to save IT staff and administrators time and money, and are accomplished by installing a managed agent on each machine. Through advanced scripting capabilities, administrators proactively maintain the machine to ensure optimal performance. 

Although these proactive services often prevent issues before they occur, it’s inevitable that Leia’s staff may experience computer problems from time to time. The truth is automation doesn’t prevent 100% of issues from occurring, so to keep her business running efficiently, Leia needs to partner with a responsive service desk her staff can contact when issues arise. A good Endpoint Management solution is backed by the supplemental capabilities and technical expertise of a service desk to deliver support when the inevitable happens, and allows her staff to get back to work as quickly as possible. 

Through Endpoint Management, Leia is no longer bogged down with menial IT management tasks, and free to focus on larger initiatives, like removing some of the aging PCs from the environment. Even with Endpoint Management to automate maintenance and provide routine system optimization, the oldest machines are showing their age, so she speaks with her Managed Service Provider to see what options are available to her. In Episode III, she discovers the benefits of PC-as-a-Service.