CA Client Manager Eases Windows 7 Migration Woes

IT organizations that have jumped operating systems in the past and are now overdue for their refresh will find migrating to Windows 7 much easier using CA's latest client manager. Baker Tilly, one of the world's largest accounting firms, was looking to update. Using CA solutions, it  maximized employee productivity while migrating 2,400 users to Windows 7 in just four weeks.

Simplifying the management of end user computing devices--desktops, laptops, mobile devices and PDAs--is a big problem. CA, HP, BMC and Microsoft have products that deal with this challenge. CA's IT Client Manager keeps pace with what has been happening in virtualization, green IT and compliance. It manages desktops primarily, but also servers. This involves knowing what is out there, what is installed and where, and how it is configured. It also helps with updates.

Customers also want the capability to manage their networks more efficiently. "The new green IT assessment features in ITCM r12.5 have enabled us to build a hosted solution through which our customers can assess their savings through sustainability initiatives by minimizing power consumption and reducing cost," said Teddy Schou, project director, DevoTeam Consulting, Denmark. "Our customer saved $300,000 (or 1 million kg of carbon dioxide) in three years by optimizing the power schemata of just 3,000 desktops."

Dependency on IT is becoming greater and more complex. Employees are  bringing their own devices to work. At the same time, organizations need to stay compliant with government regulations and their own standards. Their challenge is to make sure systems are up-to-date and configured so they are not vulnerable. CA is also looking ahead and contemplating what it calls the dynamic workspace composition. Meaning, how will people manage their desktops in the future? "We are laying the foundation for that with [ITCM r12.5]. People are going to move away from a monolithic desktop environment and go toward work spaces," said Allan Andersen, CA's vice president of product management. "Work spaces are created dynamically based on the context that you're in, e.g., time of day or what network you're connected to."

"Managing individual users through the management of a user's workspace is a valuable strategy for IT that can lead to increased business agility and flexibility, lowered IT management costs, and improved service levels," said Fred Broussard, PC, device and IT service management software, IDC. "As organizations evolve from managing physical client devices, to managing the user workspace, client virtualization will become a key component. Having comprehensive capabilities for managing both physical and virtual assets is critical to supporting the transformation to this workspace of the future."