Technology Consultancy Improves Patch Deployment Efficiency by 97 Percent

Global technology consultancy Avanade needed to streamline and shorten the onerous process of patching 250 servers across 30 worldwide locations. The old patch process regularly pulled 8 to 10 IT professionals away from their regular jobs or imposed late-night hours. Avanade installed Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 (or SMS 2003), part of the Windows Server System integrated server software, to solve the problem. Using the automated patch management services provided by SMS 2003, Avanade now spends 1 hour deploying each security patch, versus the 40-plus hours previously required. This represents a 4,000 percent speedup and a savings of U.S.$1,800 per patch.  SMS 2003 helps Avanade to immediately close security gaps and proactively control its IT assets. Insights provided by SMS 2003 have enabled Avanade to eliminate 10 servers and their associated management costs.

Full story: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/casestudies/CaseStudy.asp?CaseStudyID=15540