4.it activities one pager

INDEX

1. Inventory Management/Asset Management/Audit
2. Mail/Exchange Server Monitoring & Management
3. Backup & Restore Backup & DR Services
4. Software Deployment
5. Server Monitoring & Management
6. Standard Operating Environment (SOE)
7. Patch Management
8. Virtualization Management
9. Anti Virus Management
10. Active Directory Management
11. OS Upgrade
12. End Point Security Management
13. Hard Disk Optimization (Hard Disk Health Check)

Inventory Management/Asset Management/Audit

Definition:

Inventory Management is the process of keeping a track of assets. computers desktops and Laptops along with
software installed, network devices can be tracked and monitored periodically as a part of inventory
management.

How is it done in a real world scenario?

Each & every IT Asset information is collected manually & tracked using spread sheet like Excel.

Implication on business: (Problem & Diagnostics)

Manual data collection is always error prone. Moreover, lack of visibility into one's assets can
translate into financial loss to an organization.
Tracking software inventory, License metering is a tedious process
Lack of proper data on assets may lead to wrong purchase decisions.
Resource utilization efficiency will be low.

How is it done in Automated Managed Services?

All the Asset information is available with a single dashboard.
Any Changes in the Hardware configuration can be notified immediately.
Software information details is automatically tracked
All the Network information can be tracked automatically.

Benefits

Complete visibility on the IT
infrastructure including Hardware,
software and other devices
Tracking of AMC, warranty
information can be done automatically.
No need to manually watch for this
information.
Software inventory, effective usage of
particular software can be tracked.
Any change in hardware can be
reported immediately, so that latest
information is always available.

Mail/Exchange Server Monitoring Management

Definition

Electronic mail is probably the most mission-critical application on the Internet today. Most businesses use
email for communication with suppliers and customers - proposals, support requests, meetings are all scheduled
over email, and any downtime, non-delivery, delayed delivery of e-mail can severely impact the business. And
Mail Server/Exchange Server is responsible for uninterrupted delivery of e-mails.
Exchange Server Management is a process of managing & monitoring the health of Exchange Mail Server and
related processes to ensure uninterrupted e-mail operation for end users.


Exchange server critical services, SMTP Queue , response time and mailbox size related processes
are monitored. CPU consumption, unusual activity etc is also checked. Management of this is done
manually either by taking physical control of the Exchange Server or using Remote Control.

Since most of the exchange server issues are detected, once the issues begin to crop up & are reported
by the end users, management of exchange server heavily revolves around a break-fix activity.


Impact on business continuity because of not receiving or sending e-mails on time.
Exchange server downtime causes disruption in communication within the organization. This leads to
delays in business critical e-mails being sent and received thereby impacting an organization
negatively. A few hours of downtime can translate to a huge monetary loss, customer dissatisfaction,
as well as put majority of workforce to inconvenience
Takes long time to find the root cause of a problem & hence longer downtime.


Exchange server critical services and processes are monitored using the
Advanced Monitoring and automated remediation services. Thus, the
IT administrator can monitor for deviations in performance of
critical services, pre-set auto repair/auto remediation steps
and minimize manual intervention on the part of the system
IT administration staff.
The Exchange server is proactively monitored, Benefits
preventive steps are enforced & corrective actions are
performed automatically. For example, the Queue is
Ensures Mail/Exchange server is up and
monitored and clogs can be cleared by
functional up to 99% of the time!
automatically deleting the email that has caused
the clogs.
Increases the efficiency and uptime
which translates to valuable savings of
time and money spent in fire fighting of
email related issu User satisfaction is
very high and productivity of IT
department personnel is enhanced.

Backup & Restore Backup & DR Services

Definition

A plan for duplicating computer operations so as prepare proactively in an eventuality of data loss that can be
triggered after a catastrophe e.g. a fire outbreak or earthquake. It includes routine off-site backup as well as a
procedure for activating vital information systems in a new location.


The IT Staff ensures that critical server data is backed up onto Disk/ Tape drives. Organization critical
data that is stored on severs , shared drives and shared folders too is backed up to the Disk / Tape
Drives
Backing up of data on user computers is usually the responsibility of the users and IT administrations
involvement here if any is limited.


Absence of a centralized Administrators console leaves room for errors and there is high possibility
of the data backup process not being efficiently carried out.
Most common yet overlooked instances of data loss, damage etc that can happen in the end users
environment is not taken into consideration. And being unprepared can cause the company as well as
the end user loss of precious time, money and effort, in an eventuality the data loss or the asset is
damaged.


First and Foremost this critical activity is integrated into the Virtual Administrators console from
where the IT Administration team can have complete visibility over all IT Critical activities. Through
a highly intuitive interface, incremental backups as well as complete backups are scheduled
and made to run automatically at specific times. Offsite replication too is
scheduled and all this happens seamlessly in the background.
Backup procedures are configured to ensure that end users data is also
protected. Critical system files, registry changes, vital documents
and folders all of them are automatically backed up to ensure an
unparalleled user experience in terms of security and also
peace of mind.
Benefits

Data backup The lifeline of every
organization is tightly integrated,
completely automated and secured and is a
part of the Administrators console.

From Servers to end-users all of the data
backup activities, logging, storage, offsite
transfer and retrieval is done with minimal
stress to the IT Team and minimal risk to
the organization. Automation ensures that
errors due to human and physical
intervention are completely cut down

Software Distribution:

Definition

Installation of software is the act of putting the program onto a computer system. The requisite process varies for
each software and each computer.


The IT Staff or the user installs the software from CD, the internet, a file share etc
IT Staff actively involve themselves in getting this task done either physically or taking control of each
and every machine remotely. Both methods are break-fix.
During the installation of the software at some point or the other there will be human intervention (in 99%
cases) without which it is not possible to successfully install the application


Consistency of the entire process cannot be guaranteed. In a big organization that might mean
different version of the software is installed thereby making it difficult to maintain a consistent
software environment.
Software installation poses its own set of challenges and hurdles. Wastage in terms of time of the IT
Staff as well as the end user impact the IT organizations productivity. Other critical IT activities can
be impacted or the attention of the IT Administration might be diverted from other more critical
activities like Server Management, Backup and Disaster Recovery, Network Management etc.
Human intervention before, during and after the installation process introduces an element of
uncertainty and inconsistency to the entire installation process. For e.g. many a times certain
important features of Microsoft office are not checked during installation as a result, the same
software Installation across the organization might vary depending on which IT staff installed the
application. In large organizations Software and License keys might be compromised with.


The entire software deployment process across the organization is
automated, seamless, highly configurable yet consistent, secure and
least intrusive
Minimal involvement of IT Staff and their precious time.
Deployment is done through a central Virtual System
Administrator and can be scheduled, staggered and Benefits
managed in a multitude of ways
Copies of the Software and the Licenses are securely Huge Savings of time. Up to 90% of the
stored software installations are completely
automated and involve
minimal to zero user intervention
IT staff can concentrate on other more
important tasks.
Software consistency across the
organization, check on the number of
licenses used as well as
prevention of leakage of the same.

Server Monitoring & Management

Definition:

Servers play a very critical role in an organization. As the name implies, servers serve by providing services
and there are a variety of critical servers- Web Server, Application Servers, Mail Servers, Proxy Server, Telnet
Server to name a few. Server Monitoring & Management includes monitoring of the critical parameters of
servers like CPU, Memory Usage, related services and processes, applications, event logs, hardware parameters
etc, to ensure good server health & performance


Servers are managed using tools specifically developed for the particular type of Server. Depending
on the number of different servers in an organization the tools required to manage the servers will
also vary
When any inconsistency is noticed or a degradation in performance is noticed the IT team decides to
take a call. Else management is pretty much the same, swing into the action the minute an issue is
detected


IT acitivity related to server management is very complex and decentralization of the management
activities take a toll on the performance of both the IT Staff as well as the server.
There is a direct impact on business continuity in an eventuality of server failure or malfunction and
this can cause considerable loss to the organizaton


Server management services in the AMS provides a centralized solution- a single pane of glass to
all server specific requirements that range from monitoring processes, applications and
services to auto remediating issues, so as to mimimize the workload on system
administrators.
The AMS way guarantees that server failures will be minimized and
totally eradicated, thanks to the proactive management of services
and applications.

Benefits

Server Management will become one
integrated activity as the IT Administrators
have a central console where in they will be
able to monitor, track and manage all their
servers

Ensures more than 99% server uptime with
complete visibility into the functioning, health
and status of each and every server increases
the efficiency and uptime. Reduces the
chances of data loss & load on IT staff. User
satisfaction. High productivity of manpower.

Maintaining Standard Operating Environment (SOE)

Definition

A standard Operating Environment is of vital importance since it facilitates better manageability of the endpoints by
ensuring a consistent environment across the organization.


Since SOE encompasses a plethora of services its enforcement varies from organization to organization, however
given the nature of activity, most of SOE related tasks and enforcement require fairly high involvement of human
resources. Given below are a few activities related to enforcing SOE

Ensuring that Software version control is in place and only approved softwares are installed in the network
Enforcing security measures by manually disabling USB access, CD Drive access etc
Configuring and enforcing user restrictions
Maintaining and monitoring hardware with uniform configuration settings ( includes driver updates , Bios
upgrades etc)


Challenging task is tracking of Software versions in use and controlling software updates, to ensure that
recommended version is not automatically upgraded
User over-riding or malfunction of enforced security measures can negatively impact the organization
Highly human resource intensive
Tracking changes in hardware/software a challenging task


Recommended Software is remotely deployed and version control is enforced
Proactive monitoring 24 by 7 ensures that every security policy remains enforced and a
Breach if any, is immediately notified to the concerned administrator
Configuring and Enforcing user restrictions is a one time process, after which
it is automatically applied to all endpoints in the network
Hardware changes are immediately notified. Driver updates can be
automatically applied to all concerned endpoints.

Benefits

) Complete visibility and control over
one’s environment
Minimizes the load on the IT
Administration staff.
Significant reductions in the Total
Cost of Ownership (TCO) as well as
provides a framework for IT staff to
effectively support and implement
the company's IT fleet with minimal
end user intervention.

Patch Management

Definition

A patch is a piece of software designed to fix application related issues, update a computer program or it's
supporting data to enhance its usability and user experience. Patch management involves automating the task of
monitoring and deploying patches to ensure that all applications with patches and updates are immediately
patched.


With Microsoft centric automatic updates the onus of updating lies on the individual user alerted by pop-up
advising him to update the system. For other Software's it is a painstaking task to keep checking for new updates
and ensuring that patches are updated. It's a well known fact that less than 5 % of the users actually patches
(update) their system on regular basis.

Predominantly Microsoft Centric patching is carried out using the basic inbuilt Patch Update Service
or through a centralized patching application.
Other applications are patched more inconsistently

Implication on business: (Problem and Diagnostics)

Inconsistent patch updates are the doorway to poor system performance, security threats and
vulnerabilities. Inconsistency is primarily due to the high level of manual intervention required and
user typically avoids it.
Business critical applications and services if not patched will affect end user experience thereby
affecting productivity.


AMS ensures each and every end point is always updated with the latest patches
automatically and without any human intervention via the inbuilt patch engine.
Business critical applications and other essential software can be
automatically patched, updated and monitored to ensure consistency
across the entire organization.

Benefits

A fully compliant and patched software
environment is consistently maintained
ensuring that all the systems on the
network are secure and protected.
Business critical applications run
smoothly and efficiently, minimizing
downtime, application crashes and
enhancing user productivity.
Ensures patch (update) of other business
critical non-Microsoft software.

Virtualization Management

Definition

Virtualization Management aims at eliminating the blind spots resulting from virtualization. It enables the
system administrator to have visibility into the performance of the physical server as well access to complete
information regarding the Virtual environment that includes the number of Virtual Machines hosted, their OS,
disk and memory allocated to each of the VMs and their utilization.


Most of the Virtualization softwares have their own set of proprietary virtual management tools and
it is with these tools that Virtual Management is done. All VM Management activities are carried
out using a console that comes with the software which the IT admin needs to be logged in to.
Depending on the requirements of the organization Virtualization related investments are done and
VMs are setup to address the requirements.


Free VM management tools have limited options. And the paid ones have an interface and though
powerful doesn't address the IT Admins main concern - A central management console. Therefore
Virtualization Management can become a daunting task.
Poor visibility into ones Virtual Environment is the major reason as to why many IT Companies
either over invest and underutilize their Virtualization Servers or fail to realize that they have
inadvertently caused degradation in Virtualization Services due to improper utilization ,
configuration, allocation of resources and management of their Virtual environment/servers.


With centralized management console and a dashboard, the IT Staff will have all
information regarding the virtual environment at their fingertips.
The administrator can through Virtual System Administration Console
constantly monitor and track the performance of his Virtualization
hardware and software.
Based on the powerful dashboard, reports and console -
Capacity planning and budgeting can be effectively
executed with minimal wastage
Benefits

Efficient System Administration,
enhanced user experience, reduction in
VM performance issues, higher
availability of Virtual server are some of
the benfits of having a centralized
Virtualization Monitoring , alerting and
reporting capability, by integrating
Virtual System Administration console
with the Virtualization Management
tools that are commonly used.
Ability to also go beyond mere
virtualization and take decisions
pertaining to capacity management and
budgeting for maximizing utilization and
savings.

Antivirus Management

Definition

Involves the Installation of Antivirus software, updating the virus definition files, monitoring and scanning for
virus activity and virus signatures and most importantly being able to handle a virus issue by taking appropriate
remediation steps.


Antivirus software is installed and then either the user takes the onus of ensuring that it runs well or
management is done from a centralized antivirus console
Antivirus definition files are updated through the auto update feature of the antivirus software.
Antivirus software scanning preferences presets are used or the IT staff personally ensures that the
settings have been enforced on all the endpoints.
Infected systems are quarantined, taken off the network and what follows is a lengthy data backup,
repair and restoration process


Since this is just one another activity that the IT staff has to do - enforcing , managing and scheduling
antivirus scans is a big challenge.
Failing of auto-update and the inability of the IT Staff to track it can again compromise the endusers
system . Also disabling of certain preset settings by users for eg- On access scanning of pendrives,
media cards etc could once again expose the individual user as well as the network to security threat
The damage to the quarantined infected system and the impact of damage done cannot be easily
assessed


An integrated Centralized console makes Antivirus monitoring just one of
the other activities that the IT staff has to address. AV-Software
installations are automated and all the actions are tracked from a
central console.
Antivirus definition files are automatically updated and
tracked leaving no room for error. All of the Antivirus
software services , settings and presets are locked and
monitored. Any change is automatically reverted and Benefits
reported. Options for the user to manipulate antivirus
software settings are ruled out. Automation on this front ensures that
Infected systems would be auto-quarantined ! a lot of manual work is cut down.
Source of infection and be backtracked and Policing is also not necessary and user
Appropriate meaningful alerts would also be experience is very good.
sent to the concerned IT staff. Liberates the user and IT staff from
taking the responsibility of regularly
checking for or approving updates of
virus definition files
24x7 Monitoring rules out the
possibility of any outbreak within the
organization.

Active Directory Management

Definition

Active Directory technology is Microsoft proprietary suite of network services that helps in managing a large
Organizations network by creating and defining a structure , a hierarchy, setting roles and access rights of users
and having a centralized management console to monitor, track and manage multiple users on the AD network.
Active Directory (AD) Management is a process of running an AD and related services smoothly efficiently &
without any downtime.


AD Management includes activities like creating/deleting or enabling/disabling user accounts for
end user logon to PC. This is done either through physical access to the AD Server or through Remote
Control.
Monitoring of AD server resources and health of AD and related services running on the server.
Enforcing of end user security policy and managing the policies for the user.
Linux and Mac users would be exempted from joining Active Directory


Lack of visibility and control over AD Management.
AD downtime directly impacts the productivity of the Organization. When AD is down, affected
users will not be able to log in to the system or will face issues while working on their systems. In
such situations finding the root cause can be time consuming and could thereby impact the business
as well as user experience- thereby affecting the productivity.
Mobile users cannot be monitored or managed using Active Directory.
Users using heterogeneous OS cannot be integrated into Active Directory.


Virtual System Administrator Console tightly integrates with AD. Single Sign
on is possible for all users and every AD task can be managed from a
centralized console.
AD and related services, processes are constantly monitored and
auto-remediated leaving no room for failure.
For mobile users, auto integration into the AD and toggling
between local group policy and central AD that have Benefits
consistent rules, rights and permissions makes it easier
for the IT Admins to secure , manage and enforce Centralized Administration and
compliance. Management Console.
Users using heterogeneous OS can be made a part
of AD and single sign on can be assigned to
them. Thereby this automated tool transcends
the barriers of AD, Group Policies and even
Operating Systems.

OS Upgrade

Definition:

Once in every few years a new OS is released with newer features and functionality. OS Upgrade helps an
organization to use the existing hardware and upgrade the OS so that the newer features can be utilized for the
benefit of the organization


In real world scenario OS Upgrade is a manual process and requires high degree of human intervention. CDs or
DVDs of the new OS are used to upgrade the workstation or server from an older version to the newer version.


Upgrading OS on a few thousand systems at a time can be quite time consuming. The system administrator
needs to manually configure as well as install applications, assess the impact of the upgrade and check if the new
OS is performing well. Some or all of these activities can also directly impact the end-users time, performance
and experience.


A central Virtual System Administration Server will be instrumental in configuring as well as automating the up
gradation of the OS from a centralized location. Only those systems that are fit for the upgrade would be
upgraded and the rest would be left untouched. An OS upgrade report would give the Administrator visibility
into the Up-gradation Status

Benefits

Due to the minimal human
intervention a lot of time would be
saved and due to the intelligent up-gradation
a lot of issues due to Hardware and OS
mismatch would be proactively avoided.

End Point Security Management

Definition:

End Point Security Management encompasses the gamut of security steps and procedures that are put into place to
ensure that servers as well as workstations in a network computing environment are protected and secure


Security Management is done in a decentralized way using Active Directory, Firewall, and Content Filter etc.


Inefficient Security Management impacts servers, workstations & critical network devices sometimes causing
loss of data, data theft, vulnerability to virus and Trojan infection, intrusion attempts and also causing network &
application failures.


A central console gives the administrator the visibility and power at his fingertips to perform End to end security
management using pre defined procedures and tools to monitor, auto-remediate and enforce security policies.
Moreover these policies can be monitored, reinforced & reported for better control over devices connected and
managed over the network.

Benefits

The entire network in the organization will be
Secure and Protected. This will minimize the
workload on IT staff and maximize end user
Experience.

Hard Disk Optimization (Hard Disk Health Check)

Definition:

Hard Disk Optimization is an IT Process of improving hard disk performance significantly & keeping Hard Disk
free from physical damage.


Following are the some of the activities those are manually performed on each & every Hard Disk to keep them
healthy-

Defragment
Check for Disk Errors
Clean up Unnecessary Files and Optimize the Recycle Bin
Stop Hibernation
Convert to NTFS
Create More Space For the Master File Table
Disable Date and Time Stamp Updating


Lack of automation in Hard Disk maintenance activities introduces user intervention & slowness in the complete
optimization process which makes it very difficult for the IT Admin to manage & optimize bulk of Hard Disks.
Also tracking the status of Optimization Actions taken on the Hard Disks & reporting them is a difficult task.


In automated managed Services a Central AMS System creates & stores a set of
predefined automation instructions. Using this Automation Set it manages many
end points simultaneously to perform multiple Hard Disk optimization tasks
& track their status. This Automation Set can be scheduled to start to
minimize the end point performance issues & user intervention as
well. Since the Central AMS System tracks each & every Benefits
Performance Activity it can present the status of any activity at
any given point of time.
No User Intervention, Faster Service, No
Performance issues, Reporting & Tracking

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