K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management Best Practices and Considerations for K12 IT Professionals
K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management. Managing Computer Deployments for Education.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management Introduction ..................................................................................................................3 Cross-Platform Challenges ....................................................................................... 4 Compliance .....................................................................................................................................4 Security .............................................................................................................................................4 Challenges .................................................................................................................... 4 Systems Deployment.....................................................................................................................4 Ongoing Systems Management..................................................................................................5 Systems Management Best Practices.......................................................................5 Cross Platform Systems Management.......................................................................................5 Optimize the Entire Systems Management Lifecycle .............................................................5 Centralized, Policy Based Management....................................................................................6 Purchase Considerations............................................................................................7 Total Cost of Ownership .............................................................................................................. 7 Single User Interface with Web-Based Flexibility ....................................................................8 Extra Training ..................................................................................................................................8 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 9
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K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management. Managing Computer Deployments for Education.
Introduction As an IT professional in K12, your work involves the deployment and ongoing management of multi-platform computing environments—whether it’s for a single elementary school or an entire school district spread across a wide geographical area. In addition to the ongoing security challenge, there is a need to deal with the fast pace with which software titles, devices and operating systems are updated. Many schools find themselves overwhelmed with the maintenance of existing systems, let alone dealing with innovative teaching practices that involve the rollout of new student computing programs. Automating and centralizing systems management is one way of reclaiming time and cost taken up by outdated or manual IT practices. This paper deals with the challenges and best practices for introducing an automated systems management solution in a distributed cross-platform education environment.
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K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management. Managing Computer Deployments for Education.
Cross-Platform Challenges Standardizing on a single operating system is simply not an option for many educational institutions. With the prevalence of mixed Windows® and Macintosh® environments, IT administrators are already dealing with a multiple-OS teaching and learning environment.
Compliance Schools need to ensure that all machines on their network, regardless of platform, are compliant with license and regulatory standards. Being unaware of what software is installed and being used within your school can result in multiple layers of exposure, both fiscally and from the standpoint of overall network security and control. Understanding the correlation between license agreements and installed software is critical, as is the knowledge of unauthorized programs, including games and peer-topeer programs, which can wreak havoc across an entire network. Manually completing internal software audits for compliance is difficult and time-consuming for a variety of reasons, including lax or changing vendor policies that can be confusing and complex, a disconnect between procurement and the IT department that leads to inappropriate use, or the presence of unauthorized software.
Security Schools face a number of security hurdles with their network. There is a need to protect students from accessing harmful content through an Internet that is open and unregulated. Internally, schools host confidential student, faculty and staff personal data. Attacks or vulnerabilities over the network can come from a variety of internal and external sources. These can range from students installing peer-to-peer (P2P) applications, poorly managed user-access, to teenage computer whizzes looking for a challenge. It only takes one vulnerable system to compromise an entire network, and viruses, malware, and spyware can attack endpoint systems at any point.
Deployment Challenges While the case can be made for centralized systems management, finding an effective solution is easier said than done. IT administrators should be cognizant of whether a solution can help them clear the following hurdles:
Systems Deployment Traditionally, deployment processes have involved separate installation steps each performed independently by support staff personnel on each required system. This process is inherently inefficient as the time necessary to systematically and repeatedly perform deployment tasks consumes a great deal of support staff time that would better be utilized improving IT performance and ensuring IT value to the school. The fact that these processes are implemented manually introduces the likelihood of mistakes associated with human error, which only enhances the burden on support
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K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management. Managing Computer Deployments for Education.
personnel who must then investigate and resolve problems accidentally introduced during deployment. Key to the success of any modern day deployment strategy is the utilization of advanced tools that simplify a wide range of common IT administrative chores by providing centralized interfaces across different platforms for organizing critical data about the IT infrastructure and automating repeatable deployment tasks.
Ongoing Systems Management Now more than ever, systems management professionals in schools are charged with doing more with less. These systems administrators are faced with virtually the same challenges as their counterparts in larger universities or even corporate organizations, but without the number of support staff, specialized skills sets and larger budgets that a larger organization can afford. Time spent “fire fighting” across a variety of systems management disciplines, as well as the need to perform labor intensive manual chores, leaves little extra time to proactively tackle other strategic initiatives such as performance improvements or root cause analysis. These individuals are frequently stretched thin, as many are often single handedly responsible for accomplishing the bulk of the tasks necessary to achieve the IT stability critical to keeping IT running. After the initial deployment of operating systems and relevant applications, endpoint devices require ongoing systems management. Administrators need to distribute patches and software, assess inventory, and access machines remotely in the most efficient way possible to optimize the entire systems management lifecycle. Most schools simply can’t afford deep expertise in each platform they support and an IT generalist is dealing with systems management responsibilities.
Systems Management Best Practices The sheer number of cross platform systems management challenges makes it essential that IT administrators become familiar with systems management best practices for each platform that they support.
Cross Platform Systems Management It’s essential that IT administrators use a centralized tool that supports all of the education community platforms seamlessly. There are a number of solutions on the market that manage one platform well, but that’s all they do. These pure-play solutions can’t handle other platforms, requiring organizations to deploy separate systems management solutions for each platform, which increases infrastructure and training costs. Larger organizations, in a similar position, go so far as to have different IT teams to manage each platform. Having two separate management systems limits an organization’s flexibility to utilize administrators effectively and makes coordinating changes and application updates across platforms much more difficult.
Optimize the Entire Systems Management Lifecycle The entire systems management lifecycle consists of a number of important steps from initial operating system deployment and management, all the way to ongoing
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K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management. Managing Computer Deployments for Education.
maintenance and retirement. An ideal cross-platform systems management solution should optimize the key elements of the systems deployment lifecycle, while providing full support across platforms. Best Practice
Key Criteria
Desktop and Server Deployment
Simple, centralized network operating system installation. Manage images from a central library. Extensive deployment customization without recapturing images. Eliminate need for hardware and software prerequisites (i.e. Apple Xserve).
Hardware and Software Inventory
Assess current inventory efficiently and regularly. Minimize bandwidth consumption during inventory queries.
Centralized Software Deployment
Deploy software for all platforms from a single console. Learn from platform experts via an integrated systems management community such as AppDeploy. Deploy appropriate software dynamically as new systems are brought on line. Provision machines on headquarter and remote networks.
OS and Application Patching
Configure and schedule patches across platforms. Deploy patches to both headquarter and remote networks.
Configuration Management
Standardize power management and desktop settings. Enforce application security settings (i.e. browser security, firewalls, virus scans).
Self-Service User Portal
Allow end users to download approved software on-demand.
Remote Site Support
Provide convenience of centralized management. Leverage performance of a local network.
Device Discovery
Discover machines connected to the school network.
Reporting and Dashboards
Assess network at a high-level through graphical dashboards. Generate audit reports for baseline configuration compliance. Monitor network in depth through customized reports.
Centralized, Policy Based Management Centralized, policy based systems management allows you to execute key systems management and deployment activity from an integrated library based on pre-defined policies. This proactive approach dramatically reduces the cost and complexity of systems management versus manual and reactive break-fix models. First, manual methods result in assets such as images and scripts being stored in several different locations, both on servers and on removable media. Some organizations prefer to group assets separately by operating system. This makes it
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K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management. Managing Computer Deployments for Education.
difficult for an organization to manage assets, and can result in an out-of-date or incorrect asset being applied to a system. A centralized library allows schools to effectively archive and manage assets and helps ensure that the right one is always applied – increasing success rates and reducing user down time. Secondly, manual provisioning may not be able to effectively manage systems in remote locations. Centralized management allows administrators to manage machines on both local and remote networks, saving machine shipping and support personnel travel costs. Additionally, manual management and provisioning often requires administrators to physically visit the desks of end users in order to control and repair them. Centralized provisioning tools often include remote control and recovery capabilities, allowing you to quickly and efficiently control, recover and re-deploy systems that failed upon initial deployment. Ideally, machines should boot into the recovery environment over the network through PXE or Netboot services, allowing all platforms to be provisioned from one central location. A solution that features an easy-to-use interface, without the necessity for complicated syntax commands allows administrators of all skill levels to execute remote control and recovery using integrated, native OS tools: Windows or Mac. Lastly, policy based systems management allows you to dynamically deploy software, enforce computer settings and install patches based on any hardware, software, user or network characteristic such as computer location, department or operating system. It might make sense to execute certain actions based on geography or based on the state of a machine, such as those that have newly received images. Effective cross-platform management allows software deployment, configuration, and patching to be managed through policies across multiple platforms.
Purchase Considerations The analysis of cross-platform systems management solutions should include the following comparison points.
Total Cost of Ownership In addition to the initial cost of the solution make sure to take into account: •
Recurring software license fees (i.e. Windows Server licenses, SQL Server licenses)
•
Professional services to install and maintain solution
•
Hardware and software prerequisites
•
Labor costs for deployment, implementation and ongoing maintenance activities
•
Costs for training, including travel and time away from the job
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K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management. Managing Computer Deployments for Education.
Single User Interface with Web-Based Flexibility Administrators need a single user interface (UI) to manage endpoint systems. Separate UI’s result in disjointed support, making it difficult to enforce security and compliance with policies and standards. A single UI allows administrators to assess, manage, and deploy to their network from a single location. While a single UI is essential for management reliability, it’s important for the UI to be accessible from anywhere. A comprehensive browser-based UI, with all functions available, allows administrators to execute systems management functionality regardless of their location. Furthermore, administrators can bypass the need to install heavy console clients with a browser-based solution.
Extra Training Systems Management features such as software distribution, patching, and imaging should work the same irrespective of platform. Otherwise, organizations will need to invest in training administrators in a separate skill set. Minimizing extra training breaks down a key barrier that tends to prevent organizations from adopting multiple platforms in their networks. An easy-to-use solution will allow administrators of all skill levels to execute systems management functions.
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K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management. Managing Computer Deployments for Education.
Conclusion K12 IT professionals with limited resources often face difficult problems in managing ever-growing networks of cross-platform computers. IT teams must keep systems running, meet license compliance requirements, keep computers and networks in service for learning and protect against malware—even on student or teacher-owned computers IT doesn’t control. IT Professionals have an opportunity to improve their cost-effectiveness and reduce the time taken up by automating systems management by considering the following best-practices when making a vendor choice for cross-platform systems management: •
Integrated compliance and security,
•
Effective systems management and deployment,
•
Centralized control of the management lifecycle,
•
Policy based management,
•
Clear TCO and,
•
Ease of management with minimal training for IT staff.
Our vision is to provide an appliance-based approach to systems management, to save time for systems administration professionals, while saving money for their schools. Dell KACE is a leader in cross-platform systems management and delivers easy-to-use, comprehensive systems management capabilities.
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K12 Cross-Platform Systems Management. Managing Computer Deployments for Education.
About Dell KACE™ Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) creates, enhances and integrates technology and services customers count on to provide them reliable, long-term value. Dell provides systemmanagement solutions for customers of all sizes and system complexity. The awardwinning Dell KACE family of appliances delivers easy-to-use, comprehensive, and affordable systems management capabilities. For more information, visit www.dellkace.com or follow the conversation at http://twitter.com/DellKACE. To learn more about Dell KACE and its product offerings, please visit http://www.kace.com or call 1-877-MGMT-DONE. Related K12 Education and Dell Kace Links: • Battle Ground Academy http://www.kace.com/resources/Battle-Ground-Academy • Pueblo School District 70 http://www.kace.com/resources/Pueblo-School-District-70 • Academy School District 20 http://www.kace.com/resources/Academy-School-District-20 • Dell KACE Management Appliances http://www.kace.com/products/systemsmanagement-appliance/index.php • Dell KACE Deployment Appliances http://www.kace.com/products/systems-deployment-appliance/index.php • Cross Platform Management http://www.kace.com/solutions/cross-platform-management.php
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