When I worked for a big three-letter acronym company, we had people who would do nothing other than worry about managing client PCs. They used big expensive enterprise-level tools to do it… we’re talking over 6 figures for hardware/software each year, plus the salaries of the people involved. As I’ve talked to people working in smaller shops, that isn’t a realistic figure for PC management.
I see that at least one company, called SecureMyCompany, is offering a Managed Services Software solution that’s affordable for smaller shops. They offer PC security and management software, including the ability to push software patches, as well as McAfee’s security and anti-virus products. Instead of six figures, we’re talking single-digit figures per PC per month. It definitely sounds like a reasonable approach for a smaller IT group that wants to keep on top of things without breaking the bank.
