EDS and Dell unite to help manage desktops
ROUND ROCK, TEXAS (05/21/2001) - Dell Computer Corp. and Electronic Data Systems Corp. last week announced they are joining forces with a new "seat management" offering designed to help firms avoid managing desktops by the seats of their pants.
Customers buying Dell OptiPlex PCs, Latitude notebooks and Precision workstations can now sign on for the Dell Seat Management Service, which entails planning, procurement, integration, asset management, software distribution, help desk, and hardware and software maintenance services.
The service is designed for companies with 1,000 to 10,000 Dell computer users. Dell says demand for such a service has increased in light of IT staffers getting harder to come by.
The service will give end users and network administrators access to a toll-free number or a customized Web portal to receive help configuring new printer queues; installing Microsoft Office applications; adding, moving or configuring new workstations; fixing troublesome workstations; and dispatching on-site service, among other things. If the issue cannot be solved remotely, a Dell or EDS technician will be dispatched to the customer site.
Outsourced desktop management is attracting corporate customers because they like the idea of charges being tied to the number of desktops being managed, says Rob Enderle, research fellow for Giga Information Group Inc. Among other things, this practice helps companies charge back departments for IS services, he says. It also lets companies redeploy IS staff to more strategic initiatives, he adds.
Gartner Group Inc. estimates the total cost per ownership of a desktop PC can be US$7,500 per year, with 88 percent of that cost to cover operations, management and support.
The Dell Seat Management Service costs $70 to $90 per user per month.
Dell: www.dell.com
» posted by ITworld staff
Network World
Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Backup Exec System Recovery 8 deliver industry leading Windows data protection and system recovery. Download this whitepaper to find out the top reasons to upgrade and how to get continuous data protection and complete system recovery.
Data and system loss — from a hard drive failure, malicious attack, natural disaster, or simple human error — can happen anytime. Don’t leave your business vulnerable. Make sure you have a secure recovery strategy in place. Symantec's latest backup and system recovery technology can efficiently restore critical applications, individual emails and documents and even restore your entire system in minutes in the event of a loss.
Businesses face a growing challenge to ensure that the IT environment is properly protected. Backup Exec 12 integrates with other applications in the Symantec family of products, to complement your current data protection strategy, keep your data securely backed up and make it recoverable when you need it most.
