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Desktop Optimization

Give faculty, staff, administrators, and students powerful desktops that are secure and easy to manage.

 

 
 
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The Optimized Desktop

You can reduce the costs associated with securing, managing, and supporting your institution’s desktop infrastructure by combining Windows 7 and the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack. Both are available to you if you have Software Assurance coverage for your desktops.

When you add powerful student and teacher tools—such as Microsoft Office OneNote, Microsoft Office Learning Essentials, and Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium—you can create optimized desktops that are customized for your education setting.

More Freedom for End-Users, Better Control for IT Pros

Nobody wants to think about the technology infrastructure that helps them be successful, whether they are running the business of the school, teaching, or learning. They just expect it to work. If a firewall blocks access to content they want, they may become frustrated with the technology and the IT department. Often, this creates tension between end-users who want access to everything and an IT department that needs greater control and manageability. Desktop optimization provides the technology you need to achieve the right balance for your institution’s desktops—from educator PCs to student labs; from the campus bookstore to the registrar’s office.

To achieve an optimized desktop, you can combine technology and practices, specific repeatable methodologies, procedures, and policies that put your technology into action. Critical to success in achieving desktop optimization is a roadmap that defines and prioritizes concrete steps to advancement. Desktop Optimization is part of the Microsoft Core Infrastructure Optimization (Core IO) model, which provides that roadmap, while Microsoft technologies and tools provide the vehicles to get you there.

Key Benefits

Desktop optimization can help you:

  • Increase productivity. Educators and students can use the university’s network while off campus.
  • Keep your data safer. Quickly deploy security patches across your desktops and use the BitLocker Drive Encryption of Windows Vista Enterprise to protect data on lost or stolen laptops.
  • Work and learn from anywhere. You can give students and employees the flexibility and rich user experience offered by a local desktop PC but with the ability to roam on and off campus, using PCs in different locations to access their own data and applications. At the same time, the IT department can ensure that data remains protected and that the computing environment remains well controlled.
  • Extend the useful life of older computers. You can make older computers part of your useful desktop infrastructure by equipping them with Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs. Even for laptops without enough RAM to run Windows Vista, you can enable end-users to connect to a Windows Vista virtual machine using the Remote Desktop Protocol. With Forefront Client Security, the older computer is better protected against viruses and spyware infecting the operating system. When users log in, they get the entire Windows Vista desktop experience.
  • Reduce IT complexity and support costs. By delivering applications from a central server, virtualization—a core component of optimizing desktops—helps to dramatically reduce the complexity of software deployment, asset management, system monitoring, and software updates.

Customer Success

Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center

By moving to Windows Vista, the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center (SVHEC) is able to provide faculty, students, and partners with desktop computers that are more secure, more stable, and easier to use. The IT staff has reduced the time required to deploy new computers from two days to two hours, reduced desktop configuration and support work, and reclaimed the 200 hours spent annually on repairing malicious software problems, for a total annual savings of about $30,000.

Next Steps

More Education Solutions

Connected Learning Communities
Managing the Institution
Dynamics Education IT
 
 
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The following Microsoft partners offer Core Infrastructure Optimization solutions for education:

Ascentium Corporation

(425) 519-7700
Ascentium Corporation is an award-winning, integrated technology and marketing consultancy with a proven track-record in delivering information-driven business solutions to achieve the strategic objectives of their clients. Ascentium developed information-driven business solutions based on Microsoft technology and development platforms. Ascentium partners and employees offer clients the benefit of decades of experience in business strategy, application development, Web development, and integrated marketing.

Avanade

(206) 239-5600
Avanade has the business expertise, technology, and assets to help your IT team create a dynamic computing model that is flexible, scalable, secure, and efficient, enabling you to unleash your full business potential. Our Microsoft-based infrastructure solutions maximize your existing investments, including line-of-business applications, while delivering an integrated, secure, and fully managed way of providing data-center solutions and application services.

CDW Berbee

(888) 888-8835
Our clients continue to look for ways to reduce the cost and complexity of their computing infrastructure so financial resources and personnel are freed up for more strategic initiatives. CDW Berbee’s holistic approach to Virtualization and Optimization is unique, covering servers, storage and the network. Using proven methodologies, we provide solutions and expertise to help reduce the cost and complexity of computing infrastructure through server and storage virtualization.

BVA Inc.

(602) 307-1800
BVA has been working with clients both small and large to realize the value of their technology investments. We can supplement the expertise and lighten the workloads of your existing IT staff or be your third-party IT department if you do not have one internally. From emergency support to proactive visits to professional consulting services, we offer all the resources an organization needs to get the most out of technology.

CorpInfo

(310) 442-3232
CorpInfo’s Microsoft Practice is committed to optimizing Microsoft technologies with the goal of developing dynamic systems—reliable, secure, manageable, and responsive. We support this goal with our proven and mature program management methodology that fully leverages the Microsoft Solutions Framework. CorpInfo understands the challenge our clients face in identifying and planning for changing technology while supporting daily operations. To help meet this challenge, we offer Infrastructure Optimization Solutions across the entire IT life cycle: planning, readiness, implementation and operations.

Fujitsu Ltd.

(888) FUJITSU (385-4878)
Fujitsu is a leading provider of customer-focused information technology and communications solutions for the global marketplace. Pace-setting device technologies, highly reliable computing and communications products, and a worldwide corps of systems and services experts uniquely position us to deliver comprehensive solutions that open up infinite possibilities for our customers' success.

Hitachi Consulting

(214) 665-7039
Hitachi Consulting has been implementing Microsoft-based solutions since 1995 and has experience with a broad range of solutions on the Microsoft platform. Our experience has helped customers deploy valuable solutions that leverage their investment in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Developer tools and Microsoft Windows Server system applications. Our proprietary methodologies and frameworks and our Gold Certified Partnership enable clients to shorten their development cycle, reduce project risk, increase the effectiveness of their internal staff and enhance their investment in Microsoft technologies.

Idea Integration

(800) idea.com (433-2266)
Idea Integration is an e-business consulting and systems integration solutions provider serving Fortune 1000 companies, government, and middle-market clients. Specializing in information management solutions, integrated e-business solutions, business intelligence and data warehousing, portal solutions, Web design and development, mobile solutions and enterprise resource management, Idea delivers high-return business applications for its clients. Idea has fortified its public sector practice utilizing Microsoft solutions to address security, messaging, business process management, and infrastructure optimization.

Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc

(217) 793-3800
Focused on technology, LRS IT Solutions is committed to our clients, and backed by a financially strong company. We have the flexibility to offer the best solution for individual customers' needs. Our domain expertise coupled with strong technology skills, backed by certifications and many years of experience, sets us apart. LRS has the personnel, experience, and willingness to work with our customers toward IT Optimization.

Peters & Associates

(630) 832-0075
Peters & Associates can help you deliver the most value from your infrastructure. In order to achieve a sustained improvement in their IT infrastructure, Peters & Associates will help you take a longer term strategic view of IT infrastructure maturity and link these capabilities and maturity improvements to your needs and overall IT strategy.

Seitel Leeds & Associates

(206) 283-4355
Seitel Leeds & Associates is a Seattle-based firm that helps customers achieve IT Operational Excellence with a focused set of engineering, security, and service management services. We apply rigorous engineering methods to the planning, design, implementation and operation of highly secure and reliable systems utilizing Microsoft’s Advanced Infrastructure and Security Solutions. We help our customers effectively and efficiently organize and operate their infrastructure by providing training and consulting using the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), as well as implementation management of supporting tools. We help customers secure their assets and meet regulatory compliance and audit requirements.

Sogeti USA

(800) 899-9849
As one of a handful of Microsoft Global Systems Integrator partners, Sogeti specializes in implementing Microsoft-based technology solutions that improve organizational processes and performance, including .NET Application Transformation, Information Management, Collaboration & Productivity, Infrastructure Transformation, Enterprise Project Management, and Enterprise Business Solutions. Sogeti’s Public Sector Practice provides expertise in delivering solutions are built upon proven and repeatable service offerings, based on industry best practices, and coupled with public sector know-how to help tackle the unique challenges faced by educational institutions.

SyCom

(888) TO SYCOM (867-9266)
SyCom Technologies is a network infrastructure company focused on providing technical expertise and services for multi-platform, multi-vendor networks to organizations ranging from mid-sized to Fortune 1000. SyCom has the expertise to help you put in place the technology that can effectively meet your Unified Communications needs.

Find a partner

Search for partners in the Microsoft Public Sector Partner Solution MarketPlace, a one-stop Web site for finding technology partners that offer a broad range of products, services, and solutions based on Microsoft technologies. The directory includes packaged software, solutions offerings, and training from Microsoft Gold Certified Partners, Microsoft Certified Partners, and registered members.

 
 

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