An Asia Pacific Bank

In 2011, the Environmental team for this Asia Pacific bank asked IT staff to help reduce the bank’s carbon footprint. With IT departments often viewed as cost centers, the IT team saw it as an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of effective systems management.

IT staff had just deployed IBM Endpoint Manager software to help improve patch management and software distribution processes. Power management was next on the list as user PCs often were left on during non-business hours so IT staff could distribute anti-virus updates, software patches, and application enhancements.

A 25 percent reduction in power usage in four months
In deploying power management capabilities, IT staff had to confirm that there would be no negative impact to the business or end users. This included the application of power management policies that would exclude certain workstations and wake up PCs prior to the start of the day.

Savings during the first four months of the project reached more than USD41,000. The environmental impact was equal to planting 106 trees. As the organization refines power management policies, it projects annual savings to reach USD175,000 and the carbon footprint reduction equivalent to the removal of 390 cars from the road.

Efficient patch management and software distribution
Power management isn’t the only area in which the bank is realizing savings.

Previously, the organization used various technologies to address software asset and patch management, none of which fully met its needs. Endpoint reporting was difficult, and even after several deployment attempts, IT staff could only achieve 90 percent compliance in terms of patch management.

IBM Endpoint Manager software changed this.

The bank’s IT staff can now immediately see if an endpoint isn’t in compliance. The organization also has achieved 99.99 percent compliance in terms of patch management.

Greater visibility into patch compliance and a higher success rate are helping the systems management team confirm security compliance.

Likewise, the team can more quickly deploy new software packages. For example, with IBM Endpoint Manager software, the IT team successfully deployed an uninstallation package to 500 machines within two minutes. This process previously took two to three hours to complete.

The organization is now ‘decommissioning’ its former software distribution and patch management products. Once this occurs, one system manager will be freed to focus on new projects.

Managing ATMs, mobile devices and more
IBM Endpoint Manager also enables staff to centrally manage a diverse set of endpoints. This includes Macintosh PCs, Microsoft Windows PCs and servers, Linux systems, ATMs and mobile devices.

The bank was able to rapidly deploy IBM Endpoint Manager software. Within approximately three days, IT staff installed the main infrastructure. Within approximately two weeks, the organization deployed the intelligent agent. And because of the flexibility of this single agent, the team hasn’t had to make configuration changes. It can simply activate new IBM Endpoint Manager capabilities.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
To learn more about IBM endpoint management solutions, please contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit the following website: ibm.com/tivoli/endpoint