One of Canada’s largest publicly funded health care systems, manages a diverse PC fleet of approximately 13,000 desktops and 3,000 laptops, refreshed at a rate of 25% per year. A 2006 Intel vPro technology Proof of Value (POV) pilot helped the Region make a strategic shift for future PC management and software services to increase security and reduce costs. The goal was to standardize a small number of Lenovo notebooks with vPro technology and project the benefits of a system-wide program.
The result? The Region’s POV pilot has led to cost-effective changes in the organization’s production environment. By standardizing Lenovo PCs and implementing LANDesk software, the Region has taken full advantage of Intel vPro technology, including:
• Improved patch management.
• Simplified OS provisioning.
• Improved end-user and IT support productivity.
• Significantly reduced energy costs.
Calgary Health Region supports more than 100 locations and 30,000 employees.
Because vPro technology is standard on many Lenovo PCs, organizations of any size can benefit from a POV pilot to explore how vPro technology can improve security with patch management and remote access and reduce IT support and energy costs over time.
The pilot was based on the Region’s support base of 16,000 PCs, including 4,000 Intel vPro systems. The number of clients powered by Intel vPro is expected to grow by 4,000 a year for the next three years through the normal refresh cycle. Projections are based on anticipated savings as the entire PC fleet transitions to Intel vPro machines.
Improving patch management was a key objective for the Region, and implementing LANDesk software should save $110,472 a year, compared to the Region’s previous software management tool, which takes five days to deploy a patch – while updating only 70% of machines.
Leveraging its improved patch management capabilities, the Region is also reducing PC energy consumption. Lenovo PCs with Intel vPro technology and LANDesk can be powered off during non-working hours, with projected energy cost savings of $276,800 over four years.
The Region’s IT staff is also leveraging LANDesk’s tight integration with Lenovo PC’s Intel vPro technology to improve provisioning processes. By implementing bare metal OS provisioning, the Region could reduce new PC support time from 90 minutes to 5 minutes – cutting IT support costs by $101,752 and freeing staff for more critical issues.
Intel vPro technology for remote management also helps the Region’s IT support team speed diagnostics and system repairs. With this technology, the Region could save $200,697 over three years – while increasing end-user productivity by 3.4 hours per incident.
Based on the pilot, the Calgary Health Region intends to realize a positive ROI of 78%, breaking even in 27 months. Additionally, the organization plans to reduce IT support by 25,498 man-hours, and eliminate 92,774 hours of end-user downtime. These savings are gleaned from reduced repair and diagnostic time, and more efficient patch management. The Region may also cut 5,400 hours of travel time for imaging/reimaging and repair.
While the Calgary Health Region has a complex mesh of technologies, any organization can improve security and system management and reduce costs with Intel vPro on Lenovo PCs.