Summary
Edlund used an automated client management system from Microsoft, but because of the complexity of the system, external consultants were used in a wide scale every time changes in the system were required. Edlund chose to migrate to EasyInstall to get a simpler system, so that their own IT department to a large extent would be able to maintain the client management system themselves. Edlunds target of migration were to:
• Reducer costs for external consultants
• Save time
• Get a simpler system
• Get a more agile infrastructure
• Get a tool for future maintenance of PC clients
Customer Profile
Edlund A/S is a dynamic & modern software company with more than 200 employees – widely represented in the Danish market, especialy in the insurance and pension industry. Edlund A/S develops IT systems for the insurance and pension industry in the form of products Liv.Net ®, INPAS and Unitlink.Net ®. Edlund won the Gazelle Award 2010 and is a well-run consulting firm that is under continuous expansion.
The challenge
Edlund A/S is a software development company which has a constant challenge to deliver custom applications to its users quickly and efficiently. Applications such as C++, C#, SQL Server, Visual Studio, etc. are just some of the requirements; the IT department were met with from the developers. For over a year, the IT department had used Microsoft SCCM, but the product’s complexity meant that the IT department often had to hire external consultants to create new jobs in SCCM. Besides being costly, the IT department lost most of all the agility. The reaction time to business needs and requirements were too low.
The method
In a “proof of concept” EasyInstall was installed and selected applications and operating systems were moved from SCCM to EasyInstall. EasyInstall was held it up against the use of SCCM and an evaluation was made. Edlund were heavily involved in this stage to challenge the use of EasyInstall and through optimizing their use of the system.
The solution
EasyInstall was installed on a virtual Windows Server and EasyInstall agents were placed on all PCs so that application packages could be installed, re-installed and uninstalled. IXP Data started to move existing applications from SCCM in close cooperation with Edlund. Next, it developed new packages, for example, SQL Server and Visual Studio. Edlund is growing rapidly and has a large influx of new employees. This means that there is regularly purchased new PCs with the result that Edlund has many different PC models. The challenge of ensuring drivers for many models during installation was solved by IXP Data by using the PC manufacturer’s tool for downloading drivers. EasyInstall then uses these drivers during the installation of the PCs.
Customer Opinion
“We used Microsoft SCCM for more than a year, but without getting the necessary confidence with the tool. SCCM is no doubt a great tool, but the size of this company means that EasyInstall is more optimal and above all easier to use. Only 2 months after the implementation of EasyInstall 80% of the tasks we need are in place. It is not only beneficial for the economy, but also for the speed with which we can act, when business requirements change.” – Says the IT manager.
Business Case
When Edlund purchases new PCs, with EasyInstall it only takes a few hours to mature the PC for use. Earlier it required external consultants and could take weeks. Re-installation and maintenance of PCs is also faster, and saving the IT function valuable time and users are quickly set to work. In all it enables Edlund to respond more quickly to market conditions and the demands that the organization from a commercial point of view can expect from the IT function. As the use of external consultants has been reduced considerably the migration project repaid within 6 months.
Components
• Servers
• Windows Server and SQL
• Notebook and desktop PCs
• Microsoft Windows Professional
• Various applications
• Remote Control (directly integrated into EasyInstall)
• EasyInstall
Company Profile
The company was founded by automobile dealers Jorgen Nielsen, who in the late four ties created a car and truck business in Ringsted. After some time with different brands, in 1969 VOLVO appeared on the front sign.
In 1988 employees took over the company which was the turning point that has brought the company to where it is today.
As part of the renewal we changed the name to “TITAN” in 1989.
Titan has given its name to the very strong and light metal ‘titanium’, and according to Greek mythology a ‘Titan’, is one who holds the firmament in his strong arms.
It was therefore natural for Volvo to choose the name “TITAN” for the strongest version of the L495 models (the first truck equipped with turbo), as these were introduced in the middle of the sixties. Just as natural it was to use the “TITAN” name as a new corporate identity for the company to signal lightness and strength in the relationship with Volvo. In 2001, Titan discontinued to sell cars and solely concentrated on core business: Sales and service of trucks.
The Challenge
Titan Trucks has for the past years worked with other solutions for deployment of 3.parts patches without actually managing to create a functional environment as well as a reasonable overview of the status.
Customer Opinion
We acquired EasyInstall / EasyPacks primarily for handling 3.parts patches.
Soon we saw that EasyInstall with Easy Packs gave us an unrivalled status overview and a great flexibility.
EasyPacks means that we now have 100% control over what ends up with the individual clients.
The enthusiasm for EasyInstall with EasyPacks meant that we now use EasyInstall for OS deployment and distribution of virtually all applications.
It simply does not get any better!
It is a pleasure to use such a well thought tool, and we can for the first time in many years, with a clear conscience say that we have mastered the patching of all applications in our company.
When we simultaneously experience a support that cannot be found better, then there is no longer any doubt;
EasyInstall with EasyPack is the future tool for us.
The best recommendations.
Summary
We had a Microsoft SCCM environment, and before that the Microsoft SMS.
Company Profile
As a vocational EUC Nord has a unique position in Northern Jutland. In a region with many exciting challenges we help to lift a large training task, offering education to youth and adults in order to match the needs of the society we face.
It is a great task that requires many skills in a great many areas. And it requires a steady hand when navigating between ministries, businesses and people with a thirst for knowledge. We offer training in Frederikshavn and Hjørring as well.
On a yearly basis we have approximately 7,500 different students and pupils, corresponding to 2,500 full time students. Educationally, we cover an incredibly wide range:
• Technical and commercial training
• Technical High School – HTX
• Business College – hhx
• Continuing education for adults
• Training
The Challenge
WWe were facing a Microsoft SCCM upgrade due to the rollout of latest Windows version.
We had a desire to manage client PCs from two domains from the same console.
We went into the market to look for alternatives that were easier to manage and operate for our support team.
Customer Opinion
Among several suppliers we chose EasyInstall from IXP Data.
Our choice of the EasyInstall platform was based on the desire that ALL employees in the IT department should be able to manage the tasks that occur with client PCs (new installation, installation, imposition of other packages).
Tasks that only the Microsoft SCCM responsible could execute before, is now carried out by the entier support team.
Only setup and setup changes has remained with the system operator.
Working with client PCs has improwed by:
• EasyInstall is much more user-friendly and a lot less complicated than Microsoft SCCM.
• The fact that everyday tasks can be handled by multiple hands.
• It is easy to distribute one or more programs to a PC or group of PCs.
• A large selection of packages from Easy Packs.
• Easy import of new packages.
• Easy upgrade of EasyInstall.
Finally, support from IXP Data is first class.
An e-mail is usually enough, but otherwise issues can be solved by a TeamViewer session.
Summary
Danish Cancer Society implemented EasyInstall and used EasyInstall to upgrade all computers to newest Windows and Office.
Customer Profile
Danish Cancer Society’s’ aims are to prevent the development of cancer, improve patients’ chances of successful recovery and limit the physical, psychological and social side-effects of cancer. Danish Cancer Society has approx. 900 employees and has more than 30,000 volunteers. Danish Cancer Society has, in addition to the main office in the East of Copenhagen, 15 area offices / cancer counseling centers across the country.
The Challenge
Danish Cancer Society had an autonomous PC installation that was manually installed and maintained through manual processes. With an installation of more than 650 PCs meant that there were 2 permanent employees engaged in maintaining the existing platform. The large volume of work, which amounted maintenance made it difficult to achieve the development of the platform simultaneously. Some PC clients in Danish Cancer Society is also subject to strict demands of maintenance and documentation, as they are connected to measuring equipment, and there for using special software, that’s why an manual installation change was not possible.
The Method
Danish Cancer Society had a great desire to standardize and especially efficient the way in which PC clients in the organization was handled. They had already some experience with other deployment tools and were looking for a new dynamic and intuitive deployment tool. EasyInstall fulfilled the wishes and requirements Danish Cancer Society had for such tool. A solution responsible person was found and after a short workshop course, quickly got familiar with EasyInstall, and has now the ongoing operation of EasyInstall.
The Solution
IXP Datas presentations to the Danish Cancer Society suggested an implementation of EasyInstall. EasyInstall gives the possible to deploy or redeploy both Windows and the applications, and handle the ongoing maintenance of PCs. EasyInstall can from a central console on an IT employee’s PC control deployment, redeployment or un-installation of applications on any PC in the environment, whether these computers are on the LAN or WAN. Before any redeployment of a PC, EasyInstall takes a backup of user data and after redeployment completes, all user date and settings are restored. After the implementation of EasyInstall, the IT department had about 4 hours of EasyInstall training. EasyInstall is also used to continuously update applications such as Adobe Reader, Oracle Java and Adobe Flash.
Customer Opinion
“I quickly became excited about EasyInstall. I have previously worked with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), but EasyInstall can everything we need and is much more intuitive and simpler to use. With a brief introduction, we can now leave the management console to a new employee in our IT support, which is very important for flexibility in the department. Our service has increased significantly in relation to user inquiries regarding PC and software installation. In addition to having been a very good management tool for PCs, we now also have a standardized platform where we quickly have the opportunity to make changes centrally. It can be difficult for an organization like ours, to measure the economic value of this, but it is important for us and especially our users. We are especially happy with the EasyInstall Self Service Portal, it means that the users themselves choose an application from a list, after which EasyInstall installs it completely without involving our HelpDesk.” – says the IT manager.
Business Case
Danish Cancer Society has achieved significant savings in time using the installation and maintenance of PC clients. The significant increase in service quality has led to happier and more efficient users, significantly in an organization that is knowledge intensive and producing. The way to handle the PCs has made it more exciting to deal with the daily tasks in the IT department.
Components
• Laptop and desktop PCs
• Microsoft Windows Professional and Office Professional
• About 50 special applications
• EasyInstall
Lynettefællesskabet replaces application deployment from using Microsoft Group Policies with EasyInstall and standardizes administration of PC clients.
Summary
Lynettefællesskabet chose to standardize its PC installation using EasyInstall and got a comprehensive insight into the PC platform, both in terms of hardware and software. The previous use of deployment through Group Policies and ownscripts gave no information about the application installation on the PCs. IT department could not in an easy way see if the application were really installed successfully, and if it were installed on all PCs, how long the installation took etc.
Customer Profile
Lynettefællesskabet is Denmark’s largest wastewater facility. Each year, the company cleans 80-110 million. m3 of water from private households, business and industry, and precipitation, which is equivalent to the pollution from 1.1 million. people. All the water is cleaned at the two wastewater treatment plants Lynetten and Damhusåen, by Lynettefællesskabet owns and operates. Lynettefællesskabet is owned by the 8municipalities Frederiksberg, Gentofte, Gladsaxe, Herlev, Hvidovre, København,Lyngby-Taarbæk and Rødovre.
The Challenge
Lynettefællesskabet has approx. 100 IT users and IT department consisting of 2 employees. The challenge for the IT department was that they used the Group Policy in connection with application deployment. Thus they had no immediate information about which applications were installed on the computers, if the installation went well or how long it had taken. Since they also faced having to install new PCs, was a desire to have a tool that could automate the deployment process, while ensuring a standardization of the installation. Overall, the IT department wanted to reduce delays in administration of PC clients in order to allocate resources to other, more forward-looking tasks.
The Method
IXP Data implemented EasyInstall, and in a workshop course was Lynettefællesskabets existing application packages that had been rolled out through Group Policies, moved to EasyInstall. At the same time, it was assessed on what applications the IT department wanted License Metering which also provided the opportunity to measure whether the installed applications were actually used by users.
The Solution
EasyInstall was installed on a virtual Windows Server 2008 R2and EasyInstall agents were installed on all PCs so that both operating systems and application packages could be installed, re-installed and uninstalled. WhenLynettefællesskabet shortly after the implementation of EasyInstall got newcomputers, then EasyInstall’s Driver Collect function was used collect thelatest drivers before EasyInstall was used to do a Bare Metal Installation ofnew PCs. The built-in Remote Control in EasyInstall came into use andLynettefællesskabets existing TeamViewer became subject to direct integration into EasyInstall.
EasyInstall also allows making a complete backup of a user profile on the old PC and a restore can take place on a new PC or on the same PC for re-installation.
EasyInstall can also be used to continuously update applications like Adobe Reader, Java and Adobe Flash.
Customer Opinion
“When we got a presentation of EasyInstall, we were impressed that things could be SO simple and efficient, we had still not dared hope for. We had looked at other systems, but they seemed needlessly complex, making them unsuitable for an IT department with 2 people. Administering EasyInstall we learned in under an hour. Time is indeed a scarce resource – including the IT department at Lynettefællesskabet. It was the Alpha and Omega to find a solution that was simple and easy to administer, but nevertheless sufficient for its functionality. Therefore, I was amazed at the diversity of information that can be viewed from the system. We use it for example to get a full overview of our hardware and software. EasyInstall was the right choice for us and therefore can only recommend it” – Says the IT manager.
Business Case
Lynettefællesskabet has gained great advantages by minimizing the time required for new and reinstall of the many PCs, and ensured a homogenization of installation processes. Where you previously spent several hours trying to install a PC, this can now be solved in 30 minutes. EasyInstall also gives the opportunity to see the installed applications are actually used.It gives Lynettefællesskabet an opportunity to uninstall software that is not used. The potential of this saving is not known at the moment but is estimated to amount to an average of DKK 500 per PC per. year.
Components
• Laptops and Desktops
• Microsoft Windows Enterprise
• Various applications
• TeamViewer (directly integrated into EasyInstall)
• EasyInstall
Akademikernes A-kasse AAK (Graduates’ unemployment fund) chooses EasyInstall as a tool for central administration of all PC clients, and upgrades at the same time to latest Windows version.
Summary
AAK should standardize and upgrade their clients to Windows 7 and decided to use EasyInstall to:
• Save time
• Get a uniform installation
• Get a tool for subsequent Remote Control
• Get a tool for future maintenance of PC clients
Customer Profile
AAK is the largest unemployment fund for graduates with more than 95,000 members, including self-employed and employees from public and private sectors as well as students from universities and colleges. The IT installation includes more than 100 internal IT users and a number of PCs, that can be used by members for example in connection with courses or job search.
The Challenge
AAK had an older heterogeneous PC platform in both hardware and on software. The installation consisted primarily of PCs with an older Windows version, that was installed manually and were very different. New employees in the IT department wanted to standardize and upgrade the installation, to give the users a better and more consistent performance, a more modern installation, a higher uptime and less support.
The Method
IXP Data implemented EasyInstall and in a workshop course were AAK trained in EayInstall and in producing application packages to automatic deployment. Latest Windows version and all applications were packaged in an installations format, so they could be installed automatically. Groups of installation packages was made, so that the entire installation of a PC can be made without user interaction. At the same time, it was assessed on what applications the IT department wanted license monitoring, which also provided an opportunity to measure whether installed applications were actually used by users.
The Solution
EasyInstall was installed on a virtual Windows Server and EasyInstall agents were placed on all PCs, so that both operating systems and application packages could be installed, re-installed and uninstalled. Since AAK shortly after the implementation of EasyInstall upgraded to latest Windows version, was EasyInstall Driver’s Collect function used to collect the latest hardware drivers, before EasyInstall was used to make a “Bare Metal” installation of the new PCs. The built-in Remote Control in EasyInstall was taken into use and means in everyday life, that support calls can be resolved more quickly, because many tasks can be solved directly by taking over the user’s screen.
Customer Opinion
“We have previously used Symantec Ghost, and Altiris was known from previous jobs. Therefore EasyInstall was not a challenge. EasyInstall is intuitive, offers all the functionality we need and is much easier to work with, than both Ghost and Altiris. We have no doubt, that we will save many hours every week. Partly because the more uniform installation means fewer support cases, and because we can solve the support cases there are, the quicker via EasyInstall. The workday for the IT department’s employees have become more proactively oriented is an added advantage. After the first days workshop and implementation we have now learned so much about the system, that we are more or less self-supporting.” – says the IT manager.
Business Case
AAK has achieved significant benefits by minimizing the time required for new and re-installs of the many PCs, and ensured a homogenization of the installation process. The standardized installation provides less support and more satisfied users. The possibility for Remote Control is used to a great extent, reduce time for the IT staff and for the users.
Components
• Laptops and Desktops
• Microsoft Windows Professional
• Various applications
• Remote Control (directly integrated into EasyInstall)
• EasyInstall
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art upgrades PC clients for newest Windows- and Office versions, and automates the management of the overall client management to eliminate errors and minimize the time spent.
Summary
ARKEN chose to upgrade the PC client from older Windows and Office to newest Windows and Office, and implements EasyInstall client management solution.
Customer Profile
ARKEN was established in Ishøj, south of Copenhagen in 1996. The museum’s distinctive architecture is close to the water in beautiful surroundings. The museum has about 200,000 visitors annually and has had regular exhibitions of works by great internationally recognized artists including Salvador Dalí, Asger Jorn, Edvard Munch, Picasso and Chagall. In 2012 the museum had an exhibition with works by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II.
The Challenge
ARKEN has more than 100 users who intensively use and challenge the available IT tools they daily have made available. The IT department consists of 3 people, taking care of server maintenance, support and maintenance. It takes several hours, when a PC shall new or reinstall, time that could be used in strategic or tactical initiatives instead. Meanwhile, troubleshooting on the PCs is complicated by the heterogeneous installation.
The Method
ARKEN looked for a tool, that was simple to manage and which also could automate and standardize the installation of the PCs. In a workshop similar project were the installation examined, EasyInstall was implemented and the necessary applications were identified. HW-wise, it succeeded Arken to stick to a handful of different PC models and the automated installation was tested in co-operation.
The Solution
IXP Data presentations to the client were to create an EasyInstall installation. EasyInstall allows you to install or re-install both Windows and the applications to the PC. EasyInstall can from a console on an IT employee’s PC control the installation, re-installation or the installation of applications on all PCs in the client installation, whether those PCs are on LAN or WAN. Before any re-installation of a PC, EasyInstall takes a backup of user files and after re-installing a complete restore, so the user has any data on their PC again. After the implementation of EasyInstall, got the IT department 4 hours of training in the system, so that they in the future itself can initiate the installation, re-installation, remote takeover of the PC, do hw and sw inventory, etc. EasyInstall is also used to continuously update applications like Adobe Reader, Java and Adobe Flash.
Customer Opinion
“I was surprised to se that a PC installation can be made this simple. Now we have a turnkey solution for installation and re-installation of PCs, which save many working hours every day. We do not do extensive troubleshooting on PCs anymore; we re-install either the application or the entire machine and 30 minutes after, we have a newly installed PC. The installation is even so smart, it remembers which applications your PC had previously installed and installs them again. The automated process allows us to use our time more productive and forward looking.” – says the IT Manager.
Business Case
ARKEN has achieved significant benefits by minimizing the time required for new and re-installs of the many PCs distributed in different departments. The previously used approx. ½ day to install a PC, this can now be done in 30 minutes. The PC clients on ARKEN are now all based on the same basic installation containing Windows and Microsoft Office, which have meant that problems with applications and troubleshooting are significantly reduced. Running stability is enhanced significantly, while an updated platform has provided a measurable boost in user productivity. In particular, users are happy with the new Office 2010, which provides completely new design possibilities.
Components
• Laptops and Desktops from HP
• Microsoft Windows Professional
• Microsoft Office Professional
• EasyInstall
Summery
SkillsHouse is a training house and of course we have a wide range of student computers that we quite often need to either re-install or distribute software packages. I had checked out all solutions on the market for deployment and image deployment, but constantly I found that it was simply too complex.
Then my attention was drawn to EasyInstall by a course participant and I contacted Jan Jakobsen from IXP Data.
Customer Profil
SkillsHouse was founded as a result of common experiences in the existing way of executing courses.
We felt that there had to be better way to run courses.
The result is SkillsHouse and Hands-On concept. All our instructors has experiens from the real world.
This means that they not only know the theory, but also the problems you encounter in practice.
Customer Opinion
Pretty quickly an EasyInstall server was installed and from one day to the next I had a distrubution tool for both new OS and software packages over the network.
Best of all, single-handedly I can create deployment packages, deploy entire machines or distrbute software to every work station in our network – even our department in Jutland.
EasyInstall is without doubt the best deployment system I have had hands on.
Finally I have to highlight the extraordinary service we have received from IXP Data. More than once IXP Data has saved us.
Components
• Servers
• Laptop and desktop PCs
• Various applications
• EasyInstall
Nomeco has since 2004 used EasyInstall our approx. 600 computers and servers. EasyInstall is the simplest and most user-friendly tool on the market, and it was a strong factor in our choice. It’s been a good investment, and we achieved ROI faster than we expected.
Many tasks which needed to be resolved before hand, now has been automated and standardized. EasyInstall are daily used for installing new machines and maintenance of software and program updates.
Should you verbalize EasyInstall, then it would be intuitive, high performance and stability.
EasyInstall is also the solution to introduce new Windows versions at Nomeco.
Users are happy and satisfied, and that’s IT department also.
We can definitely recommend EasyInstall.
Frederikssund municipality has used EasyInstall since 2003. EasyInstall is a user-friendly tool with wide application possibilities and was therefore chosen as IT operations tools in the merged New Frederikssund municipality.
The tool is a multi-purpose tool with many opportunities.
• Installing the OS / image and applications on workstations
• Maintenance of image and application packages for deployment to workstations
• Uncluttered and easy tool for service desk staff
• Provides a good online stock Frederikssund municipality around. 1500 workstations and 80 servers
• Excellent tool for license management
• Provides overview of how many and which applications are used
• Can handle large roll-out of workstations
Besides the mentioned advantages Frederikssund municipality experiencing a very good EasyInstall support.
EasyInstall has certainly made life easier for us.
This tool is the best in application and OS deployment, and does not need 5 outside consultants and 2 full-time staff to keep the system running.
I use EasyInstall every day with great pleasure.
It saves us many working hours. Previously we physical had to visit about 200 PCs to update, install new software, etc.
Furthermore, I am extremely pleased with the rapid response from IXP Data support when I need help for my EasyInstall installation.
Errors or defects is promptly corrected – it’s perfect!
The implementation of EasyInstall went completely smooth. We have used EasyInstall since 2002 and to date the solution consists of 750 workstations and 40 servers.
Besides sending out packages to various PCs it isalso a great advantage that we have grouped all PCs in department in EasyInstall and there by we can find a user’s PC very quickly. Besides from forwarding packets, EasyInstall is always used if you want to open the C drive of a PC, start remote control, see system information, see whether a PC is online, etc. Or to start a PC via Wake on LAN. In addition, it is extreamly easy to get into a running PC or server and use the Computer Management, instead of having to log a user of the machine, take over the PC and then go into Computer Management. Furthermore, it is nice that everything should not be packaged into MSI packages. It is also possible to create a simple package that copy some files to a given PC.
Kopenhagen Fur is the world’s biggest auction house for raw skins and global hub for the fur industry. Kopenhagen Fur translates to nearly 8 milliarder kroner annually. Denmark is the world’s sovereign leading producer of raw fur skins.
Danish fur farmers nurture each year around 15 million mink.
Danish fur contributes to the balance of payments with an export earning of around 6 milliarder kroner annually.
I have experienced the EasyInstall implementation as smooth and also for subsequent upgrades.
We have used EasyInstall since 2002 when we rolled out our new version of Windows in the organization. We had with full production approx. 2000 workstations and about 150 servers in our environment, where software updates and WSUS updates are administered through Easyinstall.
EasyInstall do live up to its name, it is really easy to use.
Operation is simple, but sufficient. It is very tempting to build too many extraneous features into such a product, and it has not happened here.
If you want to share your successes with EasyInstall, you are very welcome to send your story and photo to Christina Liljegreen on cl@ixpdata.com
