Data Security
Westphal College at Drexel Deploys Appliance To Secure and Maintain Computers
Westphal College of Media Arts and
Design at Drexel University has implemented a systems management appliance
to help the school's five-person IT team install and update software to ensure
all of its computers are up-to-date with the latest patches.
Westphal's IT team is responsible for installing software and updates on 800
Windows, Mac and Linux computers that are used by faculty, staff and students in
the school's media, design and performing and visual arts programs. To automate
those processes, the team deployed a
Dell KACE K1000 Systems Management Appliance, which is designed to help systems
administrators secure and maintain IT assets. Westphal College is also using the
appliance to bring all of its computers into security compliance and to conduct
quarterly digital asset updates. According to the company, it has saved the IT
team 100 hours of overtime to conduct those quarterly updates.
“With the Dell KACE appliance, I can easily see where our equipment is, who
is using it and what they’re doing with it,” said Jason Rappaport, director of
IT at Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, in a
prepared statement. “When I need a quick inventory of computers or an overview
of application status, I can get it myself in a few seconds.”
According to the company, it's important to integrate "endpoint security
functionality—along with traditional systems management capabilities—to identify
vulnerabilities more easily across all servers, desktops, laptops and tablets,"
and the Dell KACE systems management solutions are designed to help IT teams
ensure those devices comply with security protocols. The bring-your-own-device
trend has created an additional challenge for IT teams, and according to
Bill Odell, vice president of marketing for Endpoint Systems Management at Dell
Software, KACE can help higher education institutions implement BYOD safely
"because apps running on different devices across multiple operating systems are
configured, secured, updated and managed properly."
Princeton University has also
implemented a Dell KACE K1000 Systems Management Appliance to help its 11-person
software support team guard against security vulnerabilities by ensuring that
5,000 faculty and administrator computers are updated with the latest software.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].
