System management software is what is used to implement, manage and monitor distributed systems. The benefits can be massive, subject to the caveat that the company and its operations are big and distributed enough to warrant such a system. At some point of growth, it becomes unfeasible to run around doing manual deployment, collecting paperwork and electronic data, and then have dedicated staff working to maintain centralized records.
This is where system management comes into the picture. If feasible, the company will benefit in all aspects. This includes lower IT and staff requirements, improved information sharing, enhanced security and the ability to automate monitoring and data collection.
Installation & Management: The biggest benefit is in the form of automation of new installations and upgrades. If a company has 10 computers in the same office space, it's not that hard to do installations individually on each station. But that's out of the question for companies with hundreds or thousands of computers housed at different locations. When a company starts using servers and system management software, the whole process suddenly becomes automated, and needs less staff and less time.
Cost Reduction: First of all, no company, big or small, needs to worry about not benefiting from system management. The only debatable point is the ROI related to the cost of the software and paying a system administrator. Regardless, once implemented, it cuts down the need for IT staffing and other related expenses on a long-term basis.
But the possibilities are much bigger than this, since the system management infrastructure opens up pathways to install enterprise level systems such as ERP and enhance the client server IT architecture. This allows the company to expand its footprint, add new operations to the work flow and open branches which previously would either not have been required or would have been impossible to manage. Bottomline is that this is not just an IT help tool, but something which will ripple through the company's entire operation.
Security: System management software helps enhance security in a number of ways. For starters, the security settings on all the computers are the same and can be managed remotely by the admin. Users can be given access to the exact same settings on all computers, based on usernames and their duties. This means the computers are more immune to hacking and other external attempts to infiltrate the network.
Critical security updates and software patches can be administered quickly and simultaneously to all stations, thus reducing chances of the system going down or being attacked. Anti-virus software and malware protection can be installed on an enterprise network level, which provides more protection. Centralized data storage and backups on servers offer greater safety and reduce chances of data corruption or data loss due to hardware problems.
Monitoring: A huge improvement in monitoring capability is one of the biggest advantages here, other than cost effectiveness and automation. Since the data on the network can be monitored, it is possible to make adjustments to more effectively manage peak periods and down time. Employee monitoring helps management keep an eye on employees and detect work patterns.
To summarize, the immediate advantages of using system management are very much real and the possibilities even bigger. End of the day, each company has to make an informed decision about this based on its own size and growth curve. A cost benefit analysis to figure out the ROI of system management software would be a good place to begin.
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