Cost Savings/User Productivity
Reducing IT Costs
Most organizations agree that locking down desktops allows IT to control and protect the entire distributed desktop environment. This practice reduces system vulnerability by allowing end users to use only the applications and desktop functions that are deemed safe. However, to be a worthy business policy,
lockdown must also produce true cost savings, not just be adherence to corporate compliance policies.
What might be the adverse effect created by locking down your environment? In theory, operating
a least privileges environment offers more control which should lead to a decrease in IT support costs. However, all too often the support calls merely shift from being related to unstable PCs to end users who cannot perform basic business functions. So, the end result is that true savings have not been achieved.
A moderately managed user loses $586 in productivity due to time spent on self-administration, fixing system problems and downtime. However, this means users have to enlist IT for application installation support, and they incur costs when they have to wait for IT to install applications for them. We estimate this cost to be $38 per transaction, based on the salaries used in the travelling notebook user TCO model (which would have a user mix similar to developers and engineers). Therefore, when you add direct and indirect costs, the total cost of a help desk call for application installation is between $58 and $73.
Gartner: The Cost of Removing Administrative Rights for the Wrong Users
27 April 2011 | Terrence Cosgrove
Fortunately a strategy to attain TRUE savings already exists when operating a least privileges environment beyond the typical all–or-nothing approach. A privilege management product, such as what Viewfinity offers, allows organizations to flexibly manage administrator privileges so that the lock down policy does not impede business and end user productivity.
Improving User Productivity
If lockdown is done properly, that is, in conjunction with software that will help you manage privileges, the impact on end user productivity should be nil and end users will have the ability to conduct business as usual. Essentially whatever privileges the end user requires to get his job done is managed through the software product and will seamlessly make available all required applications and desktop functions.
This improvement carries over to mobile workers as well. IT administrators can remove administrator rights from laptops and use Viewfinity Privilege Management to allow this group of users to install printers, work with those applications that require administrative permissions to execute properly, allow for Active X controls to be installed, and more. Mobile workers need only an internet connection for new and updated policies to immediately propagate and take effect.
Resources
Viewfinity Privilege Management
Best Practices for PC Lockdown and Control Policies