Founded in 1994, Partners Healthcare Is a Nonprofit Integrated Healthcare System. It Includes

Microsoft Infrastructure Optimization Customer Solution Case Study

Healthcare System Saves $300,000 on Licensing, Boosts Client Management Efficiency

Overview “When we examined all the factors, it became clear that Country or Region: United States System Center Configuration Manager is the right fit for our Industry: Healthcare environment and offers the best overall value in terms of Customer Profile Founded in 1994, Partners HealthCare total cost of ownership.” offers integrated healthcare services Rick Aherne, Project Manager, Partners HealthCare through its network of physicians, care facilities, and academic medical centers. Partners HealthCare wanted to replace its client systems The organization has 54,000 employees. management software with a solution that enabled more

Business Situation efficient updates, image deployment, and software delivery. To reduce the cost and complexity of its Executives evaluated whether to upgrade the organization’s desktop management infrastructure and increase IT efficiency, Partners HealthCare existing software, or to move to an alternative solution. After decided to replace its existing client participating in a Proof-of-Concept workshop at the Microsoft management software. Technology Center in Boston, Massachusetts, Partners Solution HealthCare opted to deploy Microsoft System Center Partners deployed Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 Configuration Manager 2007 R2. By transitioning to the to take advantage of well-documented Microsoft solution, Partners HealthCare saved U.S.$300,000 in hierarchy capabilities and built-in agents that help to simplify administrator tasks. licensing costs. Now, the organization uses interoperability between built-in client agent components and the Windows Benefits Saves U.S.$300,000 on licensing operating system to help administrators save time on routine Boosts IT agility tasks while enhancing the management of its desktop Simplifies client management environment. Situation Altiris, which exposed potential Founded in 1994, Partners HealthCare is a vulnerabilities against viruses and other nonprofit integrated healthcare system. It threats. “Because they had to process the includes a network of primary and specialty feed from Microsoft and then apply their care physicians and community clinics and own rules to that feed, it could take hospitals located in and around Boston, anywhere from 24 to 36 hours before we Massachusetts. The organization also received the update packages,” says oversees two prestigious academic medical Burrows. “There was a gap between when centers and is a major teaching affiliate of the updates were first released and when Harvard Medical School. we could actually deploy them and test to see if they were applied correctly across our Members of the IT client infrastructure systems.” In addition, the Altiris solution did management team at Partners HealthCare not incorporate a service for monitoring are responsible for supporting the health of the management agent that approximately 42,000 computers and resides on each computer. “We had limited devices distributed across more than 20 visibility into whether or not agents were different locations. “Our main mission is to working the way they should, which made ensure a highly secure, well-managed it more difficult to take a proactive environment across a range of different approach to systems management,” says user scenarios and work settings—from Burrows. doctor’s offices to hospital emergency rooms,” says Rick Burrows, Team Lead for IT leaders were also eager to boost the the Client Infrastructure Design Group at efficiency of core client management Partners HealthCare. activities. “Altiris NS 6.0 is nonhierarchical,” explains Rick Aherne, a Project Manager at For the past several years, the team relied Partners HealthCare, who oversaw the on Altiris Notification Server (NS) to handle implementation of that technology and such critical functions as software coordinated the process of searching for a distribution, updates, and remote new solution. “This meant that fundamental troubleshooting. As Partners HealthCare tasks—like pushing software updates— prepared to replace the majority of its needed to be performed multiple times aging desktop and portable computers, across different servers to reach all of the executives began considering several intended targets. This cut into the time that options, including upgrading to the latest we could focus on other priorities.” version of Altiris NS, or replacing it with an alternative solution. Although the 7.0 version of Altiris NS provides hierarchy capabilities, which The IT team was largely satisfied with its enables the centralized management of use of Altiris NS 6.0. But they recognized notification servers, IT leaders were opportunities to enhance network security concerned about the costs associated with through a new management solution. For upgrading the solution. “To move up to the example, the team typically experienced latest version of Altiris, we would need to delays in receiving security updates from relicense the software at a substantial cost,”

26 says Manuela Stoyanov, Corporate lab environment that offers IT professionals Manager for the Client Infrastructure Group an opportunity to test Microsoft solutions at Partners HealthCare. In addition, IT in close consultation with experts, who can leaders noted the challenge of redesigning assist with best practices guidance and the organization’s desktop environment to product roadmap information. The align with the new architecture infrastructure design team spent a week requirements. “We’d first need to learn how working with MTC architects and Specialist hierarchy works in Altiris and then Team Unit (STU) professionals to map completely rebuild our infrastructure before features in System Center Configuration moving all of the computers to the new Manager to comparable tools in the solution,” adds Burrows. “And since organization’s Altiris solution. “The Proof- hierarchy is new in the latest release, we of-Concept workshop gave us a chance to weren’t sure how well documented or learn from the experts about how different supported the technology would be.” features work and how we could best apply the solution in our environment to handle To reduce infrastructure complexity and tasks like image deployment,” says Burrows. simplify tasks, lower IT costs, and “For the week we spent onsite at the MTC, strengthen network security, Partners we saved at least two weeks of training HealthCare searched for an alternative to time.” its existing systems management software. Extended the Value of Existing Solution Technology Investments During its evaluation process, which the Throughout the evaluation period, organization initiated at the end of 2009, executives emphasized the importance of executives from Partners HealthCare capitalizing on existing infrastructure conducted a broad-based comparison of investments to shorten the length of the Altiris NS 7.0 and Microsoft System Center deployment and hold down acquisition Configuration Manager 2007 R2. The costs. For several years, the server search team weighed the relative strengths management team at Partners HealthCare of each solution in a number of areas, had relied on System Center Configuration including licensing and deployment costs, Manager to centralize such functions as hierarchy capabilities, and software capacity planning, server application distribution and update management distribution, and service-level compliance features. management in its data center environment. “Partners HealthCare had Seized a Unique Testing and Training already acquired the licenses for System Opportunity Center Configuration Manager, which In November 2009, Partners HealthCare represented a significant savings over what took advantage of an offer to attend a we would need to pay to upgrade our Proof-of-Concept workshop at the Altiris solution,” says Stoyanov. Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) in Boston, Massachusetts. Microsoft Installed the Client Software Technology Centers provide a collaborative

36 In the spring of 2010, Partners HealthCare Manager integrates seamlessly with the engaged with Microsoft Services to plan operating system components on our the rollout of the client components for Windows clients, so we don’t have to push System Center Configuration Manager out additional software to handle some of 2007 R2. Experts from Microsoft teamed the more routine updates,” says Burrows. with the organization’s client infrastructure “And, we get all of our Windows updates design team to architect the sites and directly from Microsoft on patch Tuesday, hierarchy structure for the deployment. which means there’s no delay in testing to They then set up a lab environment onsite see if they applied correctly on all of our at Partners HealthCare to test a scaled- computers.” down version of the hierarchy model. “We needed to see how hierarchy worked using In addition, because the solution our clients and devices on our network, so incorporates a health monitoring service, we could pinpoint any potential Burrows and his team gain insight into the complications before a production rollout,” performance of the management agent says Burrows. “Because of our work at the installed on each computer. The team also MTC, we were able to optimize the time we uses hierarchy in the solution to simplify spent with the Microsoft Services team. software distribution and other tasks. “Now, Instead of spending time testing out instead of replicating operations across features, we could focus entirely on getting three different servers, we perform the mechanics of the deployment down.” operations once and they flow through the hierarchy,” says Burrows. In September 2010, the organization began the process of deploying the client and The organization is currently evaluating agent components of the solution to all whether to upgrade to Microsoft System 42,000 of its computers and devices. At the Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3. same time, the IT team initiated the The client infrastructure design team is removal of Altiris NS 6.0 from the eager to access such functionality as built- organization’s desktop environment. “The in power management and the ability to cutover to System Center Configuration create a collection of compliant or Manager 2007 R2 was amazingly smooth,” noncompliant computers using Desired says Burrows. “We completed the whole Configuration Management from within the process in about eight weeks and most administrator console. users were completely unaware that we’d gone through the process.” Benefits By implementing Microsoft System Center Streamlined Systems Management Configuration Manager 2007 R2, Partners Partners HealthCare is taking advantage of Healthcare achieved substantial savings several features of System Center through cost avoidance related to licensing, Configuration Manager 2007 R2 to simplify as well as the training that its IT staff its client monitoring infrastructure, which received at the MTC. The client helps desktop administrators save time on infrastructure design team now uses built- daily tasks. “System Center Configuration in components in the solution to save time

46 on management tasks and gain enhanced product experts for a full week,” Aherne management over the organization’s says. desktop environment. Simplifies Management of PCs Partners HealthCare also benefits from The IT team saves time by using hierarchy greater agility by consolidating on a single capabilities in the solution, along with the platform to manage all its IT assets. “When tight interoperability between the client we examined all the factors, it became clear management software and the Windows that System Center Configuration Manager operating system that runs on the majority is the right fit for our environment and of the organization’s computers. “With offers the best overall value in terms of System Center Configuration Manager, total cost of ownership,” says Aherne. more operations are handled through the operating system, which means we have Saves $325,000 on Licensing and fewer agents running on our clients,” says Training Costs Burrows. “We spend less time on system Partners HealthCare would have needed to maintenance because we don’t have to purchase additional licenses to upgrade its manage as many agents per client.” Altiris client solution. The organization Partners HealthCare also takes advantage avoided U.S.$300,000 in direct costs for of faster distribution of update packages, 2010 by moving to the Microsoft solution. and uses the built-in health monitoring And, as it evaluates upgrading to System agent to proactively assess the Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 to performance of client management access built-in power management components. functionality, Partners HealthCare estimates additional savings by retiring the Verdiem Boosts Agility of IT Operations power management software it currently Beyond cost and time savings benefits, the uses. organization’s move to System Center Configuration Manager gives it greater In addition, Partners HealthCare had agility in moving forward with important IT already been using System Center initiatives, such as remote imaging and Configuration Manager to handle server application virtualization. “System Center management. Today, they can take Configuration Manager is the foundation advantage of existing expertise by using for our desktop management strategy,” the same tools to manage both servers and says Aherne. “For example, we’re looking desktops. And, Aherne estimates that the IT into the possibility of using the solution to team saved approximately U.S.$25,000 realize a no-touch remote image, which through the customized training it received would save us about 5,000 hours a year. at the MTC, “We easily saved 80 hours of We’re just scratching the surface in terms training time, which translates into a of what we’ll be able to do and we’re significant cost savings, not to mention the excited about all of the flexibility that we value of the knowledge transfer we have with System Center Configuration received from working closely with the Manager going forward.”

56 Microsoft Infrastructure Optimization With infrastructure optimization, you can build a secure, well-managed, and dynamic core IT infrastructure that can reduce overall IT costs, make better use of resources, and become a strategic asset for the business. The Infrastructure Optimization model—with basic, standardized, rationalized, and dynamic levels—was developed by Microsoft using industry best practices and Microsoft’s own experiences with enterprise customers. The Infrastructure Optimization model provides a maturity framework that is flexible and easily used as a benchmark for technical capability and business value.

For more information about Microsoft infrastructure optimization, go to: www.microsoft.com/io