Novell ZENworks Accelerates Linux Deployment for Credence Systems

A global provider of mission-critical systems for the semiconductor industry, Credence Systems moved many of its systems to Linux for greater security, reliability, and to take advantage of more development tools. With custom workstation configuration requirements for each of its engineering projects, the company looked for an efficient way to automate the management of its Linux workstations to reduce administration time and ensure consistency throughout the organization.

After a thorough evaluation of possible options, Credence selected ZENworks Linux Management, a choice that was later validated when the company estimated that the solution paid for itself in six months. The company provides its engineers with more consistent workstations and has reduced administration time by 95 percent. The IT staff can now build a new workstation 80 percent faster and can efficiently manage millions of dollars worth of software.

“Novell is helping us eliminate most of the time we spend managing Linux workstations,” said Dan Anolik of Credence Systems software engineering infrastructure. “With manual processes, we always felt behind. Now it’s no longer time intensive or expensive to deploy updates, so our development platform is always up to date.”

Credence is able test and distribute packages to update its Linux workstations at any time and in a matter of minutes. The company can also easily create customized reports for all its hardware and software, replacing time-consuming manual processes for tracking assets. With efficient and reliable methods to quickly deliver new applications and configurations, the company is able to maintain an up-to-date development platform for its engineers to create high quality products.

“With ZENworks Linux Management, everything just works,” said Anolik. “Without it, we would have had to choose a less capable and more expensive option.”