Geographically, Montana is the fourth-largest state in the country, challenging the State of Montana's IT department as it supports 200 remote offices in 56 counties without a dedicated technician in each office. Novell Nterprise Branch Office provided an ideal and cost-effective solution for the State to replace the full-fledged servers in each office with less expensive appliances that offer full network services and independent operation, as well as reliable, centralized backup.
Replacing servers in many of its locations with Nterprise Branch Office appliances, the State of Montana is reducing its hardware costs by 60 percent. The IT team ships the appliance and a CD to the office and can set it up remotely in less than hour. The transition is seamless to users who continue to enjoy superior network services.
"We face the challenge of managing our networks with less money every year, while still needing to maintain the same services," said Pete Wiseman, network operating system supervisor at the State of Montana's IT Services division. "Novell Nterprise Branch Office allows us to do just that. Our users don't even know the difference, but our budget certainly reflects the savings."
Nterprise Branch Office provides a centralized backup solution by automatically updating information to the State's central servers each night, eliminating the need for up to $2,000 of storage media per year in each location. Employees in remote offices no longer need to hassle with daily backups and can concentrate on their specific jobs.
The State also selected Novell ZENworks to automate the management of its desktops and servers, distributing hundreds of applications to its remote sites at all hours without driving to every location. With Nterprise Branch Office and ZENworks, the IT team saves more than $100,000 a year in travel.
"Without Novell, there is no way we could cost-effectively manage our remote offices," Wiseman said. "We can't imagine doing business the same old way. Novell allows us to make the most of our tax dollars and manage the costs of government."
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