The New Mexico Department of Health determined
that it had a need for a comprehensive automated
IT asset management (ITAM) system, capable of working in a network of
consisting of approximately 15,000 computing assets and 1500
licensed software titles. The state’s primary requirement was that
the system be fast and light, utilizing low network bandwidth in
the discovery process and the ability to quickly discover the
assets across a large network. The system had to discover
computers, workstations, software, printers, switches, hubs and
other networked hardware. The selected solution also had to
have the capability to accept manually entered non-networked
assets. Reports needed to provide a holistic view of all IT assets,
and meet established reporting requirements.
The New Mexico Department of Health initially performed a
software evaluation using a well known on-premise ITAM
solution, which required agents be installed on each device.
After a preliminary trial the state determined that the software
agents caused problems across the network. In addition, the
agents negatively impacted the performance of the devices
upon which they were installed, disrupting daily end-user
operations.
Consequently, the New Mexico Department of Health returned
to the market place in search of a solution that met the earlier
stated criteria, and which also required no installed agents and
which enabled the help desk users to quickly rediscover a single
computing device to help resolve end-user or server issues. In
addition, the NMDOH required that the tool generate a series of
predefined management reports.
Key System Requirements
The predefined management reports were to include:
- Management reports following a New Mexico Department of Health established format
- Computers with antivirus software missing or not functioning
- Computers not patching correctly
- Computer assets with minimum specifications
- Proactive detection of computers low on disk space
After a comprehensive evaluation of several solutions, New
Mexico Department of Health selected the
xAssets hosted discovery service for implementation across its network.
xAssets offered the state a free 3 month trial of the service,
during which the state was able to discover the entire network
and develop a complete inventory of the networked assets. The
solution met all of the state’s key requirements, plus all of the
desired functionality. xAssets enabled the state to infer the
location of an asset from its IP address, insuring that assets are
correctly assigned to the correct location. In addition, the
xAssets service provided the NMDOH with flexibility in its
licensing, permitting any growth of the asset base over a 3 year
period without renegotiating the license or paying additional
fees. Finally, xAssets enabled the state to perform a complete,
ongoing software inventory, as well as discovery of all printers,
whether they were networked of locally connected.
Engaging the xAssets service also assisted the New Mexico
Department of Health in its annual IT budgeting. Instead of
paying a significant one-time software license fee which would
be due in full upon acceptance, and an annual maintenance fee,
the state pays a manageable annual fee for each year the
service is in use. It also avoids the overhead costs necessary in
operating a complex software tool in-house.
Currently, the xAssets service is an integral component of the
New Mexico Department of Health IT operations, and is
routinely used to augment the help desk operation, track installations, moves, adds and changes,
manage software and hardware configurations and to provide data for new purchasing.
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