Staying Agile: Microsoft System Center Online Desktop Manager

For many small businesses automated information technology (IT) management can appear to be an expensive proposition.  This is because the software found in larger enterprises to perform these functions aren’t typically offered in a way that is affordable or useful for small businesses.   New Signature has long worked to make automated and comprehensive IT management more affordable and accessible to small businesses.

For example, New Signature provides hosted solutions for messaging, collaboration and telephony. For many clients, this eliminates much of the costs associated with managing their own infrastructure for these services.  However, this leaves a gap in an important area: desktop maintenance. Without a server onsite, desktops may not apply security patches or antivirus updates. Having a great hosted solution does no good, if one’s laptop is infected with malware or needs a new patch to increase performance.

The solution isn’t here yet, but is just around the corner: Microsoft System Center Online Desktop Manager. For small networks without a need for a dedicated server, SCODM (quite an acronym) will provide real time updates for antivirus and malware updates, security patches and hotfixes, inventory services and remote assistance. In this way, a network of a few machines can continue to stay secure and functional without incurring the overhead of additional servers onsite.

There are still certain limitations to the model (profile information and applications are stored locally, and thus could be lost without a server) but it does manage to address many of the painpoints small businesses run into when they relocate their infrastructure to a hosted solution.

New Signature is proud to be one of the few partners demoing the product over the next quarter, with the release scheduled for the middle of 2010. If you’re a small business, and wish to stay agile (and secure), SCODM may be just the right answer.