Update on Implementation of Altiris Total Management Suite at Miami

The deployment of Altiris Total Management Suite to all university-owned computers at Miami to gather a university-wide hardware inventory was initiated in early March 2006 (see announcement letter).  Deployment efforts are on-going in many departments and divisions on the Oxford, Hamilton and Middletown campuses. IT Services continues to work closely with technology support representatives to coordinate deployment efforts.

As of April 7, 2006, 1,897 computers (estimated to be approx. 20% of the total number of university faculty/staff and lab computers) have sent hardware inventory to the Altiris system with no reported problems.

Since March, IT Services has been meeting with divisions and departments to introduce Altiris and address any concerns faculty and staff might have about this new tool. A common theme that has emerged through these discussions is a desire for greater understanding about what Altiris will and will not be used for at Miami.

As a technology management and support tool, Altiris WILL be used for the following functions:

• Help plan for regular computer replacement
• Quickly deliver software as soon as you would like it installed
• Protect your computer by ensuring it is fully patched against security vulnerabilities
• Enable remote assistance, at the request and permission of the user, to fix technical problems without waiting for an office visit
• Image new hard drives with preconfigured operating system software
• Protect against data loss by offering a recovery solution to backup user data
• Migrate user data from an old machine to a new machine at user request– meaning your new computer will have your data, background, and custom dictionaries

Although Altiris has many capabilities, it DOES NOT and WILL NOT be used to do the following:

• It will not store general inventory of software
• It does not collect information or control where you surf on the Internet
• It does not restrict research
• It will not prevent you from using applications

Training and Certification Procedures for Altiris Administrators

Altiris is a set of powerful technical tools. To ensure these tools are used correctly IT Services is developing training and certification procedures. There are currently two levels of planned Altiris administration: Miami Altiris Administrator and Miami Altiris Engineer. A trained Miami Altiris Administrator will be given access to a significant subset of tools that will allow creating reports, deploying software, remote assistance and distributing patches. A trained Miami Altiris Engineer will be given additional access to more powerful tools such as imaging and recovery. Students and student employees will not have access to faculty machines through Altiris.

IT Services is planning and negotiating the cost of customized Altiris training to be provided by the vendor. Each Miami Altiris Administrator and Miami Altiris Engineer will also be trained regarding security and privacy of data and certified by their dean or director as well as IT Services for using the system.

Learn More about Altiris at Miami

Visit the Altiris web site at http://www.muohio.edu/altiris for additional information on the capabilities of Altiris and how Miami plans to use this technology tool as well as answers to frequently asked questions and a place to ask your own question.