Debugging Desktops

When love isn’t enough

The CIO could have shot himself in the head that day. He’d just had an
hour-long visit from a mid-level manager from the marketing section. The manager
had spent a sizable chunk of that hour demanding that his office software suite
be upgraded, especially as his counterpart in the ‘procurement’ section had
got it done. And while Mr CIO tried explaining to Mr Marketing how he did not
really need the upgrade, he juggled phone calls from ‘production’ on a virus
that had infected the mailboxes of two employees. Meanwhile, ‘accounts’
wanted a written explanation on the advantages of one anti-virus software
application over another, before the purchase order was sanctioned. As he shut
his eyes for a moment, trying to de-stress himself, the CIO wondered why the job
he had loved so much was getting so frustrating. As a young professional, he had
enjoyed dabbling in technology, his knowledge of the subject had seen him rise
to the position of a CIO in a reputed manufacturing company. But then, he had
never thought the job would mean explaining to a senior manager that the
software upgrade he was clamoring for, would mean nothing as he used only 1/10th
of the features of the word processor, which was just one part of the suite, in
any case. He also had had enough of explaining that anti-virus software needs to
be run and upgraded regularly to ensure a bug free desktop.

These are situations that CIOs across industries often find themselves in.
Heading the deployment or managing the implementation of large-scale e-business
applications is one thing and managing the deployment, upgrades, and
troubleshooting of software on the desktops of hundreds (in case of larger
enterprises, even thousands) of often careless users, is another. The latter
function does not affect business processes and thus ROI directly, but is
crucial as it involves employees across the enterprise.

The desktop software market can be divided into two segments — applications
and operating systems. Typically, a CIO might have any of the following
installed on desktops purchased at various stages by the organization. The
operating systems could be any of the Windows versions released during the past
six years or any opensource one like Linux. Similarly, a variety of productivity
applications like office suites, e-mail clients, anti-virus software, system
utilities, graphics software, etc could be installed.

While managing desktop software, CIO need to first decide between software
upgrades and free alternatives. Another area of concern would be the decision to
shift from one platform or application to another. While Microsoft flagship
offerings including the Windows operating system and Office suite of
productivity applications are market leaders in their respective categories, the
share of opensource options like Linux based applications, has been growing
steadily. There are no formal research reports in this segment, but the
marketshare of the various versions of Wndows could be anywhere between 85% and
95%. Linux too is adopted through multiple sources apart from distributors like
Red Hat. Hence it is difficult to estimate the installed base. However, Linux
growth in the year 2000-2001 over 1999-2000 is estimated to be around 25%.

Opensource: Ripple or wave?

Till recently as two to three years ago, almost all enterprises had software
from Microsoft installed on their desktops. This is primarily because MS
software is often bundled with the branded PCs sold by prominent vendors. And
unless buyers specifically ask for an opensource OS or applications, vendors are
likely to ship the PC with Microsoft software installed. And except for the
licensed software purchased by certain conscientious organizations, a bulk of
the assembled PCs in corporates as well as the home segment was thriving on
pirated software. Actions against piracy are on the rise.

Meanwhile, the opensource movement has got a boost with key players stepping
up efforts to create awareness about it. CIOs could be under pressure to cleanse
their enterprises of pirated software. Organizations can save large amounts of
money they spend on buying OS licenses, office productivity tools and upgrading
hardware each time a new version is released. But CIOs need to remember that the
cost of MS software could be just one of the reasons for the shift. However,
this cannot be a major reason as Microsoft bundles its OS and applications with
several branded machines. Besides, the OEM version costs far less.

The stability of Linux-based systems cannot be denied, but a hasty decision
to switch from Microsoft to an opensource system could well backfire. One cannot
overlook the fact that most users have been using Microsoft software for years.
Few will take kindly to the idea of giving up a familiar user interface and
absolute ease of operation for something that needs effort to grasp. Another
factor that is seen as an impediment to switching to opensource is the lack of
support as against the case of Microsoft.

This is not entirely true. Distributors like Red Hat do offer services like
as free support, configuration, fine tuning and deployment to enterprises who
want to adopt Linux on desktops in large numbers. The decision of using MS or
other software should be made after weighing the pros and cons of what users
want and what they can actually handle. Upgrades are essential, but CIOs need to
take a call on how many of the features of the upgraded software will really be
used and will affect productivity. In a lot of cases, it is possible to weigh
the pros and cons of an upgrade carefully and actually save Rs 7000-8000 per
user in the process. Enterprises need to remember that despite having the best
of software, the productivity can be hampered by elements like viruses.

Securing desktops

A desktop today isn’t really as isolated and secure as it was earlier. The
increasing need to be networked, always connected, has led to innovations in the
desktop software space that allow seamless and transparent integration of the
front end and the back end server infrastructure. Of course, this brings many
advantages to the knowledge worker, but it also brings increased vulnerability
of the IT system. Not only is an attack on the Web server (the most prone to
attacks) now felt right at the desktop in an instant, but a user opening a
harmless looking mail with malicious content can create havoc at the back end.

Major software vendors realize this, and are taking appropriate measures to
firmly secure their products. For instance, Office XP has a feature, which by
default, bars access to potentially harmful attachments in mails. This can be
turned off by the user, or the MIS if required. Firewall software is a must as
users are not aware of harmful Trojan attachments. It is best if the updating of
anti-virus software is centralized, if not, it must be ensured that each PC has
this software updated regularly. Using a network management system (NMS) is the
most efficient and safest option, but the cost of implementing an NMS could be a
deterrent. Or else, enterprises could create and maintain a single security
protocol for all company desktops.

However, no amount of technology advancements will be enough, if a company
does not follow the right security policies. For instance, the highest levels of
encryption will not serve any purpose, if the password is scribbled on paper.
Another example is having the best of breed anti-virus software, but not
updating it regularly. When the threat comes from the users themselves, CIOs
could set up systems to keep track of internet bandwidth, browsing patterns, set
up logs and monitors and alerts.

Manjiri Kalghatgi, in New Delhi Inputs
from Anil Chopra/PCQ Labs