Purdue, Dell Partner to Streamline IT Ops

Each year, Purdue University’s IT team carries out a lifecycle replacement project. This involves acquiring devices, removing the pre-installed OEM image, and then installing the university’s image in its place.

According to a recent Dell case study, Purdue’s IT team had on average 1,200 devices to deploy every summer, with each installation taking approximately four hours each. Time-consuming and labor-intensive, the IT team had to hire new staff and pull in resources from other departments just to complete it.

In need of a solution that could streamline its operations, Purdue chose Dell Technologies’ Connected Provisioning to configure and deploy its devices to staff.

“It’s very important that our users are satisfied with the service they receive and that their downtime is minimal. We want to be an enabler of service,” said Purdue University Executive Director of End User Experience Dwight Snethen.

Connected Provisioning offers a simplified process that’s designed to accelerate the time to productivity for end users – and Purdue’s staff have benefited from these faster deployment times.

The university’s previous process took an average of six weeks for an end user to receive a device. Connected Provisioning has reduced it to just two weeks – a reduction of nearly 70 percent. These devices include the option to tailor software to a specific department if needed and only require minimal setup by the end user to get started, Dell said.

Going forward, Purdue and Dell’s partnership will help the university to address its sustainability objectives.

Dell helps the university securely and responsibly retire their legacy IT equipment, prioritizing reuse to maximize value back for resold equipment, and responsibly recycling what remains. The cashback allows Purdue to reinvest in new technology across its campuses.

Purdue also aims to move from a fewer-touch provisioning approach to zero IT touch. Delivering the device straight to the end user reduces the distance it travels, reducing the university’s footprint in the process, Dell said.

“Cutting device deployment times and reducing IT staff workloads has resulted in happy end users who avoid unintended downtime,” Dell said. “This ultimately enables staff to concentrate on what matters most: providing the best education to their students.”