Zero Effort Networks. Zero Administrator's Kit. As the premium on human resources continues to drive up the cost of desktop PC support, software vendors are aiming to cash in with cost-conscious companies looking for maximum resource management with minimum manpower. Whether a business has a dozen desktop systems, or tens of thousands, the time it takes to configure and support those systems seriously affects the bottom line. While vendors, analysts and users might not agree on all the factors accounting for TCO, many agree that containing those costs is vital.
Support represents the lion's share of the cost.
That labor includes time spent troubleshooting and routine maintenance by users and support personnel configuring, and reconfiguring systems to meet consistent profiles, install software, license metering, routine maintenance, and other activities. It's crazy today the degree to which many customers trot around touching individual desktops and individual servers. The current version of NT includes techniques to lock down desktop configuration and prevent users from changing it. Windows 2000 will expand on these capabilities, he said. Novell, the market leader in PC LAN operating systems, is also recognizing the importance of efficiently managing individual desktops on the network.