To evaluate the worth of a centrally managed security system, one must look at the management and opportunity costs associated with a manual approach. Manual management of security requires either some kind of low-level IT staff at each location or the time of the organization’s employees to deploy and maintain a system. The sum total of time that individuals or low-level IT staff must spend deploying their own security software, patches and security updates is growing exponentially with the number of patches that are being released every month and the number of people the organization employs. For many large organizations, a systems management tool has paid for itself after just weeks or months of use.

By using such a tool to centrally manage deployment, you eliminate the need for low-level IT staff at the various locations and free up time for employees who were previously in charge of maintaining their own systems. In addition, automated and tested procedures that a systems management tool offers, establishes a consistent level of security and eliminates the need to correct errors. Finally, in the event of a virus threat or an actual attack on the company’s IT infrastructure, a systems management tool pays for itself almost immediately – all the servers and PCs across the organization can be patched at once. If there is a damaged system, it can be rebuilt quickly and from a central location.

Simply put, the only secured infrastructure is a managed infrastructure. Combining systems management with security technologies from the cradle to grave decreases the chances of a major security breech. It is the insurance a network needs to keep infection-free in the ever-changing world of technology.




Thom Bailey is the Director of Product Management within Symantec Corporation's Enterprise Administration Business Unit.

Oliver is a Product Manager at Symantec's Enterprise Administration Business Unit, where he is one of the driving forces to merge IT systems management with IT security.