Optimizing IT infrastructure management at one of Mexico’s most prestigious universities

Benefits

• Decreased cybersecurity incidents
• Enhanced visibility and control over endpoint devices
• Automated patch management
• Improved compliance with software licensing regulations

The Story

Universidad Panamericana (UP) is a leading educational institution in Mexico with four campuses – two in Mexico City, one in Guadalajara and one in Aguascalientes. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs.

The UP Digital Services staff, led by Professor César Hernández and his team of 45 people, is distributed throughout the university’s different campuses. Each group provides assistance and service to professors, students, administrative staff, retirees and alumni:

Creating a secure administration system
Professor Octavio García from the Aguascalientes campus, Professor Edith Torres from the Guadalajara campus and Engineer José Moreno from the CDMX campus, digital services leaders at UP, faced significant challenges in maintaining the security and functionality of their extensive IT infrastructures. “We have constantly tasked with ensuring equipment updates, applying patches, maintaining operating systems, and preventing unauthorized software installations,” says Prof. Garcia. “We’re under a lot of pressure to continually check that all equipment functions properly and remains up to date.”

With multiple campuses and thousands of end-user devices to manage, ensuring cybersecurity and software compliance is a top priority.

“Above all, it is cybersecurity that we are concerned about,” says Eng. Moreno. “The main problems we have are in maintaining optimal conditions for end-user equipment and regularly updating applications and driver operating systems. In order to avoid vulnerabilities, we wanted to find a solution that would provide assurances that user equipment would receive all necessary updates.”

Troubles with software licensing
Prof. Torres was also concerned about maintaining control over the use of software licensing. She and the other Digital Service Leaders ran into problems with measuring the correct amount of licensing for machines and wanted to avoid investing in license quantities that were not being taken advantage of.

“If we are not measuring the amounts of licensing that are really being used, that can generate spending and investment problems,” Prof. Torres says. “We need a more reliable inventory of all our assets.”

Choosing a solution
Recognizing the need for a modern endpoint management solution, Eng. Moreno and his team embarked on a search for a comprehensive platform that could address the university’s requirements. After evaluating several options, including Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and Symantec Endpoint Management, they selected KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA).

“We chose KACE based on recommendations from peers,” says Eng. Moreno. “After researching on different sites, we found that it was also highly rated by other users and were impressed with its cost-efficiency.”

Streamlining operations with KACE
The implementation of KACE was carried out in conjunction with the EXITE IT team. Now Universidad Panamericana has experienced significant improvements in the management of its IT infrastructure.

“KACE allows you to work on Linux, Windows and Mac,” says Ing. Moreno. “We now have greater visibility into our inventory and can deploy patches more efficiently on these three platforms.”

One of the biggest impacts that has been observed is within cybersecurity. “When KACE detects a vulnerability, all we have to do is meet all the requirements that are delegated to us to address the vulnerability and keep the equipment in optimal condition.”

For UP’s day-to-day operations, we find the scripts and software measurement capabilities of KACE most useful. “Being able to program and distribute scripts to different teams is helpful for efficient removal or installation of applications and in sending updates”, says Eng. Moreno. “And with the software measurement feature, we can see how long a program or application is being used.”

With centralized, automated management tools, the Digital Services team can track and resolve IT issues much faster and according to a schedule. Simpler administration gives them more time to focus on strategic initiatives and allows them to redirect their efforts to more pressing concerns.

“It used to take weeks to implement updates to 200 computers or more,” Digital Services leaders comment. “Now we can do it in much less time.”

Looking towards the future
While UP is still in the process of fully leveraging KACE’s capabilities, they are eager to pursue new initiatives, based on the benefits that are already evident. Key projects in the pipeline include replacing obsolete equipment and integrating cloud services into their environment.