Dell Case Study Sample

Most significantly, limiting updates to once a year prevented teachers from adopting the latest software during the school year. “New and better material is always coming out, but we couldn’t respond quickly to faculty requests,” says Lee Steinsdoerfer, technology director at Zion-Benton. “In the past, the software we deployed in August had to see us through the whole year. Reimaging 700 PCs just took too much time.”

Another challenge was lack of standardization in the school’s IT infrastructure. Over the years, as the district acquired new systems to meet specific needs, the environment had become more heterogeneous. “We were using many different suppliers of desktops and servers, and staying current on all those systems took a lot of our time,” explains Steinsdoerfer. “If we standardized on fewer vendors, training needs would be reduced and our IT staff would be more productive.”

Dell infrastructure package moves to the head of the class

In an effort to improve the classroom experience while keeping a lid on IT costs, the Zion-Benton IT staff decided to solve both problems: streamline the client PC imaging process and standardize on a single-vendor infrastructure. “We wanted a company with a full range of products and excellent service,” Steinsdoerfer says.