Grand Traverse County Consolidates IT Asset Inventory with Lansweeper 

Grand Traverse County is located in Northern Michigan in the U.S. What some call a «four-season playground,» the county offers miles of shoreline along Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan, complete with romantic lighthouses, coastal villages, fine dining and culture. But at the local county office, there’s a lot of infrastructure to manage…

Results

• Provided immediate, complete visibility into IT infrastructure across all 17 locations
• Enabled efficient helpdesk ticketing, issue tracking and resolution
• Provided detailed, automated reports for more efficient ITAM and ITSM
• Delivered unmatched value with advanced features at a low price point 

Existing Solutions Were Inadequate, Offered Limited Visibility

The IT department is responsible for managing the 1,542 assets that comprise the IT infrastructure across 17 locations, including endpoint devices used by its 600 employees. The team of 12 is run by Director of Information Technology, Cliff DuPuy, and supports all of the county’s many departments. «We work with all of the departments to understand their business needs and assist with providing solutions,» he said.

DuPuy’s team had been using an outdated version of another helpdesk solution and network monitoring solution, and legacy tool to track its Windows inventory and configuration data. However, they lacked a complete and up-to-date asset inventory and had limited visibility across the IT estate.

«We were unable to track tickets proactively and could not address customer challenges or needs in a timely manner,» said DuPuy. «We also had no metrics available to support the professional development of our staff, such as how many tickets we resolved on the first call. What’s more, we didn’t know what inventory we owned, how old our assets were, or what needed to be replaced.»

Additionally, shadow IT was a major problem. «People across departments were buying and loading hardware and software on their own, without contacting us, so there were a lot of assets on the network we didn’t know about.» Not only was the lack of visibility making it difficult to manage the IT assets, it jeopardized security. «As a county government, we have a responsibility to secure vast amounts of federally protected data,» DuPuy said. «Knowing what assets comprise the infrastructure is a critical first step to keeping it secure.»

DuPuy had tried using other solutions such as Dude Solutions and Cherwell, to no avail. «Dude’s reporting features were nonexistent and discovery was inadequate, and Cherwell was too expensive,» he said. «Lansweeper was by far a more comprehensive solution, and more affordable, as well.»

«It’s Like Night and Day»

According to DuPuy, installing Lansweeper was «effortless,» and he began scanning the network right away. Lansweeper’s deep scanning engine automatically discovers devices without IT having to install any software, and AI-powered Credential-free Device Recognition technology enables the solution to recognize and identify all connected IT, OT and IoT, even when credentials are missing. Deep scanning is augmented by Lansweeper’s Asset Radar, which can detect a new asset the moment it connects to the network. DuPuy also uses Lansweeper’s LsAgent, a small, lightweight application that gathers data about Windows, Mac & Linux devices and sends it back to the Lansweeper installation.

«Lansweeper provided immediate insight into the health of our technology investments, and it eliminates the challenge of managing endpoint devices used by remote employees, which has been especially helpful during the pandemic,» said DuPuy. «Compared to our previous solutions, it’s like night and day.»

One Platform, Many Use Cases

DuPuy uses Lansweeper data to support numerous use cases, including ITAM, SAM, ITSM, helpdesk and more. His team uses custom alerts and reporting extensively to stay informed about potential vulnerabilities or security threats, what devices need updates or patches, and the status of warranties, which simplifies compliance with the county’s Evergreen strategy for computer replacements. And according to DuPuy, internal customers enjoy how easy it is to open tickets and customize automated email notifications for tracking ticket resolution.

With all these capabilities, DuPuy said, the value Lansweeper delivers is second to none. «No other products provide the visibility, insights, reporting and level of service at the price point Lansweeper offers. If you want an out-of-the-box solution, you have it. It’s not at all generic and continues to grow and improve with each new release. And you can also customize the implementation to suit your needs.»

In the coming months, DuPuy intends to continue to refine his implementation of Lansweeper and complete the transition to using the solution as the County’s IT asset inventory of record. «Lansweeper is so valuable to us that if it was suddenly unavailable, I would be devastated!» he said.