Case Study: Cal Poly simplifies imaging and saves time with SmartDeploy

How Cal Poly saved time and money by switching from Symantec Ghost for computer imaging

The mechanical engineering department at Cal Poly, the largest department at California Polytechnic State University, was struggling with an inefficient and time-consuming imaging process using Symantec Ghost. Their IT team had to maintain a multitude of unique images for over 300 lab and faculty computers, a challenge compounded by annual hardware refreshes and compatibility issues with newer equipment. This process was a significant drain on resources, requiring dedicated physical computers to act as gold images.

By implementing SmartDeploy, the department leveraged its Platform Pack technology to deploy a single master image to any hardware configuration. This solution eliminated the need for multiple physical gold images, saving an estimated $5,000 annually on extra computers, and made imaging approximately 25% faster. SmartDeploy provided greater flexibility for updates and automated network-based deployments, drastically simplifying the department's image management and saving considerable time for the IT staff.

Cal Poly

Larry Coolidge

Mechanical Engineering Department Technical Support Team