Lean IT Team Manages Growing IT Infrastructure with Lansweeper
Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Fitas Flax is one of the largest manufacturers of adhesive hotmelt tapes, masking tapes and stretch film in Brazil. Due to the nature of the business, the company’s IT infrastructure consists of a diverse range of IT assets, from Windows machines to handheld devices, label printers, scales, IP cameras, mobile devices and more. William Redig manages all of IT for the Fitas Flax, including the internal systems, network infrastructure and endpoint devices. His lean team of four employees oversees IT operations and security, managing the IT assets across the company’s four locations.
Results
- Supports multiple use cases by providing complete visibility across the IT infrastructure
- Eliminates spreadsheets and manual processes, so IT can do more with less
- Provides a single source of truth with always accurate and timely data
- Slashes operational overhead and accelerates ticket resolution
“Lansweeper helps us to continually and proactively manage the IT infrastructure as it expands, without needing additional resources. The solution is more efficient, more reliable and more cost-effective than previous solutions, and enables us to do more with less — and that’s a huge benefit for our business.”
The Need for Automated ITAM Solution to Keep Up with Rapid Growth
William Redig and his team were looking for a new inventory asset management (ITAM) system and helpdesk solution that could keep pace with the company’s growth. Redig had been using mostly Excel spreadsheets, which were always outdated. “By the time you finished updating a spreadsheet, it was already obsolete,” he said. “Plus, it was tedious and time-consuming to collect the data. We have many thin clients connected to remote desktop servers and IP phones, which means we needed to go to the TFTP server to get the configuration data for those devices. Now, Lansweeper keeps information updated automatically.”
Although Redig had tried using other solutions such as Spiceworks, they all fell short. “None of the solutions could provide the data mining capabilities we would need to enable our small team to be productive and efficient as our IT infrastructure expands,” he said.
Redig was in search of an off-the-shelf product that would “just work” and provide the ability to link people with devices and all of the tickets and data associated with them. He learned about Lansweeper when visiting a friend — another IT professional — at work, and was astonished by the tool’s capabilities. “While I was there, my friend received a call about a problem with a printer,” he said. “With a few clicks on his computer, he could see a new printer had replaced an older model on the network. I asked him, ‘How did you know that?’ and he said “Lansweeper.” Redig knew Lansweeper was the right solution for his team.
“With a few clicks on his computer, he could see a new printer had replaced an older model on the network. I asked him, ‘How did you know that?’ and he said “Lansweeper.”
“Nothing compares to Lansweeper.”
When Redig installed Lansweeper and ran his first scan, he was amazed. Installation was easy and the value was immediately apparent. “Lansweeper shined when I first installed it in our network and had it scan all our assets,” he said. “The ability to link assets to users and helpdesk events was just what we needed. Exploring the product further only made it shine brighter.”
Specifically, Redig was impressed by the amount of data Lansweeper makes available through the Dashboard. “I added all the credentials for SNMP and device access, and all of the information showed up in Lansweeper Dashboard within minutes,” he said. “When I discovered I could see what was connected to each port on our switches, as well as the status of all of our printers along with all the relevant data, I knew Lansweeper was a serious product.”
Multiple Use Cases, Complete Visibility and Control
Lansweeper is deployed in Fitas Flax’s main NOC and scans devices across all sites. Redig relies on the tool for IT Asset management, Software Asset Management and Helpdesk. It enables him to scan and track IT and Software asset inventory automatically across all locations and maintain all that data in a single source of truth.
“Lansweeper’s ability to discover every asset on our network is incredible,” Redig said. “Being able to match users to devices and tickets has been instrumental in helping overcome the challenges of managing a growing number of users and devices with a small team.”
Redig’s team uses the tool in conjunction with other operational tools such as anti-virus software, network traffic monitoring software, and RMM/MDM tools. The Lansweeper Knowledge Base empowers employees with self-service capabilities, which helps cut down on the IT team’s workload.
“The information in Lansweeper can answer any question we have,” he said. “Where’s the invoice from the printer purchase two years ago? Lansweeper. What’s the password for this device? Lansweeper. Here’s a remote rack with a missing power adapter — which plug is it? Check Lansweeper. All the information is there, and it’s searchable and clickable.”
“The information in Lansweeper can answer any question we have… All the information is there, and it’s searchable and clickable.”
Having an up-to-date, single source of truth helps the team accelerate ticket resolution, particularly when managing assets remotely. “We have many thin clients connected to remote desktop servers and IP phones, which means we need to go to the TFTP server to get the configuration data for those devices,” he said. “Using spreadsheets, that data was always outdated. With Lansweeper, I can look into the switch, see the extension number and retrieve all the information I need. I can scan a switch and see exactly what’s plugged into each port. This immediate insight enables us to resolve issues rapidly.”
Translation Capabilities Removed Language Barrier, Improved User Adoption
Redig noted that an especially useful feature of Lansweeper is the ability to translate the Interface and Knowledge Base into different languages. Translating the Knowledge Base and Dashboard interface into Portuguese helped improve user adoption among Fitas Flax’s Brazilian employees.
“We often have a language barrier, when it comes to rolling out new systems,” he said, noting that user adoption has been low in the past. “Being able to translate the Lansweeper interface made all the difference in helping our employees get up and running quickly.”
Redig also appreciates the high quality support he has received from Lansweeper when he has needed help. “Lansweeper Support is always very responsive,” he said. “They’ve helped us build custom reports, and they’ve sent links to articles and information to help me learn more about various topics. Every time we’ve needed help, they were fast and spot-on.”
“Lansweeper Support is always very responsive, they’ve helped us build custom reports, and they’ve sent links to articles and information to help me learn more about various topics. Every time we’ve needed help, they were fast and spot-on.”
Reporting, Alerts Enable Proactive Maintenance for Business Continuity
Redig uses Lansweeper’s reporting capabilities to track and document network changes and activity. Alerts are configured to notify his team regarding printer toner levels, new devices on the network, computers not being shut down properly and other common issues. “With Lansweeper, we are able to work proactively to resolve issues, and we have complete control of our environment,” he said. “This helps us improve uptime and plan downtime for off-hours, to ensure business continuity.”
Lansweeper has also been invaluable as a Helpdesk tool, and for addressing recurring issues. “We can easily monitor devices with frequent issues, and determine when they should be patched or replaced,” he said. “We can also track and register users’ ticketing activities, and document any evidence of malpractices, and take action to fix the problem.”
A Wealth of Information — and the Power to Do More with Less
Having used Lansweeper on a daily basis for about three years, Redig can’t imagine running Fitas Flax’s IT infrastructure without it. “Lansweeper is comprehensive, flexible and easy to use, and the wealth of information it provides is unmatched,” he said. “There hasn’t been a day since we’ve been using the product that we haven’t commented to each other, ‘Wow! Lansweeper is amazing!'”
“Lansweeper is comprehensive, flexible and easy to use. The wealth of information is unmatched. There hasn’t been a day since we’ve been using the product that we haven’t commented to each other, ‘Wow! Lansweeper is amazing!’”
Redig added that Lansweeper has eliminated tedious manual tasks that would have impaired his team’s ability to keep pace with the company’s growth, noting that continuing to address IT issues over email would have created duplicate work, impacting productivity further. “Without Lansweeper tracking past activity related to people, devices and tickets, we would not be able to identify problem devices and budget properly for upgrades,” he said. “Knowing which devices are having recurring issues helps us identify where to invest in replacing failing devices, which not only saves us time and the expense of fixing those devices, but helps us minimize downtime, as well.”
These capabilities, Redig said, will be essential to managing the growing IT infrastructure in the months and years to come, while keeping costs down. “Lansweeper will help us continue to proactively manage the IT infrastructure as it expands, without needing additional resources. The solution is more efficient, more reliable and more cost-effective than previous solutions, and enables us to do more with less — and that’s a huge benefit for the business.”
