Case Studies Charles County Public Schools reduces theft and improves inventory accuracy

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	Charles County Public Schools reduces theft and improves inventory accuracy

Charles County Public Schools reduces theft and improves inventory accuracy

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Enterprise Asset Management Systems (EAM) Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
Applicable Industries	Education
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Facility Management
Use Cases	Inventory Management Remote Asset Management Theft Detection
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services System Integration
Challenge	As a growing school district, Charles County Public Schools faced significant challenges in managing their expanding inventory of computers. With over 14,000 desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, tracking these assets became a daunting task. The IT department struggled to produce detailed hardware and software inventories due to the overwhelming workload. In 2007, the situation worsened when several laptops went missing, and employees reported thefts from their vehicles. The IT department was unable to track the lost devices or verify the theft reports. Additionally, there was a concern about unauthorized software, such as LimeWire, being used on the machines. Read More
About Customer	Charles County Public Schools is a rapidly growing school system located south of Washington, D.C., in Charles County, Maryland. It is part of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and serves nearly 27,000 children. The school system comprises 21 elementary schools, eight middle schools, six high schools, and four educational centers. Charles County Public Schools is dedicated to providing an academically challenging and quality education that builds character, equips students for leadership, and prepares them for life. The school system places a strong emphasis on the investment in and use of technology to achieve these educational goals. Read More
Solution	To address the challenges of laptop theft and inventory management, Charles County Public Schools implemented Absolute. This solution was chosen to simplify inventory tracking and ensure that only approved software was used on each machine. Absolute provided the capability to remotely freeze a machine and display a pop-up message instructing the user to return the device to IT for configuration. This feature helped in recovering stolen laptops and preventing unauthorized software usage. Additionally, Absolute allowed the IT department to remotely install updates and identify problematic software on devices across the district, significantly improving productivity and asset management. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Enterprise Asset Management Systems (EAM)

Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems

Applicable Industries

Education

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Facility Management

Use Cases

Inventory Management

Remote Asset Management

Theft Detection

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Challenge

As a growing school district, Charles County Public Schools faced significant challenges in managing their expanding inventory of computers. With over 14,000 desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, tracking these assets became a daunting task. The IT department struggled to produce detailed hardware and software inventories due to the overwhelming workload. In 2007, the situation worsened when several laptops went missing, and employees reported thefts from their vehicles. The IT department was unable to track the lost devices or verify the theft reports. Additionally, there was a concern about unauthorized software, such as LimeWire, being used on the machines.

About Customer

Charles County Public Schools is a rapidly growing school system located south of Washington, D.C., in Charles County, Maryland. It is part of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and serves nearly 27,000 children. The school system comprises 21 elementary schools, eight middle schools, six high schools, and four educational centers. Charles County Public Schools is dedicated to providing an academically challenging and quality education that builds character, equips students for leadership, and prepares them for life. The school system places a strong emphasis on the investment in and use of technology to achieve these educational goals.

Solution

To address the challenges of laptop theft and inventory management, Charles County Public Schools implemented Absolute. This solution was chosen to simplify inventory tracking and ensure that only approved software was used on each machine. Absolute provided the capability to remotely freeze a machine and display a pop-up message instructing the user to return the device to IT for configuration. This feature helped in recovering stolen laptops and preventing unauthorized software usage. Additionally, Absolute allowed the IT department to remotely install updates and identify problematic software on devices across the district, significantly improving productivity and asset management.

Impact #1	Efficient Asset Inventory: Inventories can now be carried out remotely in minutes, compared to the manual process that took days and was often inaccurate.
Impact #2	Improved Productivity: Absolute enables the IT department to remotely install updates and identify problematic software on devices across the district.
Impact #3	Money Saved: Since the implementation of Absolute, five laptops have been recovered, and theft losses have been eliminated.

Impact #1

Efficient Asset Inventory: Inventories can now be carried out remotely in minutes, compared to the manual process that took days and was often inaccurate.

Impact #2

Improved Productivity: Absolute enables the IT department to remotely install updates and identify problematic software on devices across the district.

Impact #3

Money Saved: Since the implementation of Absolute, five laptops have been recovered, and theft losses have been eliminated.

Benefit #1	Five laptops recovered since the implementation of Absolute.

Benefit #1

Five laptops recovered since the implementation of Absolute.

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Overview

Charles County Public Schools reduces theft and improves inventory accuracy

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit