UIU Case Studies

DuPont Performance Elastomers

Scott Himmelberger is a Site Specialist for DuPont Performance Elastomers, part of the multibillion dollar Fortune 500 manufacturer. Operating in 90 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for many markets including agriculture, electronics, automotive, home, transportation, and safety and protection.

As Site Specialist for the Delaware location, it is Scott’s job to keep the network and computers running smoothly.

The Cloning Dilemna

To help create an efficient network, Scott attended a Symantec Ghost Solution Suite training course in Houston, TX. The course was three intensive days of hands-on study.

Though the cloning capabilities of Ghost were an improvement over the previous method used by DuPont Performance Elastomers, the overhead of creating, storing, and maintaining a Ghost image file for each computer type in the network was still substantial. In this case, the time and man-power required for the dozen images needed was costly and prevented the team from focusing on other projects.

For example, deploying a new system or re-cloning an existing one was a hands-on job and exceeded two and a half hours, due in part to the time required to locate the appropriate image, make sure it was updated, and then ensure that it contained the necessary drivers for the specific recipient hardware.

The Deployment Solution

It was also at this training course that Scott learned about the Universal Imaging Utility (UIU) from Big Bang LLC. The UIU caught his attention because it solved an important issue for him: the inability of Ghost to create a single image that could be deployed to the variety of makes and models of computers DuPont Performance Elastomers was using.

The UIU is the only software application able to create ONE hardware-independent hard drive image that can easily be deployed to any laptop or desktop regarldess of manufacturer.

No one else is able to handle multiple hardware platforms.

Scott Himmelberger, Site Specialist

With the UIU, the cloning process now takes 30 minutes or less, a reduction of over 80% in labor costs alone. The UIU also enables the technicians to work on location, with a bootable USB drive, re-imaging the faulty system without removing it from its environment. This adds to the cost-savings of the UIU.

Why It Works

DuPont Performance Elastomers is fairly typical of most companies in that they have a variety of computers in their network. Though mostly Dells, they have nearly 10 different models of desktops and more than a half dozen types of laptops. These are all maintained with one single hardware-independent Ghost image created with the help of the UIU.

When configuring a new system, it is important to ensure all the necessary device drivers are included. Appropriately assigned and installed drivers enable the system to function for the new user immediately, without any problems. The UIU contains a constantly vetted and updated driver database that eliminates the need to worry about locating and installing the correct drivers.

None of the other products configure like the UIU.

Scott Himmelberger, Site Specialist

In their experience, the UIU has out-performed any alternative methods, including “free” tools that are available. Scott explained, “None of the other products configure like the UIU. They are unable to handle multiple hardware platforms.”

As Scott and the rest of the IT staff prepare for the next round of application upgrades, the UIU is ready to help. Their upcoming migration to a 64-bit platform, Office 2010 and other changes has already been tested successfully with the UIU.