How many designers does it take to deliver a brief?
No, this isn't a cheesy Christmas cracker joke.
Rather, it’s a serious question about resourcing in your creative agency.
And the initial question leads to more. Are they freelance or permanent? Do they work on-site or remotely? Once you’ve squared away the human element, next you’ll have to consider the technology aspect and think about what IT is required.
While a flourishing business is certainly not an issue you’d categorise in the ‘problems’ department, the complexities that arise on an IT front from burgeoning staff most definitely are. And typically, it’s all about how quickly you can get people up and running. Irrespective of the size of your agency, when you’re billing by the hour, deployment speed is critical to keeping business ticking over.
Time is Money
But setting up a machine fit for purpose, that’s ready for use within a matter of hours is a resource-intensive task. Add to the equation the need for extra software licensing and setting up company communication systems for a new employee and there’s little margin for delay. And if the machine is for a freelancer? Even worse scenario. The daily cost overhead is greater and they tend to be power users, requiring a higher level of IT resource to get the job done.
Once upon a time you could plan to accommodate extra designers or copywriters. You had more time to consider IT budgets and your requirements and expected costs could be set for a year in advance. Now, with lower cost computing and the proliferation of a Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) workforce, a more flexible approach is required.
Speeding Up Deployment
So, with this pressing need to be able to move from initiation to deployment in the least amount of time, what’s the quickest, most reliable method to use? We believe in an agile deployment system (the very same that Google adopts) utilising imaging and automation for time-sensitive, versatile set ups. This approach not only cuts down on the time involved from start to finish, but allows for easier future management too.
Once your machines and devices are fully managed, a hosted deployment solution can provide deep insight into your IT estate, providing a simple way to apply software and configuration, especially at the machine deployment stage.
Essentially, build containers are created for each organisation group in your business. These include the most relevant updated software packages for each team, as well as the required operating system, updates, drivers and settings.
Once a machine serial number is added to a dashboard and assigned to a group, it will automate the install relevant to the user type, ensuring their workspace is pertinent to their needs. All delivered simply and efficiently via your company network.
Your machine management and deployment solution should offer the following:
- Responsive, device agnostic UI, with full reporting
- Business unit, group and machine management
- Software management (both mandatory and optional)
- Stateful configuration management
- Intelligent patch and version management
These systems require a bit of time to set up initially, but once in place, they empower your in-house or outsourced IT support team to move quickly on deployment requests, ensuring your new employees are billable before they’ve finished their company introductions!
