DeKalb County Public Library Patches Endpoints 2.5 Times Faster with Action1

DeKalb County Public Library operates a broad network of 23 branches across DeKalb County, Georgia. Being one of the biggest public library systems in the state, it manages hundreds of public-facing PCs to serve the diverse needs of its patrons, from kids to adults.

They provide patrons with the ability to use various applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, web browsing, e-readers, online periodicals, and public databases. The IT team places cybersecurity at the forefront of its mission. “Being able to protect the users’ privacy and security while securing our internal day-to-day operations is essential for our team,” says Erwin Fraser, Senior Systems Administrator at DeKalb County Public Library. This goal included keeping endpoints patched with the latest versions of the OS and third-party applications, such as web browsers, media players, printing software, and antiviruses, to mitigate security risks.

To streamline patch management, the IT team tried several solutions but none of them met their needs. The tools they used previously required manual work and didn’t provide the IT team with visibility into the update status. This approach was unreliable, time-consuming, and didn’t allow the IT team to efficiently scale patching to their numerous distributed endpoints.

Erwin and his colleagues decided to search for a robust, automated, and easily scalable solution that would help them streamline patching, enhance the security of endpoints, and increase the IT team’s productivity.

After a thorough evaluation of several solutions, the IT team at DeKalb County Public Library chose Action1 due to its powerful and customizable automated patching and real-time visibility into endpoints, all available through a single pane of glass. Erwin was also impressed with Action1’s ease of use and straightforward deployment process. “It only took us about two minutes to install the agent and get started,” he says.

Thanks to Action1, the library’s IT team has gained increased visibility into vulnerabilities and updates’ status on public and corporate PCs. Now, they can easily discover vulnerabilities across their computers, prioritize them based on severity level, push updates, and track the process in real time – all through a single platform. Erwin explains, “Action1 allows us to clearly see the state of each endpoint and promptly address issues if needed, ensuring that we’re mitigating as many risks as possible.” As a result, DeKalb County Public Library can reduce the attack surface of its network and maintain user confidence.

In addition, Action1’s automation capabilities have helped the IT team to significantly improve their productivity. Specifically, they benefit from the platform’s ability to customize patching policies to different types of endpoints, which allows them to divide endpoints into groups and apply custom automation rules to each group when deploying updates. As a result, the IT team patches OS and third-party applications 2.5 times faster than previously. Moreover, they can now quickly manage the full cycle of updates during convenient hours when the branches are closed for visitors and focus their time and efforts on other tasks.

As DeKalb County Public Library continues to evolve by expanding its range of programs and attracting new patrons, it requires a scalable approach to manage updates on its endpoints, which Action1 reliably delivers. The library’s IT team greatly appreciates the high scalability powered by Action1, which helps them highlight top-notch security on their endpoints, regardless of where they are located. Thanks to Action1’s enterprise-level feature set, they have gained the ability to adapt the library’s security strategies to future challenges quickly.