Sometimes, I feel like CDW configuration services are the best-kept secret in enterprise IT. The customers who have relied on us for years keep coming back because of how much time and energy we can save them, allowing their internal IT staff to focus more on mission-critical projects than device configuration.

But many business and IT leaders simply don’t know that we’re out here (or what we do). As a result, they tie up their own IT professionals with time-consuming — but necessary — tasks and projects that end up extending the amount of time it takes to get devices into users’ hands.

Here are six ways that configuration services can help your business simplify its operations.

Keeping tabs on a sprawling software environment can be challenging. With a surge in work-from-home users, overwhelmed IT teams scrambling to respond, and a proliferation of Software as a Service opportunities that end users can quickly jump on by keying in their corporate credit cards, this problem has the potential to spiral out of control.

These problems can be solved with the right mix of technologies and practices, but unfortunately, simple barriers often stand in the way. Here is how to identify those barriers and overcome them.

In my work with CDW customers, I often come across technology leaders who want to improve their cybersecurity posture but aren’t really sure where to start. They might recognize that their organizations need to improve their cybersecurity controls but don’t know where their investments will pay off the most.

When I hear concerns like this, I immediately look to the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). While there are many different cybersecurity standards out there, I prefer this one because it uses plain language to describe the five most important activities in cybersecurity. I’d like to walk you through this framework using two different examples.

Many organizations struggle with IT asset management even during the best of times. In fact, according to a CDW survey, nearly 1 in 5 businesses incorporates Post-it notes as part of its asset management strategy. Now, add a worldwide crisis that has forced organizations to roll out countless laptops and software licenses in a matter of days to enable remote work (often outside of their normal procurement and budget processes), and you have a recipe not only for massive inefficiency, but also huge software license compliance liabilities.

It’s important for organizations to get in front of this now by applying appropriate asset management tools and practices to their new environments. At CDW, we have four main ways of helping customers to better manage their IT environments.

Most clients, if pressed, will say that the most valuable Software Assurance benefits they receive from Microsoft are Planning Services Vouchers and Training Vouchers. If you’re not an Enterprise Agreement customer, and these are unfamiliar terms to you, here is a quick rundown: