IT departments need to offer an effective and ongoing deterrent to hackers and viruses.

• They need to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to any threats and to be able to distribute patches rapidly with minimum disruption to users.
• Users and customers want guaranteed continuous availability and access to the applications and systems they need (not just 9am to 5pm but round the clock).  Updates, upgrades and changes to the system need to be managed seamlessly with minimum impact on users.
• Keeping organizations in line with software licensing requirements (either from the software supplier or from agencies such as FAST (The Federation Against Software Theft)
• Making systems available to users and customers through multiple devices and from many locations (often away from an office)
• Delivering systems that are easy to support and manage remotely without increasing the cost of ownership