Case Studies
Avecto Privilege Guard simplifies Windows 7 migration projects, empowers users and boosts network security.
Any business that is upgrading to Windows 7 should use Privilege Guard. Not only did it save us a lot of time and effort, it gave our employees the capability to do their jobs without having to grant everyone full admin rights."
– Holland & Knight LLP
In Short...
- Empower employees
to run applications in
Windows 7 – without
requiring admin rights
- Increase productivity
for attorneys – when
working from remote
client sites
- Improve operational
management –
by reducing IT support
incidents and costs
Download the case study
Holland & Knight is a global law firm with 1,000 attorneys covering more than 150 practice areas. The firm has been honored with numerous accolades, including being named a “2011 Go-To Law Firm” by Corporate Counsel magazine and one of the world’s top trademark law firms by World Trademark Review 1000. Holland & Knight is perennially ranked among the top-performing law firms in the area of client service by the BTI Consulting Group, and many of their attorneys are consistently highly ranked by leading legal publications and directories.
A large part of what makes Holland & Knight so successful is their dedication to clients. Attorneys are committed to understanding their clients’ industries, businesses and business objectives. This often necessitates being on-site with clients.
Desktop technology is critical to ensuring that staff can work productively while at client offices. In the spring of 2010, Holland & Knight embarked on an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, and, as part of that project, evaluated how to enable applications that required admin privileges to work without providing full admin rights to users.
The Challenge
Holland & Knight granted admin rights to a very small percentage of their Windows XP user-base. But they wanted to avoid malware and compliance issues that could potentially arise when members of the firm were given admin rights to download and install software. Additionally they needed to fully address security issues, which could be critical.
Without admin rights, attorneys could find themselves unable to install the necessary printer drivers to print documents while on-site with clients. Similarly, if the law firm could not employ a wildcard for granting rights to ActiveX controls, attorneys would need IT’s help before they could access websites that required ActiveX. All of this could interrupt attorneys’ work and affect their ability to provide timely service.
Deployment Environment
Holland & Knight’s preferred solution for managing their user rights was Avecto’s Privilege Guard. “Avecto was more cost-effective than the alternatives, and Privilege Guard’s functionality, such as whitelisting and blacklisting, is extremely robust,” said Rick Bywalski, IT Support Technician for Holland & Knight.
After testing Privilege Guard in its lab, IT built it into the Windows 7 production image. They then rolled out their Windows 7 deployment incorporating Privilege Guard in June 2010.
By implementing Privilege Guard, Holland & Knight was able to grant admin rights to key applications rather than to users, ensuring that they would run in Windows 7. Employees were able to easily install printer drivers using digital signatures that allow for elevated rights.
The Results
- All employees run Windows 7 without requiring user admin rights
- Employees can work more productively from remote sites
- Security risks from malware and inadvertent system changes have been reduced