No Compromise

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Found in: Case Studies

Many IT leaders cringe at the idea of sensitive information being carried around on laptops, fearing the data will fall into the wrong hands if the device is lost or stolen. And most IT technicians dread tediously searching backup data on their networks to re-create a user's information on a new machine when a lost or stolen laptop must be replaced.

Mark Creager, Director of Information Services for the Denver District Attorney's Office, refused to let those obstacles stop him. When funding became available to provide laptops to attorneys, Creager was determined to let users put any information on them they wanted without worrying.

So Creager and his team developed a configuration process that enabled them to instantly image an attorney's new laptop with the same documents as the lost or stolen device. The carefully programmed configurations include powerful encryption software to keep outsiders from accessing confidential data. To provide these capabilities, however, Creager needed laptops powerful enough to handle the software. So Creager set out to find a laptop that best met the office's needs and ultimately purchased 46 Gateway notebooks.

"Given the computing landscape, and some of the goals I had in mind for these laptops, it was necessary that they meet certain minimum requirements. It's not enough to just be able to run Microsoft Word and anti-virus protection anymore. Today we need to account for spyware, hard-drive encryption and data restoration," Creager said. "Gateway provided a laptop that was capable of performing properly."

No Security Compromise
Creager wanted to promote a "work everywhere" environment for users to increase efficiency and make life easier for the attorneys employed by the District Attorney's Office.

"It has always been my goal to provide the most consistent working environment possible," Creager said.

Creager said he doesn't buy the popular fix of simply keeping sensitive data off laptops. He said that solution makes laptops largely useless.

"The laptops have to be able to be stolen or lost without serious problems," Creager said. "People frequently get their laptops lost or stolen. According to some reports, people will occasionally just walk up to you in a coffee shop and take your laptop. Do you really want your user defending a laptop just so they don't lose a document, fearing sensitive data will get out there?"

Rapid Restoration
In the event a device is lost or stolen, IT staff doesn't need to go through the process of finding and retrieving old user data to put on a new machine. Creager's team constantly has a user's full image backed up on its network, allowing it to quickly put that image on a new machine.

"All the documents are placed back on the laptop again. It knows to make sure everything's encrypted -- that the right software has been applied to that laptop. The user can be in business in a very short period of time," Creager said.

The IT staff uses an offline file synchronization procedure to achieve that backup. Any file a user changes throughout the day is synchronized between the user's home network drive and the laptop's "my documents" section every time he or she logs in and out of the office network.

Electronic Courtroom
Creager said his new Gateway notebooks are part of the digital transformation of courtrooms in Denver. He said presenting legal material in court is becoming impossible without laptops. Today's legal culture expects multimedia presentations as part of court proceedings.

"There are no VCRs these days -- no films running in the courtroom. The only way to show those materials in court is to physically have a laptop," Creager said. "We do a great deal of Multimedia presentations. Our juries now expect to see information presented in a way that is concise and visual.

"When I watch the attorneys carry large reams of files to court each day, I know that's not the way of the future. All they will need is that laptop," he said. "We, as IT professionals, need to prepare for that eventuality and prepare our users to be competitive in that environment."

He predicts the cultural transformation will be largely complete in the next five years, creating a dire need for reliable, high-performance laptops.

Gateway's exceptional performance and service are critical for meeting that requirement.

Laptop malfunctions in the middle of a heated court battle are not an option, said Creager, and lawyers who rely on their laptops can't afford part replacement delays when they are expected to meet court deadlines.

Gateway simplifies part replacements, Creager said, by offering phone support technicians who don't run him through needless troubleshooting before shipping him a part.

Working Where They Want
The new laptops make attorneys in the Denver District Attorney's Office more effective and improve their quality of life, Creager said.

"The attorneys spend long hours preparing for court. Switching from traditional desktop PCs to laptop computers means the attorneys can spend more time at home with their families and still be prepared for court in the morning," Creager said.

The new imaging and security solution coupled with powerful Gateway notebooks ensures attorneys can work anywhere without fear of losing or exposing their data.

"I can sleep at night knowing these laptops are in the hands of my attorneys. We don't worry about them being lost or stolen, and we don't worry about losing any work in progress," Creager said. "They are used at home and on the road, and we are confident and comfortable that they are secure."