Based in London, this media and entertainment company has over 10 years of industry experience and serves a global clientele. Their 15-person IT team is responsible for managing a mixed endpoint estate of 300 to 400 devices, covering servers, desktops, and laptops across Windows desktop and macOS server editions.
Business challenges
Short turnaround for new hire device provisioning with no standardised image or automation.
Before Endpoint Central, provisioning devices for new hires was a manual process involving fresh equipment setup, domain joining, naming conventions, account provisioning, and individual software installations. Meanwhile, mobile devices were managed one by one through GPO settings that were unreliable and hard to enforce consistently. As the organisation grew and onboarding pressure increased, those manual workflows became harder to sustain for a lean IT team responsible for a broad and expanding device fleet.
Repetitive admin consuming skilled IT time on routine software and configuration tasks.
Each new employee device required manual setup, including operating system installation, account provisioning, domain joining, device naming, and software installation, all performed one device at a time. Much of what the IT team spent its time on was routine and repeatable: pushing software, applying configurations, managing settings — tasks that required direct IT involvement every time.
Fragmented tooling with no single view of device status or compliance across the estate.
Without a centralised way to enforce configuration policies, devices across the estate could drift from the expected baseline. The team was managing its endpoint estate across several separate products, each covering a different part of the job, with no unified console or easy way to run compliance checks or audit evidence without pulling information from multiple places.
"Endpoint Central has helped address this through the use of tools and services in the suite, such as the OS deployment module allowing for a golden image to be applied alongside manual repeated tasks such as domain joining and naming conventions. The software deployment and configuration policies allow us to subsequently deploy up-to-date software packages and configurations to the device, all entirely automated with little to no human intervention required."
- Anonymous, IT Manager, London based media company
Evaluating the market
Before selecting Endpoint Central, the IT team evaluated Panda Cloud Systems Management. After comparing the options against their operational needs, budget, and the scale of their automation requirements, the team chose Endpoint Central on six grounds:
| Decision factor | What it meant for the organization |
|---|---|
| Consolidation and simplicity | Replaced three to five separate products with one platform, cutting the overhead of managing disconnected tools and vendor relationships. |
| Ease of use and deployment | Straightforward enough for the team to adopt and operate without specialist training or a lengthy rollout. |
| Cost and value | Enterprise-grade endpoint management capabilities at a price point that made sense for a media organisation balancing operational and IT investment. |
| Patch management and security capabilities | Automated patching and security configuration coverage across a mixed Windows and macOS estate. |
| Remote management and support | Reliable remote access and troubleshooting regardless of where devices or users are located. |
| Automation and productivity | Scripted, policy-driven workflows to remove repetitive manual tasks from the IT team's day. |
The Endpoint Central solution
With Endpoint Central deployed across its endpoint estate, the organization moved from a collection of manual processes and disconnected tools to a single, policy-driven platform. The change was felt across provisioning, day-to-day operations, mobile management, and compliance.
OS Deployment module and automated provisioning
The biggest shift came in how new devices were provisioned. With the OS deployment module, the team configures a golden image once and applies it to new machines automatically. Domain joining and device naming, two tasks that previously required manual steps every time, now run as part of the same automated workflow. Once a device is enrolled, software deployment and configuration policies take over, pushing the right applications, power settings, and security configurations to each machine without anyone touching it individually.
Configuration policies: Keeping every device in line
Configuration policies in Endpoint Central give the IT team a consistent, enforceable baseline across the full estate. Default software, OS security settings, and power configurations are defined once and applied automatically. Devices cannot drift from that baseline without the team knowing, and remediation does not require a manual visit or individual device intervention.
Patch management: Security coverage without the manual overhead
Patch management is one of the three features identified as critical to the team's security and compliance work, alongside operating system deployment and configuration policies. With automated patching running across the Windows and macOS estate, the team no longer needs to schedule, coordinate, or manually push updates. Security coverage stays current across the fleet without pulling IT time away from other work.
Mobile device management: Consistent policy without device-by-device management
Before Endpoint Central, enforcing consistent settings on mobile devices meant relying on GPO configurations that did not always behave predictably. The MDM module changed that. Security rules, app restrictions, and device policies are applied uniformly from the same console used for the rest of the estate, with no need to manage devices one by one.
"Endpoint Central's MDM feature has made it much easier to manage mobile devices from one place, especially for enforcing policies consistently across the organisation. The biggest benefits are stronger control over device settings, better protection of company data, and easier compliance monitoring, since you can apply security rules, restrict risky actions, and keep devices aligned with policy without managing them one by one or relying on temperamental GPO settings."
- Anonymous, IT Manager, London based media company
Compliance and audit readiness: A centralised snapshot on demand
This organization operates under UK GDPR and the Trusted Partner Network (TPN) framework. With Endpoint Central, the compliance picture that previously required pulling data from multiple tools is now available from a single dashboard. Device configurations, applied rule sets, and policy enforcement status are visible at a glance, making audit evidence and compliance RFP responses straightforward to produce.
"Allows a centralised and uncomplicated snapshot into device configurations and rulesets that supports evidencing audits and compliance RFPs with minimal hassle."
- Anonymous, IT Manager, London based media company
Results and impact
Since deploying ManageEngine Endpoint Central, their IT team has seen measurable improvements across provisioning, day-to-day operations, mobile management, and compliance:
| Challenges before | Outcomes after |
|---|---|
| Manual, multi-step device provisioning with no standardisation. | OSDeployer golden image applied automatically, with domain joining and naming conventions handled as part of the same workflow. |
| Repeated manual tasks consuming senior technician's time. | Provisioning, software deployment, and configuration now run automatically with little to no human intervention required. |
| Inconsistent device configurations across the estate. | Configuration policies enforce default software, power settings, and security settings uniformly across all managed endpoints. |
| Mobile devices managed in isolation or through unreliable GPO settings. | MDM module applies security rules, restricts risky actions, and keeps devices aligned with policy from a single console. |
| Multi-tool licensing and fragmented management overhead. | Single platform replaced three to five separate products; cost paid back many times over in time economy alone. |
| Compliance evidence gathered manually and inconsistently. | Centralised dashboard provides an uncomplicated snapshot of device configurations and rule sets for UK GDPR and TPN audit support. |
While they have not formally measured the ROI from Endpoint Central in numbers, the impact on the IT team's time is clear. The biggest shift is in provisioning new hire devices — steps that previously pulled senior technicians through a sequence of manual tasks now run automatically.
Consolidating three to five separate products into one platform also removed the management overhead that comes with running disconnected tooling. The organisation is also continuing to grow, absorbing additional offices and studios into its IT remit, with Endpoint Central providing a scalable way to bring new devices and locations under management.
"It has without a shadow of a doubt paid for itself, many magnitudes of time over in terms of time economy where senior skilled technicians have not had to manage the mundane repetitive admin tasks associated."
- Anonymous, IT Manager, London based media company
Looking ahead
The company has built a solid, scalable endpoint management foundation with ManageEngine Endpoint Central. Automated provisioning, enforced configuration policies, unified patch management, and on-demand compliance reporting have replaced a collection of manual processes and disconnected tools.
As the organisation continues to grow into new offices and studios, Endpoint Central gives the IT team the flexibility to extend management to new devices and environments without a proportional increase in workload. New endpoints are brought in line quickly, compliance evidence is ready when needed, and senior technicians spend their time on problems that require their expertise instead of menial tasks.
Features
OS deployment
Configuration policies
Patch management
Results
- Golden image OS deployment with automated domain join and naming for new hire devices.
- Software deployment and configuration policies applied with little to no human intervention.
- Single platform replaced three to five separate endpoint management products.
- Centralised UK GDPR and TPN compliance snapshot for audits and RFPs with minimal effort.
