ADFA@UNSW will begin rolling out PatchLink Update this month to automatically download and install new software and patches for some 3700 nodes - work previously divided up between four support staff. It is expected the work will continue over summer.

PatchLink licences for the education market are sold on a per user basis. Stefanovic added since deploying PatchLink the organization has been able to devote IT man-hours to performing infrastructure improvements.

"The cost of the product is small compared to the cost in man time savings," Stefanovic said.

"We'll now be able to dedicate more of the IT department's resources to high-end system infrastructure improvements, including the roll-out of an online learning management system and a brand new blade storage area networking server infrastructure rather than worrying about what software people have."