Autoleague

Supporting an expansive and distributed fleet

Autoleague is a leading automotive group in Australia with dealerships and service operations spread across the country and more than 2,000 employees. Ian Melton leads IT operations and security operations with a team of around 14 staff covering a wide mix of roles, including IT support, application control, and cybersecurity.

The starting point: A strong D&I foundation

PDQ Deploy & Inventory had been a cornerstone of Autoleague’s endpoint management for 7 to 8 years. Ian originally found PDQ when an urgent software rollout would have required touching hundreds of devices manually.

“We stumbled across PDQ Deploy & Inventory, deployed to 300 endpoints in just a couple of days, and went, ‘what is this magic?’”

PDQ Deploy & Inventory worked because it was practical and fast. Implementation was quick as well. The team built scanning rules, targeted devices based on inventory data, and automated deployments.

That foundation mattered because the subsequent move to PDQ Connect was not about replacing a broken workflow. It was about carrying forward a proven approach into a model that better fits a distributed, modern workforce.

The decision to move to PDQ Connect

Eventually, the environment evolved. Autoleague grew rapidly through mergers and acquisitions, expanding across more sites in Australia and beyond. 

“A lot of our devices are remote or traveling and not always connected via VPN. We needed a more efficient way to deploy essential software to endpoints and keep them secure, no matter where they were.”

Autoleague was also moving away from on-prem server infrastructure to the cloud, so a cloud-native app like PDQ Connect was a good fit. The decision to move to Connect was ultimately shaped by the need for:

• Vulnerability remediation: “With PDQ Connect, we not only can scan for vulnerabilities across endpoints but also use it to push PowerShell scripts, registry scripts, and take immediate action to fix critical CVEs.”

• Deployment flexibility: The Autoleague IT team could use PDQ Connect to quickly deploy software to devices anywhere without relying on a VPN connection.

• Remote desktop: PDQ Connect would also allow the team to provide remote IT support seamlessly without the extra costs. “Besides the hefty cost savings from dropping TeamViewer, we also remove the risk of bad actors exploiting it for data exfiltration.”

Ian also wanted to consolidate the vendors they engaged with. Keeping within the PDQ suite was a good example of this.

We had a tool that scanned for vulnerabilities and gave us a massive amount of data — but we would still have to interpret it, come up with a fix, and deploy using PDQ Deploy. It was just easier to move all of that into PDQ Connect.

Results: Same PDQ speed, better fit for a distributed, security-centric reality

The migration from PDQ Deploy & Inventory to PDQ Connect was relatively straightforward. Roughly 90% of existing Deploy packages carried over to Connect via XML export/import, and they only needed to recreate a small subset of custom scripts.

They also retained a single D&I license (down from four) as a lightweight bridge for any remaining legacy workflows.

“During our trial, after we exported everything we needed into Connect, we set up some automations and tested workflows. It all worked really well, so we decided to go ahead.”

As one of their primary tools, PDQ Connect allows Autoleague to align endpoint management to the way the organization operates today: multiple locations and countries, cloud-based IT infrastructure, and a proactive cybersecurity policy.

Key benefits included:

• Rapid deployment at scale to remote or roving devices without the need for VPN.

• Improved device management by making it easier to oversee devices across different domains and reducing inventory clutter from stale devices.

• Tool consolidation since PDQ Connect integrates vulnerability scanning and remediation, remote desktop, and software deployment in a single platform. Being able to support macOS devices as well was a bonus.

• Smoother collaboration where multiple technicians can now use PDQ Connect simultaneously since licensing is no longer restricted to single-admin access.

PDQ already had my trust from all those years of using PDQ Deploy & Inventory.

A strong solution for security teams

Autoleague’s migration to PDQ Connect worked because it fits their environment, operating model, and security requirements really well.

Beyond traditional IT deployment, Ian saw PDQ Connect as a strong solution for security teams with its vulnerability scanning, patching, and automation features — and he believes it will get even better over time.

“A lot of security people face the issue of having vulnerabilities to fix, but they rely on their IT team to do it. Having a tool that could detect and remediate vulnerabilities, that could really make a difference.”