What is the number of computers being managed where the effort and cost of setting up and maintaining and managing a Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server is the same as individually managing the computers?
In our case, we have about 60 computers, all belonging to the domain, all limited users. However, some are laptops, some are servers (windows 2003 and 2008), a few virtual machines, most XP, and a few Windows 7. Most have common software, like MS Office, but there subsets with various specialized software, such as Quickbooks. My tech guys recommend going to WSUS, but I've been resisting, figuring we were still a bit too small.
My own gross-guesstimate is that 100 computers is the breakeven, but if it's 10, then I've been too conservative. If it's 50 computers, even though we're somewhat over that number, I'll probably leave well enough alone. We currently use various automation tools to manage the computers: group policy, log in scripts, PSExec, and scheduled tasks to crudely do what I imagine WSUS would help us better do with a lot less bandwidth.