If this is like ANY other similar request I've worked on, ssh will not be the last package that needs to be distributed. You might want to look into
rsync and
rdist as a viable alternative to a homegrown perl script for binary/configuration synchronization across multiple hosts. Rdist even uses ssh as a transport mechanism. Rsync's claim to fame is efficiency, transporting only the differences between the src and the dest host. This may be a big gain for you with 1700 hosts. I belive the last time I checked it was able to use ssh as its transport mechanism as well.
Just a few random ideas.
-brad..