February 2005
Latest NetSupport Release Has Unique Features for Its Class
Provance Set to Release Enhanced Version
Everdream, an Impressive Offering from a Newcomer to Asset Management
The latest version of NetSupport DNA is aimed at small and medium-size businesses, but it has asset -management features typically offered in applications aimed at bigger companies.
NetSupport Inc., a U.K.-based publisher of desktop management, support and help-desk software, says version 2.0 of the suite targets businesses that have 10 to 500 desktops. Released in September, the suite includes such corporate-level capabilities as software and hardware discovery (Windows platforms only), software distribution, query and reporting tools, extendable and customizable data fields, software metering, a help-desk module and remote control.
Also setting this product apart from others in its category are Web application usage monitoring and the ability to control Web site access. These features usually come under the realm of firewall, Web management or infrastructure tools—which many organizations already have. NetSupport DNA takes the extra step of integrating data from the usage of Web and Windows applications with management data, combining both in one repository. This allows the business-focused IT user to easily access and report on usage and compliance.
From the NetSupport DNA control center, the administrator can set access parameters for use of applications and Web sites, effectively guaranteeing compliance with Windows software license agreements.
Most other Windows client-based products we’ve reviewed have limited reporting capabilities. Not so with NetSupport DNA, which is easy to use and navigate. Reporting takes the form of text lists and full-color graphs and charts built right into the interface. Data is presented logically, alongside a tree-structured hierarchical navigation bar, additional reports from a drop-down menu and an integrated query screen.
Larger enterprises with diverse platforms (e.g., UNIX, Linux, Apple) that need to create customized user roles and profiles may find NetSupport DNA lacking in the areas of user-rights management, procurement, workflow management, event notification and management of contracts and software -license agreements. For these more complex environments, NetSupport DNA could be deployed as a point solution for specifically managing the Windows platform. Using ECP’s assessment tool, the suite scored 3.2 on a scale of one to five, meeting expectations in most areas.
Provance Technologies, a Quebec-based provider of an IT asset and service management suite of tools, launched its first Windows-client product, Provance IT Services and Asset Management Suite, in January 1999. Current modules include asset, IT request and service subscription management. Version 3.7 is due for release in the next month and will feature significant enhancements in programmable workflow and IT request management. Workflow functionality enhancements will permit extended programming of steps in the request process, including approvals, routing, escalation and automated task processing.
In addition, Provance will be releasing a new .Net version of its product, enhancing the client interface, and offering customers a toolkit to tailor the application to their requirements. Provance also plans to add new service-supplier management and IT performance management modules in the .Net release. IT performance management will include service and operating agreement performance management, asset usage optimization, performance indicators, analytics and benchmarking. Improvements to the configuration management capabilities will allow true ITIL-like relationship management and association of configurations items and services. Anticipated availability of the new version is later this year.
Provance has everything you’d expect in an asset management tool, plus service-management request functionality. What sets the product apart from others in the category, however, is its service and subscription management function. Not surprisingly, primary customers are shared-services organizations and outsourcers, since they need a tool that can package hardware, software, and services in a product bundle, and manage billing, cost allocation, service levels and catalogs. You might find this kind of service subscription management in a niche tool or service management suite. Unlike many other products on the market, Provance’s request and subscription management functionality is fully integrated with the asset repository.
End users looking for an asset management suite with more service management-like capabilities, whether in a shared-services configuration or not, will find Provance a strong contender. ECP views the company as an up-and-coming provider positioned to capture market share as the practice of shared services grows and as end users look for tools with more configuration-management capabilities (relationship between assets and services) to help bridge the gap between traditional asset and service-management practices.
The company Everdream, founded in 1998 as a help-desk application service provider (ASP), has grown into a competent niche player in the field of asset management tools. Released in January, version 6 of Everdream Control Center offers some impressive features that set it apart from the industry's better-known products, with a few gaps we point out below.
With headquarters in Fremont, Calif., and managing some 100,000 seats, Everdream has a customer base embracing such large organizations as Federal Express and ADP as well as the medium-size enterprises Sonic Automotive and Sylvan Learning Centers. Its tools range from the help desk, to software and hardware discovery, software packaging and deployment, to patch management and license-entitlements tracking. The Everdream proprietary agent collects extensive data from Windows-platform devices and reports it to the company's server—either in Charlotte, N.C., or in Fremont. The agent only inventories Windows hardware and software, but it identifies all equipment with an IP address, including printers, handheld devices and non-Windows servers and desktops.
Although Everdream targets customers with 500 to 5,000 desktops, its offering is easily adaptable for large organizations with widely distributed installations. Version 6.0 includes Web-based remote device control, enhancements to the network scanning service, a new end -user portal (to create and view service requests and access software patches and downloads on demand), virus protection, history tracking and purchase order initiation and tracking. A mid-2005 release will add software-usage monitoring and workflow management, which are absent from version 6.
Everdream has many of the desktop management, deployment and help-desk features and functions offered by well-known vendors like Tally Systems, Computer Associates and Altiris. What sets this service apart from these stand-alone applications and other ASP offerings are its breadth of function and ease of implementation and use. We were impressed by the easy-to-navigate interface, graphical reporting formats, and the data and user-role management. A mid-2005 release will add software-usage monitoring and workflow management, which are absent from version 6.
As with all of the asset-management ASP offerings we've reviewed, potential customers should make sure they can live with the limited customization permitted by such one-size-fits-all solutions. For example, Everdream only allows reporting the installed application titles that are contained in its extensive software library. Users who want to track custom applications and executables that are not discovered by the Everdream agent will have to sift through lists of file data and then request that Everdream create a custom library for those software titles. Another factor to keep in mind is that ASPs as a rule do not allow the customer to directly upload data. Customers who expect to require such uploads on a regular basis (e.g., to update the database or add new items), should discuss with the service provider how uploads are handled.
Everdream is marketed by the company’s direct sales force and through a network of resellers.
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