Here's a tool that may have slipped under the radar for some. It has been in Beta since Oct. 2007 and it seems like a throwback to a former tool but it is really much more.
I'm talking about Microsoft's Sync Toy 2.0. The idea behind sync toy may sound familiar to some. Can you recall a popular software in the Windows family called Microsoft Briefcase.
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First, there was the near meltdown over the announcement that XP was going to be pulled off the shelves at the end of June 2008, then Apple starts running the Vista commercials. As if that was not bad enough, Dell decides to continue beyond June 30 to offer Windows XP, and then Microsoft announces a temporary reprieve.
Windows Vista was going to be met with opposition. I knew that the second I loaded the beta onto my desktop. The more I looked around the more I knew it was going to be a hard sell. The move to save a seven-year-old operating system does not make it easier.
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I was at a graduation party this weekend and heard something I hate to hear. I was talking with a relative I hadn't seen for 20 years. Her husband is an accountant so I mentioned I worked for a firm in NYC before starting RARE-TECH. In talking about technology for accounting firms he mentions that he has a backup and business continuance plan in place.
After digging a little, (which I cannot help -- I'm a technology guy), I find out his backup plan is in need of serious help. He is not sure what's being backed up, if it is being backed up and the backup has never been tested to see if the data is recoverable. He knows he is in a bad situation.
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When I'm talking about trying to improve the enterprise there is no escaping one constant factor, MONEY! No matter how much we say "IT is a profit center not a cost!" (since business would cease to function without us in the trenches) -- to those who make the decisions it's always about the bottom line.
And the bottom line is ... when you have an opportunity to make managing your network easier, in several different areas, with one package, you have to explore that option. The product I'm talking about is Numara's Track-IT, combining Asset Management, Help Desk, and Performance Management into a single easy to install and implement software.
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I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today, so I'll quote (sort of) the great Louie Armstrong. OK, picture me crooning (it's not that bad I have a decent voice) to the tune of What a Wonderful World:
I see server rooms going green, and security that's tight,
Great Admin tools, and an O/S that works right,
And I think to myself, What "A Better Windows World"
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When Microsoft introduced the new "ribbon" navigation for Office 2007, I was grateful that it hadn't named it the Office rope, or noose, or anything that might have given my users some creative ideas.
Nothing is as certain as change, except a person's reaction to that change. This new way of navigating Office was going to be a huge challenge for some. As we moved users over to Office 2007, you could see the meltdown begin.
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No one wants to do the unthinkable, Yes, I mean having to troubleshoot a user or network issue using nothing but your wits and of course, vast knowledge of all things IT. I know one IT Admin that supported 85 users in 18 offices (not virtual offices, actual office locations). Without a single centralized tool, not even the antivirus software. We have a term for that in our business (unemployed). However, sometime circumstances do not permit us the luxury of centralized management. That is not to say that we have no alternatives, in fact today we will look at three very cool tools Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder, Angry IP Scanner, and Windows in a box.
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I broke into the IT game at a time when the word budget didn't exist for the IT department. A time when team lunches and shiatsu massages where the norm. Yes, it was an error...I mean... era now long gone. An era some know as the dot-com days. At that time, managing a network meant buying all sorts of administrative tools that would do all the things NT could not.
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Ron Barrett is president of RARE-TECH, an IT Training and consulting company. He has been a technology professional for over a decade, working for several major financial firms and dotcoms. Barrett is a specialist in network infrastructure, security and IT management.
He is a co-author of The Administrator's Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers, How to Cheat at Administering Office Communications Server 2007, and the Real MCTS/MCITP Exam 620 Preparation Kit and has been a contributor to Windows 2000 Enterprise Storage Solutions and Exam Cram 70-244-Supporting & Maintaining NT Server 4.
He has also contributed to several industry magazines and was featured in the book Tricks of the Windows Vista Masters. He has worked for Microsoft writing research and analysis documents for Windows Server 2008, Windows HPC, and PerformancePoint Server 2007. He has also created screencasts on Windows Server 2008 Administration for Linux Admins.
Watch for Barrett and his company RARE-TECH at AICPA TECH+ conference in Las Vegas in June.
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