Hang up your sneakers

Desktop management suites can save you a lot of time on your feet, once you get past their complexity.

In management circles, the technique of running a department by physically going from desk to desk has a name: Management by Wandering Around. In IT circles, a similar phenomenon can be seen; we call it Management by Rushing Around. Its subscribers can be observed scurrying constantly from user to user to fix, reconfigure, install and upgrade. And as anyone who has ever been involved in such an environment will tell you, it's an inefficient, taxing way to run a business.

Deploying desktop management systems can help, but don't believe all the claims of simplicity, flexibility and functionality touted by vendors. The best products are incredibly complex, and they still can't do everything. A truly comprehensive solution is simply not available.

Of course, you can overcome any shortcomings by going outside the suite to bolster weak areas. However, multiple products raise integration issues, making it harder to manage the management systems.

A trend we've noticed lately is the convergence of products from the high and low ends of the market to a middle ground. For example, Novell's ManageWise 2.6 beta and Microsoft's System Management Server 2.0 beta incorporate features once found mostly in high-end products.

Suite news

We took a look at the current crop of desktop management suites and found that the products available today are pretty good, at best (see our review). Most can perform a majority of the most useful desktop management functions, including hardware and software inventory, software distribution, license metering, remote control, virus checking and event notification. But none can perform all of these functions superbly. Nor is it likely that a single simple solution will emerge tomorrow, given the fact that at the rate at which the PC market changes, management software vendors are aiming at a moving target.

That said, the challenge is how to find the best available solution for your network. While Windows 95 and NT client support is ubiquitous, Intel, Network Associates and Novadigm don't currently support Windows 98. Many vendors don't support the Macintosh, and only Intel and Network Associates offer Unix support.

The areas in which you'll get the most bang for the buck from desktop management packages are in software distribution and license metering. These functions are critical because application rollouts and upgrades are such major projects, and because the issue of license compliance has significant legal and financial implications.

Software distribution is a complex, hard-to-manage function. One of the leading Windows software distribution solutions is Seagate Software's WinINSTALL, which is bundled with Seagate's own Desktop Management Suite, and also with other vendors' products, including Tally Systems' Cenergy suite.

When it comes to software distribution, look for customization facilities, extreme flexibility and access to every aspect of systems setup. Some of the products - for example, Novell's ZENworks and Seagate's WinINSTALL - can monitor an application installation to create a distribution package automatically. But be warned: This feature won't work for all applications, particularly those that make complex changes to the systems on which they are installed. This is where customization facilities are required.

License metering systems cover the basics very well. Where license metering solutions differ is in the alerts they generate and how the alerts are raised. In addition, some programs block users from launching applications when all available licenses are used up, while others allow users to temporarily exceed the license limits or to steal a license from someone already using one.

Comprehensive hardware and software inventorying are crucial when managing large PC populations. A simple test is to see how applications developed in-house are identified and whether the hardware inventorying system can discover more obscure add-on cards and video adapters.

Slow to standardize

While many desktop management products perform similar functions, they do so in very different ways. Some standards are emerging to encourage compatibility among different products. The most organized effort to date has come from the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF).

The DMTF's Desktop Management Interface (DMI) aims to provide a framework for collecting and categorizing management data so products from different vendors can coexist. Initially, network managers were pretty enthusiastic. But six years down the line, DMI is struggling for life. Nonetheless, DMI is supported by almost all of the products in our online Buyer's Guide chart.

In early June, the DMTF took over the Web-Based Enterprise Management Initiative (WBEM) from BMC Software, Cisco, Compaq, Intel and Microsoft. WBEM will use Web browsers to monitor networks rather than more complicated SNMP management consoles. But vendors are at least a year away from shipping any WBEM-enabled products.

Sun isn't backing WBEM because it has its own Java-based solution that fulfills a similar role: Java Management API (JMAPI). Major vendors are hedging their bets; many have signed on to JMAPI in addition to WBEM. JMAPI is still young, so users will have to wait to see whether it will make an impact.

Another approach to desktop management is dealing with problems where they start - at the desktop. Vendors decided to try replacing a regular desktop PC with a stripped-down unit - a network computer, NetPC or Windows terminal - to save on management costs. However, the concept is struggling in the face of the sub-$1,000 clients that are flooding the market.

Although new approaches to and standards for network management are continually being refined, your best bet is to begin deploying a desktop management package today. In other words, don't wait for a cure-all that might never exist. The suite you choose won't solve every desktop management problem you have, but it will be better than the alternative: Management by Rushing Around. RELATED LINKS

Review of four desktop management apps
Why Intel's is a winner.

Interactive buyer's guide
Find a suite that meets your criteria.

Links
For more desktop management information.