Adding Security To Configuration ManagementAdding Security To Configuration Management

When IT staffs manage hundreds or even dozens of servers, one of the toughest jobs is making sure the configurations are accurate and updated.

Configuresoft Inc. hopes its Enterprise Configuration Manager version 4.0, released Monday, will help IT managers keep things in check. That's a welcome development for Tony DeVoto, a Windows NT systems administrator at Volvo Finance in Montvale, N.J., who oversees 50 servers, most from Dell Computer. In the past, homegrown applications often worked on a server in one department, but not in another, even when they were running the identical apps, he says.

Employees within the departments were ready to reject the applications entirely. But after some manual troubleshooting, DeVoto would discover that the server wasn't configured properly. He bought Enterprise Configuration Manager version 3.6 last year to help with the problem, and he plans to upgrade to 4.0.

"ECM helped me troubleshoot why the apps failed," he says. It helps customers create a base standard configuration and then measure it against a network of servers from an administrator's PC console. The software has a server and a client version.

Version 4.0 comes with several new features. Among them: Administrators can set up access rights so the inventory manager and the advertising manger have the correct access; wizards will lead business users through the process of changing apps for the first time; and administrators will be able to generate reports in Microsoft Word or Excel. What's more, Enterprise Configuration Manager version 4.0 has a browser interface. Available in June, the latest release will be priced at $995 per server, based on configuration, and each client version will be $30.

Configuresoft differentiates itself from Blade Logic, Computer Associates, Marimba, and IBM's Tivoli division by integrating security features, says Audrey Rasmussen, an Enterprise Management Associates analyst. With version 4.0, administrators will be able to analyze event log data and check compliance to security policies. "Other products are silo-oriented, focused on a server or desktop system, while security is usually off by itself," she says.

Version 3.6 is limited as a reporting tool and doesn't provide help for changing or managing the machines, DeVoto says. With 3.6, developers had to write scripts to make changes on the server or operating system. That process is more automated in 4.0. Says DeVoto, "It wasn't up to par before, and it looks like they've cleaned it up with 4.0."