March 2002

Hot Pick

Sitekeeper

Remember how painful it was to do your taxes before the invention of tax preparation software: looking for forms, tracking down receipts, and, if you were super organized, you updated a spreadsheet periodically? Then came good tax software, and, viola, everything got easier.

The same is true for keeping track of licenses and software in your enterprise. If you don't know what's installed, a visit from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) might be the least of your worries. What could really boil your noodle is not knowing what your users might be installing.

Enter Executive Software's Sitekeeper, which helps beat the software license tracking blues. Using three automated modules--License Tracker, Inventory Tracker and PushInstaller--Sitekeeper does for license tracking and software inventory what TurboTax did for tax preparation.

License Tracker compares those licenses in your database with the licenses it finds on the LAN. Of course, you'll still need to do a bit of investigative work: gathering license information for an audit is, well, a bit like looking for receipts before an audit. It's better to be proactive, and License Tracker helps focus your efforts.

If Sitekeeper's License Tracker module finds you're not in compliance, business ethics should prompt you to take appropriate action. All of the audit information is reported to you (it's not transmitted outside your organization), so there should be no fear that anybody else is monitoring your license compliance. This tool is strictly to assist your internal audit.

The second module, Inventory Tracker, reports on the number and types of programs it finds installed on the machines you specify. It never hurts to know what's installed, or more likely, what your users have been installing when you're not looking.

Our favorite module is PushInstaller, which allows admins to install new programs, fixes or updates remotely over the LAN. You can also use it to uninstall programs from remote machines. PushInstaller isn't magic. It uses Microsoft Windows installer (.msi) files, which must exist or be created. Most programs developed for Windows NT/2000/XP systems include .msi files. Wizards also help make pushing applications (or removing them) as easy as e-filing your 1040EZ.

Admins who want to know what software is installed on the LAN, need to track licenses or want to push updates and applications (or pull them off) should find Sitekeeper a handy tool. It beats the heck out of "sneakernet" and spreadsheets. It's easier to implement than Microsoft's System Management Server and can provide a much-needed window into your enterprise's software deployment.
-Scott Sidel

March 2002 Table of Contents

Copyright 2002 TechTarget