Executive Software's New Sitekeeper Ends Agonizing Risk of System Administration by Automating Software Management

Business Wire, Dec 20, 2001

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 20, 2001

Executive Software, makers of the number one selling Diskeeper(R) software, today announced the release of their newest product, Sitekeeper(TM) for Windows NT, 2000, XP.

In addition to the nearly impossible task of manually installing and updating software across corporate networks, system administrators also have to deal with the moving target and subsequent liabilities of license compliance. Threats of Business Software Alliance (BSA) software audits, FBI site raids and the possibility of heavy fines and even jail time for unlicensed software exist -- even if the system administrator is unaware of unlicensed software installed on a user's PC in remote regions of his network. Partly as a result of the BSA campaign, Executive Software has already received millions of dollars in purchase requests for Sitekeeper prior to today's official release.

The danger and risk has come to an end with the introduction of Executive Software's new Sitekeeper product. Sitekeeper instantly scans the entire network and reports every piece of software installed on every machine, requiring only seconds per machine to collect and report this information. Any unauthorized software can be instantly detected and easily uninstalled, from a single location -- right from the system administrator's own console.

In addition to the inventory and management of existing software features, Sitekeeper also enables remote installation of most software products and subsequent updates throughout a network. For new software the system administrator can simply load the distribution kit into the CD-ROM drive on his own workstation and install the software remotely, over the network, to every machine for which he is authorized, even doing them all at once.

"Nearly any company you talk to will admit they are at risk in one way or another and until now there has been no easy and inexpensive solution to solve these problems," said Andy Staffer, CTO at Executive Software. "We set out to provide a complete solution so that system administrators could easily get the job done while dramatically reducing the work and costs involved in software management."

Sitekeeper provides the first cost-effective and complete tool available to automate vital tasks that pose the greatest problems to corporate sites when done manually. These include: 1) Risks of manually tracking licenses to stay legally compliant; 2) Manually tracking software inventory, and 3) Labor costs of manual install/uninstall of new software and vital updates across a site to keep technology current. With no learning curve required, Sitekeeper automates each task with "Set It and Forget It"(R) ease and is now available for purchase and download at the company's web site www.execsoft.com.

"Sitekeeper is invaluable. I couldn't even begin to put a price on the amount of time and the amount of money that Sitekeeper is going to be able to save us," said Daryl R. Murphy, Computer Technician Specialist, California Community College System.

Sitekeeper gives control back to an administrator on what is otherwise an agonizing and impossible task. "Managing software licenses and updates is a serious problem for system administrators," said Paul Mason, Group Vice President of Infrastructure Software Research at IDC. "Any tool that can automate software inventory management and keep the technology current and performing these remotely will save companies enormous amounts of money."

Product Features/Requirements

Sitekeeper users experience an advanced Windows XP compatible interface for simple, intuitive operation. Key remote features include:

-- Inventory Tracker -- instantly see what software is on what computer
throughout a site. The inventory tracker maintains an updated record for all
the software on a site, all the versions, builds, updates and patches for an
instant window into the site's current technology;

-- License Tracker -- shows system administrators exactly what the software
license compliance status is. Takes guess work and liability out of how many
licenses or updates may be needed with automatic, up-to-date record keeping;

-- PushInstaller(TM) -- recently released in the company's flagship product,
Diskeeper 7.0, this powerful market-proven technology completely eliminates the
time and cost of manual installation or uninstalls, keeping a site's technology
current with fast, two-click central control. With no learning curve,
administrators can easily and rapidly install or uninstall software, updates,
upgrades and patches, which are logo-compliant for Windows 2000 and XP, or are
Microsoft-Installer-compliant , on selected machines throughout a site from a
central location. PushInstaller can even be used to install Windows XP itself.

Sitekeeper can be installed on, and run from:

-- Any system running Windows 2000 (Professional, Server,

Advanced Server, or Data Center Server)

-- Any system running Windows XP Professional

-- Can inventory all flavors of Windows NT/2000/XP