IT pros report that they are having a hard time balancing security, software and hardware management, and IT auditing along with all of their other duties and are taking on a larger role in cutting asset costs.  They are being forced into a do more with less approach.  With CrossTec EMS (Enterprise Management System) we can help ease your burden and offer a solution.

EMS is a simple to use and cost effective IT asset management system.  IT asset management gives an accurate, up-to-date picture of your IT resources.  This is essential for monitoring, incident resolution, budgeting, planning, and asset life cycle management.

EMS is easy to install and its interface is extremely user-friendly.  There has never been a better time to see how CrossTec EMS can save you time and money.

IT Asset Management and Hardware Inventory

If decisions on upgrades and the roll out of new technology are to be taken from an informed position, then information is key. With this in mind, CrossTec EMS provides one of the most comprehensive and detailed Hardware Inventory modules available on the market today.

A wealth of information for specific PCs is provided ranging from CPU and BIOS types to memory, memory slots used and those available for future expansion. Information is presented either for a specific PC or for departments summarized by category, such as by Operating System, CPU, Video Card or Memory.

Inventory reports are displayed either for a single PC, a selected Department, condition based "Dynamic Group" or for the Company.

Hardware Inventory updates can be configured to run at different time intervals. Specific settings can be applied for the Company or for separate departments. The EMS operator is able to run a quick Inventory update at any time.

Ensuring the most accurate information is always available, EMS provides the option to add details of associated items manually, such as a PDA or Mobile Phone, and provides a standalone Inventory scan of a non-networked PC which can be added to the EMS database.

CrossTec EMS offers multi-platform support for Windows and Linux systems.

Software Asset Management and Inventory

CrossTec EMS helps organizations manage license compliance and reduce software overspend by accurately reporting installed software and proactively identifying PC’s with software that has no or low usage.

Featuring a detailed summary of all installed programs and applications detected on each PC, CrossTec EMS displays this information for either a selected PC, a department or custom group. Full support for recording, tracking and the management of software licenses and maintenance contracts is included.

Recognizing that often there are many different versions of a common application in use, EMS provides the ability to create customized Application Groups, where all such versions are grouped together for more effective reporting.

Inventory reports are displayed either for a single PC, Department, Dynamic Group or for the overall Company.

CrossTec EMS offers multi-platform support for Windows and Linux systems.

Software Inventory reports both Programs installed (ex MS Office Professional) and Applications installed (ex MS Word, Excel etc)

CrossTec EMS also provides a File Scan option whereby specified file types can be located on PC’s. This could be used to ensure documents are not being stored locally and missing company backup routines or to enforce the companies policy on the misuse of copyrighted digital materials such as music and video files.

System Alerts

Identify any changes within the data gathered by CrossTec EMS across the overall enterprise, including alerts for:

New PCs Added.
Changes in key Hardware Inventory (i.e. Memory / CPU changed on a PC, New Monitor installed).
Application installation or removal.
Application licensing warnings (i.e. total copies of Acrobat installed now exceeds company license limit).
Changes to user details.
Internet and Application Metering behavior (access to restricted sites or applications attempted).
Software Distribution delivery alerts (delivery fail, or advertised package used).
System Alerts also includes an additional category for "Console Alerts" which refer to any changes in conditions not related to a specific PC, for example when a PC is removed / deleted or a change is made to an operators rights or configuration.

PC Alerts

Identify real-time changes or conditions that occur on a specific PC, including alerts for:
CPU or Network utilization alerts (i.e. CPU utilization exceeds 90% for X mins).
Process alerts.
Disk space alerts (i.e. Free Disk space below X Gb or Y %).
Application and Services Start / Stop alerts (i.e. Alert if Antivirus service is stopped).
File size change alerts.
Print spooler alerts (number of outstanding jobs).
Security alerts - failed login attempts.
Security alerts - USB device activation alerts (i.e. a memory stick is installed).
Security alerts - New drive mappings alert.
Security alerts - CD / DVD disk insertion alert.
Windows systems event logs - Alert based on new entries posted in the windows event log for either application, security or system categories.
Alerts can be configured to trigger based on their recorded status of Error, Warning, Information, Audit Success, Audit Failure or All.
PC alerts can also be grouped into user-defined profiles (i.e. server alerts, desktop alerts) to allow for easy allocation to enterprise systems. All alerts can be assigned on either an enterprise or departmental basis with variable priority levels. Alert notifications can be directed to specified email recipients and/or active console users (on a per alert basis, so the nature of the alert may dictate which operators are notified). In addition outstanding alerts are identified against matching PCs on the main company hierarchy tree view.

Once Alerts have been identified, suitable action notes are added by the Console Operator and the Alert is subsequently closed and a full history of all PC alerts is then accessible from the History component.

Energy Monitor

For most organizations the efficient use of energy delivers two key operational requirements: - cost reductions and improved environmental responsibility. The two elements combined can be considered as "Green IT" - everyone is talking about reducing CO2 emissions and in the current economic climate, reducing energy bills is an equally appealing target. Industry analysts show that IT energy costs are often one of the highest on the company’s IT budget and one that is most overlooked for efficiency management.

CrossTec EMS now features as standard a new "energy monitor" component that provides a simple and concise high level summary of potential energy wastage across an organization by computer systems that are left powered on out of business hours.

PCs and monitors account for 39% of the information and telecommunications industry's emissions, which is equal to a full year of CO2 emissions from 43,900,000 cars.

-Gartner June 2008

Firstly, CrossTec EMS already monitors all systems across an enterprise to detect changes in hardware inventory and new software installations, as well as recording application and internet usage. It also checks to verify the powered-on state of all computers and its local monitoring component keeps an accurate record of each time a computer is powered on, off or hibernates. Once it knows the times of day each computer was operational, an average (and customizable) “power consumption per device” calculation is used, facilitating a baseline energy usage calculation for all computers. The indicative energy usage calculation is then combined with each customer’s specific energy rates (per Kw) allowing CrossTec EMS to reflect the overall cost for all identified systems.

Once implemented, department heads or management can see a high level view of energy usage by computers across the organization, see where "out of hours" usage is highest and identify whether this is a result of diligent staff working late or simply systems that have been left switched on overnight.

All companies have an obligation to themselves to prevent unnecessary costs and an obligation to the environment to conserve energy. CrossTec EMS provides a simple and easy to use step in the direction of efficient and cost effective energy usage.

Application Metering

Knowing how frequently a specific application is being used, will allow for both effective control of software budgets and a realistic prediction of future software renewals and investments.

CrossTec EMS offers an Application Metering component which reports all applications used on each Windows PC, detailing the time the application was started, finished, and the actual time it was active and in use. Additionally, when the data is viewed at "department" level, summaries by frequency of use or by duration are shown.

Application usage can also be restricted by time of day, for all or selected users or departments . Application control can be used to ensure usage of a selected application does not exceed current license levels and can be used as a security measure to control where key applications can be run and at what times of day.

Application Metering enables the business to perform the following critical functions:

Monitor and report current license usage levels for all installed programs and applications.
Improve management effectiveness by controlling and restricting application usage throughout the enterprise.
To ensure that application usage complies with corporate policy.
Lists of Approved and Restricted applications together with times when restrictions apply, can be created and enforced by the Operator.
Analysis and reporting by Computer or by Logged On User.

Internet Metering

Similar to Application Metering, CrossTec EMS provides a detailed summary of Internet (or Intranet) activity on each Windows PC, allowing for effective monitoring of Internet activity across the enterprise.

Internet Usage can also be controlled, allowing for access to all websites, only websites that have been marked as approved or all websites except those identified as excluded. Access to websites can also be controlled by time of day, perhaps only allowing access to Social Networking or Sports News sites before 9am, over lunchtime and again after 5pm.

Reporting

Start and Finish time of each URL visited.
Active time spent viewing each page on a website.
Quick URL link for easy review of all reported URL's.
Information reported by PC, Department, a Dynamic Group or the Company.
Analysis and Reporting available by either PC or Logged On User.

Internet Restrictions

To ensure that Internet usage complies with corporate standards, lists of Approved and Restricted URL's and/or sub URL’s together with "apply" time frames for when restrictions apply, can be created and enforced by the Operator.
Use the "Filter" option and enter a keyword used to identify a website or a generic theme of sites to be Approved or Restricted.
Internet usage restrictions by time of day across an enterprise.
Internet activity information can be ignored if active for less than a configurable time period (i.e. 30 seconds).
Metering records are print optimised and available in multiple pre-defined formats.

Software Distribution over Local and Wide Area Networks

CrossTec EMS provides a multi-delivery option for Software Distribution.

Once an Operator defines a software package to be deployed, they can deliver the package to a target system and then deploy it onto that users' system without the need for intervention.

Once created, the application package can be automatically "Pushed" to the target PCs for deployment or alternatively "Published" centrally on the EMS server. Once published, a user can check to see which applications are available for their PC, based on their departmental membership and install these on demand.

However, when initiating large scale deployments, the need to minimize network traffic congestion becomes a priority. In this case, CrossTec EMS allows a Client PC, ideally local to the target machines, to be nominated as a "Distribution Warehouse". When the package is deployed, rather than distributing the package individually to each PC, it delivers the package directly to the "Warehouse" Client which then takes over and distributes it to the target PCs on its local LAN segment.

Schedule

When operating across a range of locations and networks, the timing of any major package deployment is critical as this may result in a detrimental effect on other critical applications and services, in terms of performance degradation. To reduce this threat, CrossTec EMS offers a "Scheduling" facility, whereby a specific date and time can be scheduled by an Operator for initiating the package deployment - usually out of core office hours when network traffic is at its lowest.

To further simplify the package deployment process, EMS includes an "Application Packager", designed for situations where the application to be rolled out does not include its own silent install routine. The Packager enables the operator to record and playback a 3rd party installer, including all the necessary keystrokes and movements. These are stored in a script which is then replayed back at the Client PC without the need for user intervention.

Seamless Integration from One Vendor

CrossTec’s single vendor architecture eliminates conflicts and ensures optimum performance while streamlining clumsy work environments created by owning solutions from multiple vendors.

The integrated products allow technicians to accept Help Desk tickets via ResQDesk Help Desk, instantly pull PC hardware/software inventory information via CrossTec EMS, and instantly access problem desktops via CrossTec Remote Control if needed.

In addition, EMS ITAM offers powerful alerting giving administrators a powerful insight into network or server issues along with the means to correct issues with Remote Control and track issues within ResQDesk Help Desk.

Try all three products in your environment free for 30 days.