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.

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.

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

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.

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.