I tested an Express 2000 beta in one of our Real-World Labs® at Syracuse University and, for the most part, I was pleased. While Y2K is the sizzle used to sell this application, Express 2000 successfully takes inventory and performs metering and reporting on software deployed to DOS, Windows 3.x and Win32 desktops. The architecture looks scalable, and the new Explorer-like user interface is intuitive, offering high-level, detailed perspectives. Unfortunately, Express 2000 lacks significant hardware inventory (it tracks basic information like processor speed and type, memory and hard drive size) and software-distribution capabilities.

Checking It Twice Express 2000 scans for Y2K-compliance and then locks down the applications--a sensible method. It combines software Y2K-compliance testing, based on a local store of vendor claims, with a BIOS scan that performs rollover and leap-year tests. On the back end, metering attempts to maintain what has been audited as static. Exhibiting excellent reporting capabilities, Express 2000 offers machine, application and user views of Y2K-compliance, inventory and software usage.

I set up Windows95, 3.x and NT 4.0 on hardware from Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer Corp. and Micron Electronics that ranged from a few years to more than six years old. Then I compared the results of the BIOS tests to vendors' claims for their particular BIOS releases, and Express 2000 correctly labeled each passing and failing BIOS. WRQ could improve on this by adding URLs pointing at PC vendors' BIOS upgrades, where applicable.

Express 2000's software scanning isn't quite as bulletproof. To detect and recognize software, Express 2000 bundles an "Express Knowledgebase," which translates to a library of applications, their sizes, versions, Y2K-compliance and auxiliary files. This approach is better than using only file name, size and date, but is less accurate than editing an executable for a binary fingerprint.

During testing, the Application Wizard let me painlessly add scanned data into the inventory database. It displays a confidence level of "high," "medium" or "low" in accordance with Express 2000's recognition of the software--an approach I like better than a pass/fail mechanism, as none of these scanning systems is foolproof. I was surprised when id Software's Doom and Doom II weren't recognized, and disappointed when Microsoft's Outlook Express 4.01, Symantec Corp.'s pcANYWHERE 16 and WRQ's own Reflection X 7.0 achieved low-confidence ratings.

The wizard also adds metering configuration, which includes specific exclusions based on application, user and time. It let me specify what application a user could execute, thereby determining how queuing, warning and tracking would be handled for metered applications.

Auditing is easy with Express 2000's excellent collection of predefined reports, which are categorized into Business Answers, Metering, Inventory, Y2K and General. Each category has reports that crisscross the inventory database, offering perspectives on application, machine and user statistics; activity logs; software and hardware inventory; a comparison of licenses to contractual information; chargebacks; cost savings; and a wide selection of Y2K-compliance reports. During testing, I ran reports that showed total numbers of applications, application usage by user, applications installed on specific machines and within groups of users and machines, and applications that were Y2K-compliant by user and machine.

Reporting on five machines, 10 users and a few hundred applications in my database ranged from a snappy five seconds to what seemed like an eternal 50 seconds on a P6/200 with 128 MB of RAM. Before investing in the next version, I'd like to see how much time is required to create reports in a 1,000-machine inventory. The product does not include a scheduler, so you'll need to create reports manually or use a Windows scheduling tool.

If Only It Could Shop Express 2000's architecture seems positioned for the enterprise. It supports multiple collection servers with an automated update. These interserver updates are compressed to reduce network impact. Likewise, network impact, as well as client PC impact, is reduced by staggering and scheduling collection.

Though WRQ is positioning Express 2000 as a Y2K killer, software delivery was conspicuously absent from version 4.0. This is problematic because metering and inventory need the third leg of software delivery to maintain a stable inventory. A third-party software-delivery solution, like Seagate Software's WinINSTALL, can fill this void, but don't expect any tight integration with Express 2000's inventory database or a guaranteed software delivery.

Send your comments on this article to Bruce Boardman at bboardman@nwc.com.