"We use an identity-based, user-focussed approach to manage each system," Murray added. "We don't just make sure the machine is up and running, but, for user machines, for example, match the system to its end users in applying policies... Policy-based means we're not about reducing administration effort, we're about eliminating it."
"Most organizations have a heterogeneous environment and therefore require a complete systems management solution that supports the entire lifecycle of desktops, servers and handhelds across multiple platforms," stated
Fred Broussard, IDC senior analyst. "With the addition of Linux Management, Patch Management and enhanced Windows management, ZENworks 6.5 and its unique, identity-based approach to managing both users and devices as one can meet
the needs of customers in managing IT resources."
According to Broussard, Novell and other systems management vendors like Altiris, Computer Associates, LANdesk and Microsoft have begun to offer more patch and configuration management capability for 'Linux on the desktop.' Still needed, Broussard commented, is a nice system management
tool to migrate one configuration of Linux desktop to another, or from a Windows desktop to Linux and vice versa."
According to Martin Buckley, Director of Product Management at Novell, ZENworks is in use in sites ranging
from several hundred thousand machines down through ones with as few as 50 machines or users "Around fifty is where
the value of having automated systems begins to kick in,"
Buckley noted. (Smaller sites, he notes, may only buy
some of the ZENworks modules rather than the full suite.)
For example, Paul Pedron, Senior Network System Specialist
for Fresno, California, stated he has been using ZENworks
6.5 for Linux and Solaris machines, along with the
Windows and NetWare systems already managed with ZENworks,
for tasks including application updates and patches.
"We are dealing with 2,200 machines," Pedron reports.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
