Desktop Management Suites

Reviewer: Michael J. DeMaria

Product/Service: Desktop Management SuitesPublication Date: November 13th

Test Location: Syracuse University Labs

Review Objectives: We will consider products offering desktop management capabilities. Testing will be based on the premise that the products will be servicing a site containing 10,000 desktops. Although we'll evaluate management capabilities across multiple devices and operating systems, including laptops, remote users on slow connections, handheld devices and servers, our chief focus is on desktops.

Test Criteria

Test Plan: This test will pit each product head-to-head for comparisons of inventory, asset management, software management and access control capabilities. We'll be evaluating accuracy, detail and change notification in the inventory components. Software distribution, deployment architecture and controlling application access will be other focus areas. In addition, we'll look at patch management, software metering and handheld integration capabilities, although these are not required to participate.

Product Requirements