Best Task Automation Product
Best Task Automation Product
Gold: Kaseya Small-Medium Enterprise Edition • Kaseya • www.kaseya.com
Silver: AutoMate 7 • Network Automation • www.networkautomation.com
Bronze: Desktop Authority • ScriptLogic • www.scriptlogic.com
Why It Won: Developed with the needs of small and midsized IT departments in mind, Kaseya Small-Medium Enterprise Edition helps cost-conscious IT departments automate routine IT tasks.
"Ockham had grown to a point where it was necessary to maintain an internal IT department," said Jeff Burdine, the information services manager at Ockham Development Group. "When we were looking for a PC management tool, we were initially just trying to fill a need for a remote control tool that would allow us to troubleshoot users' issues without running all over the office. In addition, we have a number of remote sites and traveling users accessing our network. I tested software from several vendors and even tried some of the open-source products that were out there. It seemed every one of them could cover our local clients very well, but many of them failed when trying to support laptop computers that were offsite. After a few more weeks of searching, I decided that we would use a number of solutions to get the job done. Then, as a last resort, I checked out Kaseya's website. That's when I discovered Kaseya SMEE. I had never heard of it before and I figured it would be a capital expense far exceeding my budget. I was thrilled when I heard the pricing and I was even more thrilled when I found out that all the functionality I was looking for would be in one package."
Community Choice
Gold: Altiris Client Management Suite • Symantec • www.symantec.com
Silver: NetIQ Aegis • NetIQ • www.netiq.com
Bronze: Desktop Authority • ScriptLogic • www.scriptlogic.com
"Altiris Client Management Suite is by far the best in the market for multi-platform, multi-device client management."
Other hot vote-getters in this year's survey . . .
- Network Automation's AutoMate 7
- Specops Software's Specops Command
- AvePoint's DocAve Deployment Manager for Microsoft SharePoint
Best Training and Certification Product or Service
Editors' Best
Gold: TrainSignal Premium Computer Training Videos • TrainSignal • www.trainsignal.com
Silver: Clip Training Web-Based Training • Clip Training • www.cliptraining.com
Bronze: AppDev OnDemand Training • AppDev Products • www.appdev.com
Why It Won: Train Signal offers one of the most comprehensive libraries of certification training of any vendor, touching across every topic relevant to Windows IT pros.
"In 2007, I lost my job after three months of probation because I had not met the skill set the company was looking for," said Theodore Darko, systems administrator for the Department of Homeland Security. "Words are not enough to begin to explain my experience with Train Signal or the pros of the company's video products. After using Train Signal's video tutorials less than two months after I was laid off, I got a new job that paid $15,000 more annually than what I was making before. On that note, I can vehemently say that Train Signal videos are truly the best on Earth! And they have made me the engineer that I am today."
Community Choice
Gold: TrainSignal Premium Computer Training Videos • TrainSignal • www.trainsignal.com
Silver: TestOut Professional Training for IT Certification • TestOut • www.testout.com
Bronze: VMware Certified Professional Program • VMware • www.vmware.com
"TrainSignal offers very polished, excellent instruction."
Other hot vote-getters in this year's survey . . .
- TestKing's IT Testing and Certification
- AppDev's OnDemand Training
- Clip Training's Web-Based Training
Best Virtualization Product
Editors' Best
Gold: VMware vSphere 4 • VMware • www.vmware.com
Silver: Citrix XenDesktop 4 • Citrix Systems • www.citrix.com
Bronze: NetWrix VMware Change Reporter • NetWrix • www.netwrix.com
Why it won: VMware's hypervisor is the most common in IT installations, and generally acknowledged as having the most advanced virtualization technology on the market.
In a blog entry, Windows IT Pro author Greg Shields said of vSphere's 4.1 update, "This update swings the capabilities we’ve come to think of as 'must have' well into the court of affordability for small and medium businesses." He also said, "Huzzah to VMware for throwing a bone to SMB pocketbooks, while at the same time offering the new technologies that enterprises demand." Windows IT Pro technical director Michael Otey said, "VMware’s vSphere is designed to enable IT to build an internal cloud where all resources are virtualized, and it provides dynamic management of the virtual infrastructure."
Community Choice
Gold: VMware vSphere • VMware • www.vmware.com
Silver: Symantec Endpoint Virtualization Suite • Symantec • www.symantec.com
Bronze: NetWrix VMware Change Reporter • NetWrix • www.netwrix.com
"VMware vSphere is simply the most important, sophisticated virtualization product on the market."
Other hot vote-getters in this year's survey …
- VMware's VMware Workstation
- Oracle's VirtualBox
- Citrix's XenServer
Best Free or Open Source IT Tool
Editors' Best
Gold: Spiceworks • Spiceworks • www.spiceworks.com
Silver: PrimalPad Community Edition • SAPIEN Technologies • www.sapien.com
Bronze: SYDI-Server • SYDI • sydiproject.com
Why It Won: Whereas most free tools help IT pros perform one or two types of tasks (e.g., inventorying computers), Spiceworks helps IT pros perform many different types of tasks, including inventorying, monitoring, troubleshooting, and reporting.
"I chose Spiceworks because it provides both hardware and software inventory without any agent on the client side," said Stephen Lyons, IT manager at GEA Pharma Systems AG. "It also includes a Help desk system. It's exceptionally well supported by a great bunch of friendly people. And it's available for a superb price—it's free. The Spiceworks community is also a big plus point. The community is made up of like-minded souls who don't mind providing what help they can on a multitude of subjects. The product is frequently updated; beta version 5 is currently available for testing. Updates to the current version (version 4.7 at the time of writing) are in relation to bug fixes and feature requests from the Spiceworks community. If I was to do this again, would I go with Spiceworks? Oh yes, without a doubt."
Community Choice
Gold: Spiceworks • Spiceworks • www.spiceworks.com
Silver: VMware Server • VMware • www.vmware.com
Bronze: Firefox 3.6 • Mozilla • www.mozilla.com
"Would I recommend Spiceworks to others? Most certainly—and I actively do!"
Other hot vote-getters in this year's survey . . .
- Google's Chrome
- NetWrix's Active Directory Change Reporter
- FileZilla