Now more than ever, systems management professionals in organizations of a variety of sizes are charged with doing more with less. Many systems administrators are faced with virtually the same challenges as their counterparts in the largest of enterprises, but without the number of support staff, specialized skill sets and budgets their larger-scale colleagues can afford. Time spent “fire fighting” across a variety of systems management disciplines, as well as the need to perform labor intensive manual chores, leaves little extra time to proactively tackle other strategic initiatives such as performance improvements or root cause analysis. These individuals are frequently stretched thin, with limited core teams responsible for accomplishing the bulk of the tasks necessary to achieve the IT stability critical to running the business.
Traditional software-based systems management solutions exist, but in some cases have exacerbated the systems management dilemma for the more moderately scaled organization, those typically with 100 to 20,000+ managed systems. While these traditional solutions are robust, they have been designed for the very largest of enterprises, and the investment necessary in pre-requisite software, hardware, services, maintenance and training have simply proven too costly and too complex for many who can’t afford this approach to their systems management challenges. This has left the more resource-challenged organizations to manage with either overly sophisticated software, sub-optimal point solutions or manual processes. Alternatives are available, but they need to respond to the specific criteria of the more typical systems manager who is charged with wearing many hats: the solution needs to be easy-to-use, comprehensive, and affordable, getting the administrator out of reactive problem resolution mode and into proactive systems management mode.
Purpose of this Guide
Enterprises of all sizes continue to struggle in their efforts to find and deploy an effective systems management solution scaled to their needs. In the solution evaluation process, there are both feature/function criteria as well as less tangible solution characteristics that need to be weighed in order to make an informed and appropriately calibrated decision. Dell KACE has developed this guide to help articulate that buyer’s criteria via a comprehensive feature/function checklist, and to pose additional considerations that should be made when making a decision regarding a systems management solution.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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Purpose of this Guide
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Systems Management Buyer’s Guide Feature Checklist
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