• IT Asset Management
• PC Configuration Management
• IT Help Desk & Service Management
• Business Issue Management

IT Management Software for the Enterprise

Privately held, debt-free and in business since 1992, Vector Networks is an emerging leader in providing scaleable IT management software for the small to mid-size enterprise. Installations range from 2 PC licenses for remote control to 10,000+ licenses of Vector's flagship software asset management solution. The company operates from bases in Atlanta, GA, Montreal and the UK. Vector sells both direct and through selected value-adding partners.

The demands of IT asset management, software asset management and user support are shared by all organizations, and in common with most vendors Vector has presence in virtually all market segments. Our customer base does however show particular weight in the financial, healthcare, government and government consulting sectors.

Many solutions share common components. For example, Vector's IT Support Manager Pro is focussed on the Web-based Vector HelpDesk and integrates with Asset Manager Pro's Discovery and Inventory; the combination provides support technicians on the help desk with instant access to current PC configuration and software details.

For convenience, the solutions range is grouped into four sets, covering –

• IT Asset Management
• PC Configuration Management
• Help Desk and IT Support
• Business Issue Management

IT Asset Management

Vector's IT Asset Management solution family improves visibility, optimizes utilization and streamlines the management of IT assets, with particular emphasis on Software Asset Management.

This solution family comprises cost-optimized combinations of key asset management components -

• PC Discovery to create a basic list of machines with name, address and OS information
• Network Discovery and Mapping featuring Visio format network maps
• Hardware Inventory for foundation asset configuration information
• Software Inventory for accurate, up-to-date knowledge of deployed software
• Application Requirements Planning – Policy-based utility for defining and quantifying application license needs
• Software Usage Measurement for locating unused software and optimizing application deployment.

There are four solutions in this group –

Vector's PC and IT Asset Discovery, Inventory and Mapping solution is designed to generate a foundation of IT hardware and software asset information as a first stage of an ITAM implementation. Its open and extendable database supports integration with other tools such as help desks and license management. Supports PCs and Mac.

Vector's PC Software Compliance and Optimization solution combines license requirements planning, accurate software inventory and application usage measurement in a tightly integrated software asset management bundle. Web-based drill-down reporting provides decision support in achieving maximum use of application software while ensuring license compliance.

IT Asset Manager Pro merges the functionality of the Discovery and Software Compliance and Optimization solutions. AM Pro helps CIOs and IT asset managers to budget, manage and reduce their IT costs, and ensure license compliance within a pro-active software asset management process. It provides decision support to help optimize hardware and software purchases, deployments and lifecycles.

Vector's Asset Locator solution combines network and PC discovery and mapping with RFID tracking, to provide real-time information on asset location, for asset audit support, asset database validation and asset security.

PC Configuration Management

Vector's PC Configuration Management solution set provides powerful tools for maintaining and updating PC configurations and applications, with combinations of these components -

• PC and Network Discovery and Mapping, Hardware and Software Inventory – shared with the Asset Management solution group
• Software Distribution – centralized software deployment, at all levels from driver updates to complete business suites
• Application Streaming – application software on-demand
• Configuration Profiling, Monitoring and Diagnostics – Automated configuration protection and repair at the level of registry, DLLs and other low-level system components.

There are four licensing options in this group.

Vector's PC Configuration Manager Pro monitors PC configurations for variances from pre-defined business compliance templates, offering self-heal correction. PC Hardware and Software inventory details are extended by the Configuration Diagnostics component to provide monitoring of all aspects of configuration including registry keys and DLL versions.

Software Distribution and Application Streaming are each available as standalone solutions. Software Provisioning Pro combines the two in a complete software provisioning solution which covers both the distribution of conventional, natively installed, kits such as Microsoft MSI and Installshield with the centralized, dynamic license allocation and application deployment of ‘Application Jukebox’ streaming. Software Distribution and Software Provisioning Pro also include PC Discovery to create and manage the list of target PCs.

Help Desk and IT Support

Vector's IT Support solution set includes point solutions for two or the most popular requirements of an IT end user support team.

Web-based Vector Helpdesk is a scalable, Web-based issue tracking system for IT end-user support, issue escalation and problem resolution. It features powerful email integration, SLA support, knowledgebase, team-working, self-help and issue resolution audit-trail.

Vector PC-Duo™ provides fast and reliable PC-PC remote control and remote access over LAN/WAN and internet connections. Security and configuration settings, session recordings and activity logs are centrally managed through a firewall-friendly gateway in PC-Duo Enterprise while PC-Duo Express provides lower cost peer-to-peer connection for smaller LAN/WAN-based installations. Both options offer great performance at low bandwidth use.

The integrated IT Support Manager Pro solution combines both of these with the PC and Network Discovery and Mapping, Hardware and Software Inventory components of the Asset Management solution set. In Support Manager Pro, help desk staff have access to PC configuration information and instant PC remote control from inside the configurable Web-based issue tracking console.

Business Issue Management

Many areas of corporate accountability as defined in compliance legislation such as Sarbanes Oxley, and in practical governance frameworks such as HIPPA, have implications for IT. At the same time, Vector has already observed through working closely with its customers that IT is becoming more integrated with other areas of organization and other business functions.

Many of these customers have realised that the Issue Tracking capabilities that are the foundation of Vector's IT Support HelpDesk can be used much more widely in their organizations to track and manage more general business issues. Often, issues are related to the demands of the new focus on governance, risk and compliance.

See the Vector Issue Tracker and Asset Tracker pages for more information on how this could become your corporate technology platform for all Business Issue Management and process management needs.

With software installed on desktops and servers in over 20 countries, Vector IT Asset Management, IT Support, PC Configuration Management and Business Issue Management technology contributes to the effective management of some of the world's smartest organizations.