Product Previews

BMC Software practices service desk magic

BMC Software unveiled its Magic Service Desk Suite 8.0 earlier this month. The company packed the suite, which combines held desk software and ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) best practices, with more than 45 new features designed to align IT with business objectives and to reduce the cost of support operations. To that end, BMC armed the reporting system with 20 new management metrics to gauge business value, including a focus on business value metrics, trend analysis and management summary reports equipped with charting and graphing functionality. To lower support costs, BMC integrated Magic 8.0 with Active Directory, and updated the search technology to make locating information more efficient, which the company claims contributes to resolving problems more quickly.
Magic Service Desk Suite 8.0, BMC Software

RSA reinforces single sign-on

RSA Security released its Sign-On Manager security product earlier this month. The software, designed to ease security management by integrating single sign-on technology with authentication, delivers a wide range of authentication choices from password-only mode to two-factor authentication, as well as enterprise-class policy and credential management. Sign-On Manager allows policies to be managed from one central location. Pricing begins at $70 per password-only mode license, and $85 per license with support for two-factor authentication.
RSA Sign-On Manager, RSA Security

LANDesk incorporates anti-spyware into suite

LANDesk Software announced LANDesk Security Suite, which now includes antispyware technology. The suite offers components to help IT managers handle security threats such as spyware, malware, worms, unauthorized access and vulnerabilities. It offers spyware detection and removable capabilities, proactive patch management, security threat analysis, unwanted application blocking, and a connection control manager. LANDesk Security Suite will be available early next year, with pricing to be announced at the time of release.

LANDesk Security Suite, LANDesk Software

Determina secures code, blocks worms

Determina launched SecureCore 2.0 in mid-November. The product starts at $500 per server and is built on Determina’s Memory Firewall, which uses software emulation and compiler principles to form a protective shield around software programs and applications while they are running in computer memory to block mass worm attacks at their point of entry, thereby preventing malicious code from executing. New features in SecureCore 2.0 enhance centralized deployment, management and reporting.
SecureCore 2.0, Determina