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Novell ZENworks Endpoint Security Management

Novell ZENworks Endpoint Security Management secures the endpoint and prevents data leakage in several ways. This product not only ensures removable device and USB control, but also provides encryption and wireless network access control, as well as control of hardware communications, such as Firewire, Bluetooth and serial ports. Endpoint Security Management also provides application control, which can either prevent certain applications from running at all or only executing under certain circumstances,

This tool can be easily installed in a single server configuration or multiple server deployment. The initial setup involves three basic steps: installing the services, installing the management console and deploying the agents. We found setup to be simple and straightforward with help from setup wizards. After the completion of setting up the services and management console, a basic configuration wizard is launched when the management console application is run for the first time. This wizard helps configure the server for plugging into the directory services, such as Active Directory. After we completed the initial configuration, the rest of the configuration and management is done through the intuitive management console.

We found this solution to be flexible in both agent deployment and policy configuration. Agents can be deployed either by physically installing them on each computer or by automated deployment through an Active Directory GPO. Policy can be configured in several ways with many options. Once a policy is configured, it can easily be pushed out to the selected set of agents by choosing the domain objects in the Publish tab of the console and clicking the Publish button. We found working with policies and the management console to be easy and intuitive.

Documentation consists of two PDF guides. The first is an installation guide, which clearly details setting up databases and the installation and deployment steps. The second guide is an administration guide, which illustrates how to use and configure the product, as well as creating and publishing policies. Both guides include many step-by-step instructions, screen shots and configuration examples.

Novell provides two levels of support as part of the support contract. Standard support includes upgrade protection, training and 12/5 customer support (with four-hour response time), while Priority support includes upgrade protection, training and 24/7 customer support (with four-hour response time and one-hour response time for Severity 1 issues). There is also a large support area available on the website at no cost, which includes a knowledge base, forum, documentation and various tools and patches.

At a price of $85 per license with standard support, we find this product to be a good value for the money. It provides a lot of features and flexibility in an easy-to-manage application.

Product title
Novell ZENworks Endpoint Security Management
Product info
Name: ZENworks Endpoint Security Management Description: Novell ZENworks Endpoint Security Management secures the endpoint and prevents data leakage in several ways. Price: one license plus standard maintenance starts at $85 (discounts available)
Strength
Very flexible with many policy options.
Weakness
Can be expensive for certain environments.
Verdict
Certainly a strong product, as one would expect from Novell, but the price needs a bit of tweaking.

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