Tech-Ed: Product Roll Call

• By Lafe Low
• 06/11/2008

Here's a look at some of the latest products either now in beta or soon to be in beta being shown on the show floor:

VIPRE Enterprise from Sunbelt Software
Vipre Enterprise is an integrated anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-rootkit package. If you think you've heard that before, think again. Sunbelt built this one from the ground up. Its proprietary anti-virus and anti-spyware engine builds on what it has learned over years of defending against such threats.

Vipre's Active Protection uses three methods of file analysis to determine its threat potential:

• Signature matching compares a file against a database of known threat definitions.
• Heuristic analysis examines a file's internal characteristics.
• Behavioral analysis watches what a program does to determine its intent.

Using these three techniques in concert can help keep nasty bugs out of your systems. For rootkits, Vipre's FirstScan runs as your system boots, bypassing the operating system to dig deep into places where nasty rootkits may be hiding.

Besides the defensive measures, Vipre also has centralized management, a configurable command center, policy-based management and full reporting capabilities. Now in beta, Sunbelt expects to deliver Vipre some time in July.

docBlock for SharePoint from Black Blade Associates
The docBlock for SharePoint is a unique solution to a particular problem. Working within the collaborative environment of SharePoint helps bring work teams together and presents a medium for several people to contribute to the content of a document. However, there's still built-in wait time as team members check-out and check-in documents. What if they could all be working on a document at the same time?

This is what Black Blade's docBlock for SharePoint does. It virtualizes a document stored in a SharePoint repository, so the entire team can simultaneously contribute content and perform revisions. The docBlock maintains the master document, automatically merging and updating new sections as it evolves.

Black Blade execs said their corporate attorneys used the system in developing the product's warranty documents. This type of solution is well-suited for legal environments, as multiple legal eagles can work on the same document at the same time without having to send around endless levels of revisions.

GroupID from Imanami
For larger organizations, managing and maintaining groups within Active Directory is a major task, and often one that goes undone and unnoticed until the group roster is a colossal mess.

GroupID looks at group management as a three-step process: synchronize, automate and self-service. To synchronize, you have to ensure the accuracy and up-to-date nature of each group listed. Once Active Directory has current group data to work with, you can automate changing group memberships, so if an employee changes departments or is reassigned to another project group, his group membership is automatically updated. Allowing self-service helps users that don't easily fit into standard groups get the proper permissions and authorized group attributes.

This helps decommission groups that are no longer active or relevant. It also helps you keep your Active Directory clean and efficient. Imanami execs at the show actually recounted examples of several customers whose groups had gone unmaintained for too long. They had more groups than individual users.

Imanami expects to ship the GroupID package in July.

Point Admin Toolset for SharePoint from Idera
Idera, well-known for its collection of SQL management tools, is getting into SharePoint management. The Point Admin Toolset for SharePoint, now in beta, is a package of 10 tools to help with SharePoint performance, site management, server management and security:

1. Backup Scheduler, as the name implies, lets you schedule backups.
2. Site Monitor keeps an eye on individual sites to monitor performance.
3. Quick Admin give you a single point from which to manage SharePoint.
4. Space Trends watches site storage.
5. Site Backup helps with site backup and recovery.
6. Database Accelerator helps you rebuild SharePoint SQL Server indexes.
7. Fix User-Owned Items helps resolve permission issues.
8. Alert Manager lets you view and update all your SharePoint alerts.
9. Site Collection Configuration tracks configuration changes.
10. User Activity lists objects and attributes for individual users.

Idera will have the Point Admin Toolset for SharePoint out in beta next month. You can sign up now if you'd like to test drive it for yourself.

Keep an eye on the review pages in the coming issues of Redmond magazine for a deeper look at some of these products.