Configuresoft Forms Services Group to Provide Customized Management Solutions for Windows NT/2000 Enterprise Networks.

Business/Technology Editors

Microsoft TechEd 2001

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 2001

Consulting Organization Delivers Security Assessment, Asset

Management, and Service Availability Infrastructures Based on

Enterprise Configuration Manager

Configuresoft, the Windows NT/2000 configuration management company, today announced at Microsoft TechEd 2001 the formation of Configuresoft Services Group, a professional services organization that provides customized implementations of the Enterprise Configuration Manager (ECM) product to solve time consuming, expensive, and critical infrastructure problems in Windows NT and Windows 2000-based networks. The Configuresoft Services Group delivers specialized ECM-based solutions that allow enterprises to automate the assessment and correction of security vulnerabilities and general configuration deficiencies, perform custom asset management functions, prepare for Windows 2000 migrations, and more effectively monitor and manage service levels. Configuresoft also announced today version 3.6 of ECM, which features 75 new security and asset management reports, and new interfaces for faster and easier auditing, monitoring, and management of computing assets distributed across large enterprises. Configuresoft will demonstrate ECM 3.6 at Microsoft TechEd booth 941/943.

By leveraging ECM, the Configuresoft Services Group helps enterprises address manually intensive, geographically distributed, and technically challenging systems management problems. For example, to fend off recent Web site attacks from Chinese hackers, the IT staff for a large energy services corporation was manually monitoring its Internet Information Server event logs for suspicious events - a very expensive and time consuming process. The Configuresoft Services Group provided the company with customized scripts for ECM that automatically monitored the logs and sent alerts to administrators when critical events occurred.

The Configuresoft Services Group combines Configuresoft's consulting expertise in enterprise scale Windows operating environments with ECM's ability to centrally manage configurations for every Windows NT/2000 server and workstation in a corporate network. The Group provides consulting services in four major disciplines:

    -- ECM deployment support and training

    -- Application development of made-to-order reports and scripts
        Example: a large enterprise requested a reporting solution
        that allowed them to bill back disk space usage to
        departments/divisions by monitoring both assigned storage
        resources and user access to stored data

    -- Systems integration to adapt ECM to internal IT processes
        Example: a custom implementation of ECM has allowed one
        enterprise to monitor and track server uptime, and generate
        planned vs. actual uptime reports, uptime trend reports, etc.

    -- Emergency services and support
        Example: the previously mentioned scripting solution for the
        Chinese hacker threat

"The enormous amount of data collected by ECM, coupled with its ability to audit and monitor configuration changes, and perform remote actions on any machine or group of machines via a command line, provides the Configuresoft Services Group with the infrastructure to cost-effectively solve the thorniest and most time consuming Windows NT/2000 management problems facing enterprises," said Alexander Goldstein, CEO, Configuresoft. "The combination of ECM technology and our deep understanding of the Windows Operating environment enables us to slash the high implementation and software costs associated with solving security assessment, asset management, and service level monitoring challenges."

About Enterprise Configuration Manager

ECM centralizes and automates the labor-intensive task of monitoring, managing, and auditing the hardware and software configurations of Windows NT/2000 systems deployed in large enterprise networks or Web server farms. ECM enables enterprises to efficiently and cost-effectively standardize server, workstation, and mobile system configurations, and keep them in compliance, to minimize downtime, prevent security vulnerabilities, accelerate problem resolution, reduce help desk calls, and enhance system performance. ECM can identify and help correct configuration problems before users even know they exist.

Pricing and Availability

Configuresoft Services Group consulting services and Enterprise Configuration Manager 3.6 are available immediately from Configuresoft and its business partners worldwide. Pricing for ECM 3.6 starts at $775 per server and $30 per workstation. ECM supports Windows NT/2000 Server, Windows NT Workstation 4.0, Windows 2000 Professional, and Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 or higher.

Company Background

Founded in 1999, Configuresoft, Inc. develops software that centralizes, automates, and dramatically lowers the cost of desktop, notebook, and server configuration management for Windows NT/2000-based networks and Web sites. The company's products are designed specifically for, and run natively on, Windows NT/2000. Configuresoft's customers are Fortune 5000 companies that are deploying or planning to deploy large Windows NT/2000-based infrastructures. Configuresoft is privately held and headquartered in Woodland Park, Colorado. To contact Configuresoft, call 719.447.4600, visit us on the Web at http://www.configuresoft.com/, or write to [e-mail].