THEN THE PRODUCT
The challenge for any company attempting to buy its way into a new market is deciding how to treat the product lines of the new acquisitions. Putting an emphasis on integration usually means slowing the development of new features, giving the competition a chance to catch up. The alternative--allowing development as usual without regard for broader integration--defeats the original purpose of the purchase. Symantec has taken something of a hybrid approach, integrating technology from PowerQuest, Ghost, and pcAnywhere into iCommand, while allowing those products to continue on in their development.
The result can be confusing to the marketplace, however. In patch management, for instance, Symantec has two solutions. iPatch was part of the ON purchase and continues to be developed. However, LiveState, with its iCommand and Ghost technology, is the real enterprise-capable solution. Ghost by itself is widely used to deploy system images across servers and tightly controlled end-user systems such as point-of-sale devices. Here again, LiveState is touted as the better enterprise solution because it addresses much more than image distribution. Then again, that's a bit like saying a Swiss Army knife is a better knife than a scalpel because it does more than just cut stuff.
The road to Symantec's vision of asset management nirvana isn't particularly short. iCommand will re-emerge as Live-State Delivery around April, but Symantec doesn't expect all products to adhere to its new user interface specification until roughly a year later. The next release will still be based on MMC. However, Symantec wouldn't say whether MMC would remain the primary management framework in subsequent versions.
THE COMPETITION
Discover the benefits of scalable backbone and network services for application and cloud providers.
Network automation is gaining momentum. Here's how you can drive this powerful technology to its full potential.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
