Dell Extends Reach of Systems Management Footprint

Study Finds Network Admins Juggling Multiple Initiatives

Since Dell acquired KACE back in 2010, it has confined its IT management ambitions to Windows environments.

With the release this week of the Dell KACE K1000 Systems Management Appliance, Dell is employing a mix of agent and agentless technologies to not only manage Windows endpoints, but now also Mac OS, Linux and Unix systems.

Ken Drachnik, director of product marketing for Dell KACE, says new support for agentless technology makes it easier for the Dell KACE appliance to discover devices connected to the network while also providing enhanced visibility into each one. Drachnik says the Dell KACE K1000 Systems Management Appliance can be applied both within traditional IT environments and emerging Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

In fact, a recent survey of 700 IT professionals conducted by Dimensional Research on behalf of Dell found that 48 percent already report having non-traditional endpoints on their networks, while 63 percent expected new types to be connected over the next three years. Just over half of the IT managers polled also said they expect to double the number of endpoints they need to manage by the end of the decade.

In addition to support for agentless technology, Dell this week added an enhanced user interface, additional threat assessment, and automated application blacklisting capabilities.

In terms of systems management, Dell is clearly trying to move up in weight class with this release. That’s a critical requirement for Dell as it looks to become a major player in the enterprise services space in the wake of going private.

As for the cost of systems management tools, Dell is in a category where incumbent providers of heterogeneous systems management tools are under siege from a raft of smaller companies that are providing similar tools at a fraction of the cost. While Dell has a well-earned reputation for being able to cut costs, this is one segment where being private enables Dell to compete more aggressively in an area that is needed to achieve a larger goal no matter how profitable the actual product category itself might eventually turn out to be.