Bigfix Unveils Unified Security, Configuration And Management Solution

CSI Conference, Washington, D.C., November 8, 2004—BigFix today released BigFix Enterprise Suite (BES) 5.0, a major platform release that unifies traditionally discreet security, configuration and systems management capabilities under a common infrastructure. BES 5.0 fundamentally improves the control and simplicity with which IT organizations can manage the health, performance and security of desktops, laptops and servers across large networks.

BES 5.0 is the industry’s first real-time solution that allows IT organizations to handle common security, configuration and systems functions, including patch management, mobile and endpoint security, configuration management, antivirus and personal firewall management, asset discovery and inventory, and software distribution in a unified environment. Core to the BigFix solution is its real-time capabilities that arm administrators with accurate, up-to-the-minute information and enable the management of the security and configurations of all their computers more easily and faster than ever before.

“Among the many approaches to systems software, configuration and security management, BigFix offers a distinctive differentiation of this trend in the way it unifies all three disciplines in a single architecture,” said Scott Crawford, senior analyst at Enterprise Management Associates. “Because of its agent-based approach and unique Fixlet Message technology, BigFix enables key efficiencies of rapid response, flexibility and significant scalability applied to a number of system management priorities, security policies and best-practice standards prior to gaining enterprise network access.”

“BigFix Enterprise Suite 5.0 provides large enterprises with a single platform for addressing security vulnerabilities, maintaining proper configurations and better managing their systems in real-time across tens of thousands of desktops, laptops and servers,” said Gregory Toto, vice president of product management at BigFix. “We have worked hand-in-hand with our customers to deliver a solution that helps enterprises gain significantly more value from their IT infrastructure by both securing their organizations from vulnerabilities and making the solutions they already deploy work more effectively.”

BES 5.0 introduces new innovations in the following areas:

* Security: Extends BigFix’s vulnerability and security configuration capabilities and introduces new solutions for antivirus management, policy compliance, host-based firewall management and security best practices.

* Configuration Management: Provides new functionality for common configuration management functions, including software deployment, inventory discovery, license tracking, usage monitoring and software provisioning.

* Systems Management: Delivers visibility into non-computing network assets, such as routers, switches and printers and simplifies the identification of desktops, servers and laptops within the enterprise that are currently unmanaged by BES.

New features and options in BES 5.0 include:

* BES Analyses: Simplify security and IT reporting and auditing and extend BES’s extensive capabilities to provide real-time visibility into the hardware, software, and run-time environment of managed computers.

* BES Fixlet and Task Authoring: Integrated authoring tools provide IT with a new level of control to automate detection and remediation of vulnerability and configuration issues on Windows, Linux, Unix and Macintosh computers.

* BES Wizards: Simplify and speed common configuration management operations such as deploying applications, changing a setting on a group of computers, rolling-back patches and enforcing configuration policies.

* BES Visualization: Allows administrators to view and investigate properties of their entire network or a particular subset of the network using organizational and grouping hierarchies in real-time.

* Asset Discovery: Enables IT organizations to integrate data from network scanners and other data sources into a unified view to deliver visibility into network assets and to help identify unmanaged desktop, laptops and servers within the enterprise.

* Client Compliance API: On-endpoint interface enables the BES Agent to interoperate with network access control technologies, such as VPN clients, firewalls and network access control appliances to provide automated assessment and remediation of non-compliant computers before they connect to the enterprise network.

About BigFix, Inc.
BigFix enterprise security configuration management solutions help large organizations maintain the health, performance and security of their systems. The foundation for all BigFix solutions is a scalable, secure, agent-based platform, the BigFix Enterprise Suite, which gives IT departments complete visibility into every computer running on a corporate network, and the automation-assisted control to rapidly identify, assess and remediate threats. BigFix provides solutions for endpoint security, patch and vulnerability management, asset discovery, and configuration management. Global corporations such as American Eagle Outfitters, Corning, Darden Restaurants, Florida Power & Light, Marriott International, Pitney Bowes, TRW Automotive and several of the world’s largest financial services organizations rely on BigFix everyday. BigFix technology has received awards and recognition from numerous organizations and was recently named “Best New Security Solution for 2004” by SC Magazine.