Symantec is also taking further steps to secure the endpoint with the release of Altiris Privilege Management Essentials to help customers control the desktop while keeping employees productive through better application and password management.

Greg Butterfield, Symantec group president, Altiris business unit, said, “Years ago, Symantec recognized the growing interdependence between strong security and effective management of data and systems. Symantec today is unique in being able to provide security and management solutions for the most complex data center environment to the smallest handheld computing device. The Altiris business unit of Symantec helps customers gain confidence and efficiencies through automated management and protection of data at the endpoint.”

Symantec has quickly moved to establish a clear endpoint management strategy to provide customers with the best solutions for their management needs. First, Symantec has delivered support for Ghost Solution Suite from Altiris Deployment Solution for comprehensive software management. Second, Symantec will offer pcAnywhere going forward as its preferred remote control solution and will integrate pcAnywhere with the Altiris management platform. Third, Symantec has discontinued development of its LiveState Delivery product and provided current customers with a migration path to Altiris Client Management Suite.

Symantec was recently named a leader in the July 2007 independent report “Forrester Wave: Client Management Suites, Q3 2007” which also states that the Altiris Client Management Suite from Symantec is the “most mature client management suite.” *

With the combination of Ghost Solution Suite and the Altiris product portfolio, Symantec provides customers of all sizes with innovative PC imaging, deployment, migration and lifecycle management capabilities. Symantec recently released an update to Altiris Deployment Solution that includes support for the Ghost image format as a first step toward integrating these software management technologies. Symantec now provides customers with a robust set of solutions to help reduce the cost and complexity of Windows Vista deployment, migration and management.

Symantec pcAnywhere has become an indispensable remote control solution for IT support professionals looking to provide rapid and efficient service to the end user. Remote control features such as heterogeneous platform support and advanced security will now bolster the Altiris endpoint management portfolio. The previous Altiris remote control technology, Altiris Carbon Copy Solution, will be discontinued in coming months.

For customers of Symantec LiveState Delivery, Symantec is offering an easy migration path to the comprehensive endpoint lifecycle management of Altiris Client Management Suite. Symantec customers are encouraged to visit www.smartupgradenow.com to learn more about license transitioning as well as standard and custom migration service and support options.

“Symantec continues to deliver solutions that allow us to effectively manage our endpoints and secure our members’ sensitive information,” said Kevin Donnellan, assistant CIO, Screen Actors Guild--Producers Pension and Health Plan. “The addition of Altiris technology provides us with a single, comprehensive endpoint management solution to help reduce cost and complexity while increasing security.”

Productive PC Lockdown

Organizations have long sought to lockdown PCs while maintaining employee productivity. According to Gartner, "Our total cost of ownership (TCO) model has shown that locking down and managing PCs closely can reduce TCO by 18 to 36 percent." ** To help customers realize these savings, increase endpoint security and maintain employee productivity, Symantec has released Altiris Privilege Management Essentials which includes Altiris Application Control Solution and Altiris Local Security Solution.

This new product bundle is an add-on to existing Altiris endpoint management suites and delivers advanced control of end-user PC administrative rights and local password management to reduce system vulnerability and calls to the service desk and to minimize software piracy and liability issues.

According to Andi Mann, Enterprise Management Associates research director, “EMA believes that assuring positive IT values - such as security, compliance, governance and availability - requires a combination of systems management and risk mitigation. For some time, Symantec has been moving to support this convergence to reduce IT risk and manage IT complexity.”-Symantec