Ipswitch Updates Tool For Network Management

Ipswitch plans Wednesday to launch an upgrade to its network management product that includes improved mapping, monitoring and reporting features.

The upgrade, WhatsUp Gold 7.0, includes enhanced device identification that recognizes custom devices as well as services offered on nonstandard device ports. It also includes active discovery, which solution providers can use remotely to schedule scans of a customer's network that identify and map newly added devices, said Brian Landrigan, vice president of sales at Ipswitch, Lexington.

"Traditionally, if something is added to the network, the solution provider doesn't find out until the next time they visit the customer site," Landrigan said.

In one instance, a customer running a beta version of WhatsUp Gold 7.0 intercepted an office visitor who had plugged his laptop into the company's network in an attempt to steal customer data, said Jay Ferron, vice president of technology at Connecticut Online Web Services, an MSP and ISP in North Haven, Conn.

The tool sent out an alert as soon as the new device plugged into the network, alerting the customer to the intrusion, Ferron said.

The upgrade also adds improved monitoring of SNMP-enabled devices, which provides a more granular view of a customer's network, he said.

WhatsUp Gold 7.0 lets solution providers deliver proactive network management services, said Gary Hopkins, president of Intelek Technologies, a systems integrator in Norman, Okla.

"It's nice to know the network is failing before it goes completely down," he said.

The upgrade, which starts at $795, includes expanded reporting capabilities that solution providers can use to schedule automated delivery of reports for customers, as well as an improved graphical interface, Landrigan said.

"We tell our resellers to prepare to sell $9 to $10 in services for every $1 of software," he added.