Review: Watch Your Assets
Now at version 5.2, Alloy Navigator comes with integrated help-desk and organizational management modules. The integrated solutions allow technicians to track problems on computers and networks using help-desk tickets, as well as perform compliance-related tasks.
By providing a history of computer problems, Alloy Navigator 5.2's help-desk system enables technicians to identify events that occur under specific conditions or at regular intervals. Users also are kept in the loop whenever work is done on their computers via the product's organizational management module.
Essentially, the organizational features provide a direct link between end users and assets they control. The module also can manage many properties associated with end users and link properties with network domain information. By connecting to Active Directory, for instance, Alloy Navigator helps technicians manage organizational charts without having to build them from scratch every time employees' properties change.
Besides covering general hardware assets such as networks and computers, Alloy Navigator's inventory system can track software licenses, license compliance and purchase order contracts. All of the tracking features can be customized, so technicians can create e-mail notifications based on custom thresholds and activate built-in alerts. For instance, administrators can activate Alloy Navigator's notification feature to send e-mail alerts whenever software installations exceed a compliance status.
The compliance features, too, can be customized to track noncompliant software. However, Alloy Navigator doesn't have the ability to find software that tries to hide itself, such as trojans. The product leaves it to antivirus applications to detect and eliminate malware.
Alloy Navigator's scanning process is seamless and takes seconds. To speed up software scans, technicians can omit software that is trusted, such as Adobe Reader and Microsoft Office. What's more, administrators can automate help-desk features and customize workflows. By combining workflows with e-mail notifications, technicians can speed up their work. For example, administrators can set up Navigator to automatically route tickets so they can receive alerts at remote locations.
Alloy Navigator doesn't come with any workflows, but adding them is easy because no programming logic is needed to implement any customization. The product includes simple wizards that walk administrators through the process of building workflows. Alloy Navigator also provides records, business rules and simple actions that can be performed on thresholds that administrators can use when creating new fields.
And Alloy Navigator is more than just an intranet asset management solution. Solution providers can use it to provide ticketing services to multiple customers as well as technical services. Because the product is highly functional out of the box, solution providers can start a managed service the first day they install the software.
Alloy Navigator 5.2 is priced at $3,845 for a three-agent license supporting 100 nodes, including maintenance. Nutley, N.J.-based Alloy Software provides one year of technical support and updates for the product.