What's Hot: Products From GlobeSoft, Siber Systems, OQO, VERITAS Software, and Home Run Help Desk

Manage Location Profiles

GlobeSoft's MultiNetwork Manager lets you create and manage location profiles that facilitate network connections, computer settings, and the launching of applications and scripts. MultiNetwork Manager lets you switch from one computer environment to another with a single click. For each profile, you specify how to connect, which network resources to use, and whether to enable VPN clients and firewalls. MultiNetwork Manager's wizards help you quickly and easily connect at new locations.

Sean Poage of S. Portland, Maine, nominated MultiNetwork Manager as a product that saves him a lot of time. He says, "I am a systems engineer consultant for small and midsized businesses. I have many tools on my laptop, many of which run only on Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP but work with Windows 2000 and Windows NT. With various domains to work with, I couldn't reasonably join each domain at each site, until I found GlobeSoft's MultiNetwork Manager. Now I can connect to each domain I work at and return to my original configuration when I'm done. Next time I return to that site, I connect as a member of that domain and all of my tools and permissions are available. MultiNetwork Manager is a real timesaver!"

Product: MultiNetwork Manager
Company: GlobeSoft
Contact:
http://www.globesoft.com
[email protected]

Manage Your Passwords

Jeff Valen of Owatonna, Minnesota, has used Siber Systems' RoboForm for several years and loves the product. He says, "RoboForm lets me use strong passwords so I don't have to remember a handful of favorite, easy-to-remember passwords. It has a Password Generator to create random passwords of the length you want and lets you chose to include letters, numbers, or special characters. The product also monitors Web pages for logon screens and fills in logon fields the next time you visit that Web page (a feature that you can turn off if you want). I recommended that Siber Systems figure out a way to sync this information to a Palm OS, and the company took me up on my suggestion. You can now save all your logon passwords to a Palm or Pocket PC so that you can take it with you wherever you go! RoboForm goes one step further and saves credit card numbers, calling card numbers, bank account information, and any other information you might need such as insurance policy numbers and your car's VIN number."

RoboForm is a free password manager. The product works with Windows as an add-on to Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)—based browsers. You can download RoboForm at the Siber Systems Web site.

Product: RoboForm
Company: Siber Systems
Contact:
http://www.siber.com
793-218-1851
877-742-3711

Run Complex Applications from Your Handheld Device

The OQO ultra personal computer (uPC) is a handheld PC that is able to run as a fully functional Windows XP machine. Specifications include a 1GHz processor, an 800 × 480 screen driven by a 3-D chipset, a 20GB hard drive, 256MB Double Data Rate (DDR) RAM, 4-pin FireWire, Bluetooth wireless capability, a USB port, and built-in 802.11b capability. The device is 4.9" × 3.4" × 0.9" and weighs 14 ounces. You can use the OQO uPC to connect to a variety of peripherals, including printers, scanners, and monitors. You can shift from one mode to the other with no data synchronization required. OQO costs $1899 with Windows XP Home Edition installed on it or $1999 with Windows XP Professional Edition installed on it.

One Windows IT Pro reader wrote in and expressed a lot of excitement about the OQO uPC. He says, "The OQO uPC comes bundled with either XP Home or XP Pro. Yes, XP! The handheld doesn't rely on a 'Pocket' version of a real OS; it runs the real thing. No more converting documents for use on the handheld, and no more 'sync' nightmares. You simply plug the device into the cradle on your desk and use a full-size keyboard, mouse, and your existing desktop monitor. It's pretty darn slick!"

Product: OQO uPC
Company: OQO
Contact:
http://www.oqo.com
415-430-6200
[email protected]

Tune Your SQL Server Environment

Ayad Shammout of Boston testifies that VERITAS Software's VERITAS i3 for SQL Server helped his company fix a problem without wasting his time. He says, "We've been using VERITAS i3 for SQL Server for 2 years now. The solution monitors my company's Microsoft SQL Server server and helped us get to the root of the problem and fix it without wasting hours or days. In addition, VERITAS i3 for SQL Server saves all stats and SQL statements in a repository so that we can go back days, weeks, or months later to look at the server and what was going on with it."

VERITAS i3 for SQL Server can proactively monitor, analyze, and tune your SQL Server environment. The software provides a complete view of application performance by capturing, measuring, and correlating performance metrics from each supporting tier of your SQL Server—based custom applications infrastructure. You can use the software to pinpoint the cause of a problem and identify the most effective course of action. SmarTune technology helps you quickly solve the problem and restore your systems to peak performance.

Product: VERITAS i3 for SQL Server
Company: VERITAS Software
Contact:
http://www.veritas.com
800-327-2232

Increase Quality of Service to Your Clients

Jim Welty of Anaheim, California, wrote in about a product that he said has definitely saved him time and eased his daily burden. Home Run Help Desk's Home Run Help Desk Enterprise (HRHDe) is a Web-based call tracking application that Welty uses to increase the quality of service to his clients. He says, "What's impressive about this application is its ability to simultaneously send email notifications for each ticket to a number of parties, such as the caller, the client gatekeeper, and the technician assigned to the call. The best part is that I can update my tickets in the field while I'm onsite with a client rather than cue my database entries for arriving back at the office. For a small shop like mine, gaining a few precious moments back from my evening is just what I need!"

HRHDe is a three-tier Web-based work order system that provides Help desk functionality. HRHDe is built using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 on the back end, Active Server Pages (ASP) as the middle layer, and Macromedia Flash on the front end. The product is available to purchase to host on your server or Home Run Help Desk can host the solution for you.

Product: HRHDe
Company: Home Run Help Desk
Contact:
http://www.homerun
helpdesk.com
866-966-4743
[email protected]