Zenprise for BlackBerry 3.1, a software module that runs with the core Zenprise Enterprise Management Server, will be released this week. As its name implies, it is catered specially for end-to-end administration of the RIM BlackBerry.
… The new release includes a user dashboard, which is a set of graphical screens to show the overall health of mobile e-mail services for individual user. Some new diagnostic tools make it easier for administrators to make sure the Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry device is active and receiving messages.
The Zenprise relies on a number of sophisticated functions to automatically gather a range of information from Exchange’s messaging environment. Additionally, it collates external data such as from domain controllers, DNS servers, as well as Active Directory records.
It is able to run predictive analysis that looks for impending service issues ahead of time, and is able to generate a list of step-by-step actions to resolve problems.
For Michael Ruman, the IT messaging manager of Grant Thornton – a Chicago-based accounting firm, this insight is critical. With 700,000 e-mails coursing through his company’s Exchange Server 2003 daily:
“[Zeprise has] greatly enhanced our ability to see any issue that may be out there.”
Without a doubt, enterprise e-mail is no longer the single server accessed with a POP client affair of yesteryear. Today’s enterprise e-mail setups often consist of up to multiple load-balanced servers with a plethora of access options such as IMAP, MAPI, web-access and even push mail.
Adding to the fray would be that fact that some of the access options might first need to be tunneled through firewall and/or on top of VPN or HTTP, further upping the complexity.
When things go wrong, as they invariably will, it can sometimes be incredibly hard to pin-point the exact source from amidst the multiple layers of disparate technologies and/or systems. Hence, it is easy to see the value niche that Zenprise is trying to address here
On your end, what tools do you use to monitor administer your company’s enterprise e-mail systems?
