Software Installation over LAN

I remember years ago working for a company that had a nice application installed on every workstation within the LAN which listed available software to install from the server.

GP’s allow you to add MSI’s… nice. But what about EXE’s? I’m not talking anything that would cripple bandwidth or anything, just something that would work similar to a CD with installable demo’s etc that you select with a GUI.

Any ideas?