Add-Ons Corral Exchange E-Mail

ISVs are rolling out applications designed to give enterprises better control and management of their Microsoft Corp. Exchange environments.

DYS Analytics Inc. and Zenprise Inc. both announced late last month Exchange Server management offerings that attempt to solve different issues that typically arise for organizations that have deployed the most widely used e-mail server.

DYS Analytics, of Wellesley, Mass., unveiled Email Control Desktop Edition for Microsoft Exchange, while Zenprise, a Fremont, Calif., startup, said it is developing a new offering, known as Zenprise Solution, that can predict, identify and correct performance issues in Exchange Server.

Email Control Desktop Edition is designed to help users better manage their Exchange servers, including identifying and removing dormant accounts and enforcing policies on mailbox size.

The product is based on similar applications DYS Analytics has developed for IBM Lotus and Microsoft e-mail platforms and provides query and reporting technology to give network administrators insight into how the Exchange system is being used and how it is performing.

"It gives us a better feel for the management of our Exchange servers, what mailboxes are in use [and] how much mail a day each servers handling," said David Vigneau, network services manager at Saint Anselm College, in Manchester, N.H. The college has deployed Exchange Server 2003, serving about 3,200 accounts, of which approximately 2,300 are student accounts. The product has already helped Vigneau identify and purge more than 100 inactive accounts.

When mail problems occur, Zenprises new offering is designed to diagnose and fix them. Using an application-aware approach, Zenprise Solution can pinpoint the underlying causes of application and performance problems and provide administrators with resolution instructions, company officials said.

Email Control Desktop Edition, due late this month, is priced at $4,995 per installation. Zenprise Solution is expected to go to beta this month and ship in August. It will likely be priced at about $15 per user per year.

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