Shavlik Refocuses, Moves Patch Management To The Cloud

PRESS RELEASE

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, May 20, 2010 - Shavlik Technologies, LLC, a leading provider of Cloud-enabled software for simplifying and automating IT operations, today announced a multi-faceted Cloud strategy designed to deliver enterprise IT management features to small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) in just minutes. The initial phase of the strategy includes Cloud-based elements of the company's patch management, IT management and virtual machine management tools.

Core to Shavlik's strategy are two Cloud platforms -- PatchCloud™ and OpsCloud™-- that share underlying infrastructure and technology components, but have different deployment and third-party partner integration models.

"End users that we speak to are looking for new ways to manage their IT infrastructure, both physical and virtual. Cloud-based services are an intriguing option for them," said Rachel Chalmers, Research Director, 451 Group. "Shavlik's Cloud-based strategy expands its IT management portfolio to address the needs of businesses that find themselves with a mixture of physical and virtual IT assets. The combination of Cloud-based delivery with third-party partnerships and platform integrations should appeal to businesses of all sizes."

Redefining Patch Management PatchCloud redefines the patch management market that Shavlik helped create by combining the company's comprehensive patch data with Cloud-enabled distribution, endpoint agents and third-party platform integrations. By leveraging the Cloud for distribution, the PatchCloud delivers the company's patch data to more than 10 million endpoints in minutes.

Concurrent with the announcement of its PatchCloud strategy, Shavlik has branded its team of market-leading patch researchers, analysts and data aggregation specialists. Called PatchPatrol™, the team will leverage collective intelligence and feedback from its global PatchCloud community to extend and accelerate analysis and distribution of patch data for Microsoft and third-party software applications from vendors like Adobe, Apple, Mozilla, and Sun JAVA.

"Shavlik has used a cloud approach for many years that leverages the Internet to deliver patch data to literally millions of computers simultaneously," said Mark Shavlik, CEO, Shavlik Technologies. "Our customers benefit from our adoption of technologies that allow us to deliver value in seconds rather than days or weeks or months."

Shavlik's NetPt™agent is part of the company's NetChk family of on-premise IT operations solutions. Its intelligent data-homing technology allows NetPt to get patch data and policy updates from NetChk over the corporate network or from the PatchCloud by connecting directly over the Internet. This self-sustaining capability is ideal for mobile users who spend prolonged periods away from the corporate network with their PCs.

In addition to Shavlik-branded and OEM solutions, PatchCloud also integrates with an expanding list of IT management platforms to deliver Microsoft, vendor-specific, and third-party patch data over the Internet. PatchCloud utilizes a "patch plug-in" model and integrates with Microsoft's System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) via Shavlik's SCUPdates™ and VMware Update Manager and VMware Go platforms. Future support for other major OS and IT management platforms is planned.

Cloud-based Approach to Critical IT Operations

Shavlik's new OpsCloud strategy extends the company's portfolio beyond patch management to provide cloud-based IT management applications and tools geared for time-and budget-strapped SMBs. OpsCloud supports Shavlik and third-party offerings and today includes IT.Shavlik.com -- a SaaS-based application that makes it fast, easy and affordable for SMBs to get key IT operations including asset, software, and patch management, and VMware's VMware Go platform for simplifying the deployment, migration and management of ESXi virtual environments.

"The OpsCloud is critical to delivering enterprise quality IT capabilities to companies of all sizes," added Shavlik. "Our goal is to reduce the IT management infrastructure inside these companies, enabling them to get these services over the Internet. By and large, IT admins are interrupt driven. The OpsCloud allows them to get the services they need on demand with the immediate fulfillment and satisfaction they require."

The vision behind the OpsCloud is to make it the one-stop-shop for IT management applications and tools developed by Shavlik and integrated solutions from third-party providers, including other Cloud-based technologies. Future offerings targeted include anti-malware, remote control and help desk.

Support for "Partly Cloudy" Environments According to 451 Group, IDC, and Gartner, the adoption of Cloud-based infrastructure and applications is rapidly growing among businesses of all sizes as their needs for cost reduction are pushing them toward Cloud adoption. But the reality is that most business will be "partly cloudy" for a long time to come -- straddling physical and virtual IT worlds. This presents a challenge for IT management when it comes to gaining visibility and control of the underlying virtualized assets. Shavlik's Cloud strategy includes management of integration points with top Cloud infrastructure and service providers, such as VMware. These integrations enable Shavlik's IT management solutions to automatically discover all physical and virtual assets and provide asset, patch, configuration, power and compliance management capabilities.

"Companies have a significant install base of applications. Neither they nor cloud-providers could absorb a rapid and complete transition to the cloud," said Shavlik. "Like any significant new technology, the cloud will appear in distinct pockets and expand over time. HR might be the first to adopt cloud-based services for things like employee reviews. And finance might adopt a cloud-based expense reporting system. Most companies will be partly cloudy for the next several years, operating in a hybrid of on-premise and cloud-based solutions."

About Shavlik Technologies Shavlik Technologies, LLC, is a leading provider of Cloud-enabled software that changes the rules of IT management with technology that reduces the time to value for any size organization from months to minutes. Shavlik's innovative approach makes it extremely easy, automatic and fast to centralize and automate processes for managing IT assets. This includes deploying software, taking inventory of physical and virtual assets, configuring systems, patching or updating software, controlling power usage, and maintaining antivirus protection.

With thousands of customers worldwide, Shavlik is trusted to provide solutions that increase efficiencies in IT management while at the same time maintaining well-managed, secure and highly available IT assets. More information can be found at www.shavlik.com.