Novadigm Inc’s effort to web-enable its software management technology has crystallized into a new product offering it now says will beta next month and ship at the end of September (CI No 3,083). Like its existing Enterprise Desktop Manager, the new product will employ a differencing process to evaluate the difference between a users’ applications, files and service and the most current versions available on the intranet server and update clients machines appropriately. It will manage and publish code in a web server and use a browser-plugin to update clients. Its engine also enables files and applications to be restored automatically where they’ve been lost or deleted. It’s a function Novadigm claims rival push technology models such as Marimba Inc’s Castanet simply won’t be able to do. If a user realizes a file or program is missing, Novadigm doesn’t think Marimba’s product will be able to see what the missing code is and restore the service automatically. Novadigm claims its product will also enable users to go to a web page, pull down information and distribute it internally. It will enable organizations to create virtual software malls on their intranets, the company thinks. Novadigm thinks the software should be of special interest to organizations implementing so-called Zero Administration clients. A 4.0 cut of the client/server EDM is also expected around the same time. Novadigm claims solutions such as McAfee Associates Inc/BackWeb Technologies Inc show that net-based software distribution and management is going to be an important market. It says it’s still in discussions with third parties about the patents it holds for some push technologies (CI No 3,070).
