Skinny Things Still Need to be Managed

Ten years ago, Altiris burst onto the systems management stage with a couple dozen employees and a Windows OS management product that helped automate deployment and data and settings migration. At the time we had some unique technology but faced stiff competition from the systems management incumbents.

Altiris executives knew if we were going to step into the ring with an 800-pound gorilla that we’d have a better shot at winning if we went in on the shoulders of another 800-pound gorilla. We forged a relationship with Compaq to bundle our OS management solutions with Compaq hardware. We helped Compaq help their customers get the hardware up and running quickly while helping to reduce the cost of owning it. In return, Compaq helped us sell more software. We replicated this model with other hardware vendors and today many consider us the leading hardware and software management vendor in the world.

More than 22,000 customers and 1000 employees later Altiris is now part of Symantec but we are still working closely with the world’s leading hardware vendors. In fact, just this week both Dell and HP announced new hardware offerings that include Altiris deployment technology.

Dell announced their new line of PowerEdge blade (skinny) servers that offer easy expandability and manageability, in large part due to Altiris technology.

Meanwhile, HP announced their first mobile thin (skinny) client. As offered with past models, every HP thin client includes a fully licensed version of Altiris Deployment Solution.

What’s old is new and no matter how skinny this new hardware gets, it still needs to be managed.