LANDesk Software, announced the new LANDesk Management Gateway Appliance, the first LANDesk appliance for managing mobile and distributed computer systems through the Internet. For the first time, systems administrators can reach out to remote endpoints over the Internet and preempt threats before they reach the corporate network. LANDesk Management Gateway Appliance integrates closely with LANDesk Management Suite and LANDesk Security Suite to offer the integrated configuration and security management functionality over the Internet.

    LANDesk management solutions give you IT assurance and faster time to value from easy-to-use integrated management solutions that let your enterprise—and you—do more with less effort, expense and training and little or no new infrastructure. Solutions that make your day as an IT manager or administrator, CEO, CIO, CTO or CSO less stressful and the value you bring your enterprise more noticeable.

    Unlike other solutions, its plug-and-play capability allows systems administrators to instantly deploy, set-up and manage desktops and laptops outside the firewall in order to immediately inventory and bring corporate assets into compliance. The LANDesk Management Gateway Appliance also benefits from automatic updates that ease management of the device, as well as automatic redundant backups to ensure configuration and log information is always available.

    "Remote workers disconnected from the corporate LAN pose a huge threat to the network because traditional systems management software can only actively manage assets inside the corporate firewall," said LANDesk Vice President of Product Management Steve Workman. "The new LANDesk Management Gateway Appliance extends management beyond the corporate LAN and actively manages remote devices through the Internet - without the need for costly VPN connections. This way, systems can be patched and securely managed and updated before they come back onto the corporate network."

    The LANDesk Management Gateway Appliance manages devices outside the local network without punching holes in the network firewall. The gateway acts as a meeting place where the core console and managed devices are linked through their Internet connections - even if they are behind firewalls or use a proxy to access the Internet. Using a secure SSL tunnel, the LANDesk Management Gateway appliance continuously routes bi-directional data between the two computers as long as they are connected. The SSL data is not decrypted at the LANDesk Management Gateway, eliminating any holes in the protocol during the data communication process.

    "We have a number of doctors and practices that are not hospital employees, but who need access to our network outside the corporate firewall," said Keith Brown, network administrator for Gwinnett Hospital System. "The LANDesk Management Gateway Appliance gives us the ability to manage and secure these machines with little to no impact to the users."

Futures provided:
    -  Inventory and asset management
    -  Software license monitoring
    -  On-demand remote control
    -  Vulnerability scan and remediation
    -  Security configuration management
    -  Software distribution and patch management