The year that was, Part 2

We're taking a look back at the year 2000, highlighting the important developments in Windows networking. Last newsletter, we reviewed the major news out of Redmond, Wash.; this time we'll look at some major partners.

Windows 2000 is by far the best enterprise-ready operating system ever to come from Microsoft, but one of the major features -- Active Directory, which is so necessary for Win 2000's success -- is not easily grasped, especially for those of us who've managed NT Domain systems.

Fortunately, there have been a number of third-party companies who have developed products to ease the transition. Three that we've recommended heartily are Mission Critical, FastLane and Entevo. It really didn't come as any surprise, then, when all three were acquired (or merged) during the year.

On the one hand, these companies knew the Windows 2000 market inside and out. On the other hand, migrating to Win 2000 and Active Directory was a one-time project. So, for these three companies, the acquisitions were a chance to leverage their expertise and move on to another stage in the development of enterprise-strength utilities.

For the three companies that acquired (or merged with) these utility producers, the payoff was almost instant credibility with the new Windows 2000 network managers. NetIQ (Mission Critical), BindView (Entevo) and Quest Software (FastLane) all acquired immediate standing as the companies that know Active Directory best. This is important as we move from the migration stage to actually using and leveraging Active Directory to reduce costs and improve return on investment throughout an enterprise.

Next time, we'll take a look at what 2001 might hold in store for Windows networkers.

» posted by ITworld staff

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