End User Review: Audit Wizard V8 [67%]

21 December 2010
3 minute read
ITAM News & Analysis

End User Review: Audit Wizard V8 [67%]

21 December 2010
3 minute read

Audit Wizard V8

  • Estate Size:  1,438 (72% Desktops, 23% Laptops, 4% Servers, 1% Other)
  • Reviewer: Tim Heywood, Engineering Systems Manager, SELEX Communications (Defence & Aerospace)
  • Product: Audit Wizard V8 by Layton Technology

General Feedback

Strengths:
It’s an agent-less discovery scanner, that can support air gapped systems and networks (works through a common login file)
Weaknesses:
the “Ribbon” user interface – development of this means a lot of previously useful features have been dropped off in the later version
What feature would you add if you had the choice?
The ability to Boolean search for items, and extract reports based on those searches – able to do using external SQL queries on the DB, but that is beyond my abilities
Support or implementation:
The support has always been good, even if the answer is “we don’t do that (yet)”. I don’t implement it, yet the feedback from those who do is OK – the scanner needs redeployment every time an upgrade is performed, which is a bit of a hassle for the air gapped networks we have.
If you had the opportunity to choose ITAM technology again would you choose the same product?
AuditWizard is a cheap and cheerful discovery tool, yet since discovery is easy this is something that is in most ITAM tools. I probably wouldn’t choose AW in the light of its limitations (e.g. can’t read Unix servers apart from name IP & MAC – thinks they’re a PC)
Any other feedback you wish to share?
This is a good product overall, silly things let it down. Version 7 was a great discovery tool. Version 8 has tried to be enhanced to provide a better interface (doesn’t work for me, I think this “ribbon” idea sucks) and to perform basic license compliance (which I don’t use it for). Therefore it has grown beyond the requirement we set for it when originally purchased, and it no longer really meets that requirement due to the development effort on not wanted (for me) enhancements.

Rating

  • Implementation Success: 8/10
  • Day to day ease of use: 5/10
  • Performance: 7/10
  • Resources required: 7/10
  • Support: 7/10
  • Meeting requirements: 6/10
  • Overall Satisfaction: 7/10

Total Score: 47/70 [67%]

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