The typical small business these days continues to struggle with issues of: 1) just tracking and managing the various computer systems in their environment, and 2) keeping those very same computer systems updated with the latest software updates. It’s not because they can’t or don’t want to, but it’s more often attributed to the fact that they have not been exposed to a set of tools they could use to do so.

If you’re a small business that finds yourself in the position I’ve just described – there’s a resource you should become very familiar with – and that resource is call “Spiceworks.”

Spiceworks offers a free application that enables the small business to better manage and track their inventory of systems, and helps determine and address any risks associated with computers that aren’t properly updated. Shavlik (now part of VMware) has partnered with Spiceworks to provide the software update functionality to their over 1.6 million users to help simplify the process of determining which systems are at risk and fix them. Today, any Spiceworks user has the ability to conduct a free assessment of their entire environment to determine any existing or potential risks from improperly patched machines, and leverage Shavlik’s technology (separately) to fix any systems that are at risk.

Later this year, Spiceworks will fully integrate Shavlik’s patch assessment and remediation technology into their platform…which will further extend the vast set of capabilities they currently offer the small business user. So, if you continued to wrestle with the everyday issues of managing IT – please take a moment to checkout Spiceworks (www.spiceworks.com). You’ll be glad you did!

Dave Eike