KACE Takes the Sting out of 2007 Daylight Saving Time Changes

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KACE, the leader in IT management solutions for mid-market organizations, today announced that IT organizations nation-wide are using its IT automation appliances to quickly and seamlessly update computer systems in anticipation of the Daylight Saving Time (DST) change, which is permanently being moved forward three weeks ahead of the typical time change. KBOX 1000 Series appliances enable businesses to automatically update systems for the time change and avoid problems such as scheduling and calendar errors and the potential failure of mission critical application.

“Enterprises don’t always update their operating systems, and for good reasons”

“Enterprises don’t always update their operating systems, and for good reasons,” said Andi Mann, Senior Analyst with leading IT analyst firm Enterprise Management Associates. “Application support, skill levels, hardware compatibility, and business continuity all lead enterprises to retain older operating systems. However, they risk experiencing serious management issues when things such as the upcoming changes to DST pop up, and without primary vendor support. Scrambling with already over-burdened staff to update systems manually is error-prone, time-consuming, and an extraordinary waste of valuable resources. A solution such as KBOX, that updates DST settings automatically and centrally, has clear and quantifiable benefits.”

As part of the United States’ Energy Policy Act of 2005, the DST changes are intended to conserve more energy. DST, which traditionally began on the first Sunday in April, will start three weeks earlier, beginning in 2007, to instead land on the second Sunday in March. Also changing is the end date, previously residing on the last Sunday in October, which will now land on the first Sunday in November.

The DST change is thought to confuse programs set to automatically handle DST hours, with the largest affects on calendar conflicts, date/time calculations, transaction logging, and tariff billing applications. The KBOX 1000 Series allows companies to quickly and reliably determine which systems require DST updates and then automatically apply those updates via its software distribution, patching, and configuration management capabilities. KBOX 1000 Series software distribution and patching can be used to distribute and verify DST updates available from OS and application vendors. Additionally, the scripting capabilities of the KBOX 1000 can be used to update operating systems and applications for which vendors are not providing patches.

While users of the most current generations of operating systems, such as Windows Vista, XP, 2003, or Mac OS X, are assured the DST transition will be relatively smooth, Microsoft did not publicly release a patch for earlier systems such as Windows 2000, which still has a large installed base. Microsoft Windows 2000 users were provided a work-around that requires the change of registry keys which is time consuming and error prone if done manually. Even with the XP and 2003 patches, updating all systems will be time consuming and difficult without a tool to automatically distribute and verify the successful application of these patches. The KBOX 1000 Series includes a script that can automatically and reliably update all Windows 2000 Systems to support the 2007 DST changes.

“The upcoming DST change can potentially pose a number of problems for companies,” said Rob Meinhardt, CEO of KACE. “Not only can there be a huge loss of time and productivity spent manually addressing this issue, but there’s also the inherent unreliability of manual updates, generating risk to mission critical systems. Our KBOX appliances provide centralized control and automate DST updates on computer systems throughout a company or department, putting IT organizations at ease.”

The KBOX 1000 Series is a secure, robust line of appliances that provides affordable, end-to-end systems management including: hardware and software inventory, software distribution, patch management, scripting and policy configuration, remote control, alerting, reporting and dashboards, security audit and enforcement, and a end-user self service portal. As one of the easiest-to-use, comprehensive and affordable IT automation solutions, the KBOX system allows companies to increase IT efficiency, enable compliance and significantly improve security without interruption from instances such as the DST change.

About KACE™

KACE™, a privately held technology company, is the leader in IT automation appliances. The KBOX™ family of appliances deliver easy-to-use, comprehensive IT automation that is affordable and really work. The KBOX™ 1000 Series Systems Management Appliances automate routine and complex IT maintenance tasks for end-point nodes on a network. The KBOX™ 2000 Series Systems Deployment Appliances provide centralized provisioning and remote system recovery.

KACE is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Chicago, Illinois. To learn more about KACE and its product offerings, please visit http://www.kace.com or call 1-888-522-3638.