Best of TechEd Europe Winners Announced

Windows IT Pro and SQL Server Magazine announced the winners of the Best of TechEd 2005 Europe Awards from Amsterdam. Products were recognized across 10 categories, with one overall Best of Show winner.

Judges Mike Otey and Mark Anderson reviewed products on the Tech Ed floor and chose winners based on their strategic importance in the market, competitive advantage, and value to the customer. The categories included Data Management, Hardware Solutions, Messaging, Mobile Computing, Productivity & Collaboration, Security, Software Components & Middleware, Systems Management, Software Development Tools, and Software Management Tools.

Best of Show – HP OpenView Operations for Windows
HP OpenView Operations for Windows is a cross-platform management tool that can manage multiple Windows, Linux, and UNIX systems. It provides a graphical management console that allows administrators to manage both from a business services perspective or by drilling down to the underlying infrastructure. HP OpenView intelligently filters out extraneous and duplicate warning events and its root cause analysis capability enables administrators to immediately find and correct network problems.

Data Management – Quest Central for SQL Server
Quest Central for SQL Server is a tool to help DBAs consistently control changes across multiple SQL Server instances. The interface mirrors SQL Server Enterprise Manager, so SQL Server DBAs will find it familiar, but Quest Central for SQL Server adds advanced multiserver capabilities. It also includes features for disk space management, monitoring, historical and real-time diagnostics, expert tuning, data generation, and load testing.

Hardware – EqualLogic PS200E
EqualLogic’s PS200E helps make SAN technology accessible for administrators of small and medium sized businesses who aren’t familiar with storage management technologies. The EqualLogic PS200E provides dual 64-bit controller modules, and its user-friendly interface eliminates the need for administrators to understand and deal with traditional SAN terminology. The EqualLogic PS2000E supports all of the Windows Server 2003 storage features, including multi-path IO and Windows Volume Shadow Copy Services.

Messaging – Quest Software MessageStats
E-mail has become one of the most important technologies for the enterprise and Quest’s MessageStats provides Exchange administrators with a comprehensive set of prebuilt reports to help them understand and manage email usage and trends. These reports provide the administrator with information to support email planning, auditing, and analysis, and they include information to support capacity planning, policy compliance, and migration from earlier versions of Exchange.

Mobile Computing – Brainboxes BL-565 CompactFlash Bluetooth Card
Bluetooth lets you wirelessly connect peripherals at high speeds over short distances without cables. Brainboxes BL-565 can add Bluetooth support to any device that has a CompactFlash reader. The BL-565 is an ideal way to add Bluetooth wireless connectivity to your desktop, notebook, or PDA.

Productivity & Collaboration – RADVISION Click to Meet
RADVISION Click to Meet extends the concept of a conference call from voice to video and data. The package includes server and client software for a complete enterprise conferencing infrastructure. In addition to video and audio conferencing, Click to Meet lets users share documents. Click to Meet supports operation on single-user PCs or in a conference room. It also has continuous presence information, streaming support for scalability, and an SDK for extending its functionality.

Security – ScriptLogic Active Administrator
ScriptLogic’s Active Administrator promotes security in the organization by providing the Windows administrator with a set of essential capabilities that are missing from Microsoft’s built-in AD management tools. Active Administrator supports full auditing of all Active Directory changes, including the ability to easily undo any changes. In addition, by using managed permissions you can create a self-healing environment that automatically corrects unwanted and unintended changes.

Software Components & Middleware – Infragistics NetAdvantage 2005
NetAdvantage 2005 helps developers quickly design and code user interfaces for Windows Forms, ASP.NET, Tablet PC, and COM applications. It includes controls for grids, charting, toolbars, trees, menus, tabs, calendaring, Explorer-style applications, editors, and more. NetAdvantage allows developers to use all the complex UI components users are familiar with across various programming models and take full advantage of Microsoft’s .NET platform.

Systems Management – Configuresoft Enterprise Configuration Manager
Configuresoft’s Enterprise Configuration Manager provides the administrator with almost complete control for enterprise configuration management. ECM enables cross-platform management and can automate the tasks of monitoring, managing, and auditing hardware and software configurations for both servers and clients.

Software Development Tools – eBay Software Development Kit for Windows
Ebay is a leader in Web-based technology and an icon of successful online commerce. EBay’s Software Development Kit for Windows lets developers build on eBay’s success by integrating eBay’s online auction system into their applications. Ebay’s API isn’t dependent on the Web-based user interface but instead interacts directly with the eBay platform by using an XML-based protocol. Updates are released on a regular schedule to ensure users of the SDK have access to the latest eBay features.

Software Management – Borland StarTeam
Borland’s StarTeam supports team development for heterogeneous languages and development environments. It is compatible with popular development tools ranging from Visual Studio 2005 to Eclipse. StarTeam is WAN friendly and securely supports interaction for geographically separate team members.