ManageEngine, a leading provider of cost-effective enterprise IT management software, has announced the inclusion of automated device end-of-life (EOL) management services in DeviceExpert, the company’s network configuration and change management (NCCM) solution. Entirely new to the industry, automated EOL management assists network administrators in improving device lifestyle management and ensures that network devices comply with corporate policies.

Large networks place reliance on a number of routers, switches and other devices, and many organizations require the replacement of devices to which manufacturers have assigned an end-of-life status. At EOL, many manufacturers will no longer assume maintenance or support for these devices, which then increases the risk for the organizations that continue their use. Organizations usually track device EOL status manually, which involves the network management team discovering which device has been declared EOL, saving the device configurations from the EOL device, replacing the device, and then reinstalling the configuration on the replacement device.

DeviceExpert automates many of the manual tasks that previously consumed the resources of an organization’s IT and network management teams. From a central location, DeviceExpert monitors equipment vendor websites and bulletins for information on EOL device status updates. DeviceExpert installations on customer networks regularly pull down EOL status updates so an organization’s network managers always have updated information about devices that have been assigned an EOL status.

The decommissioning and recommissioning of devices is also facilitated by DeviceExpert. The DeviceExpert inventory database contains the configuration of all the managed devices. Installing a new device merely requires the pushing of a particular configuration version from the inventory. All device configurations are not only backed up automatically but are also stored with proper versions and labels, and administrators can view and deploy any version on any device. In addition, DeviceExpert includes the following automation capabilities: configuration changes, firmware upgrades, the upload and download of OS images, and the checking of configurations for standards compliance.

“With so many devices on a network, the task of discovering that a particular device has reached end-of-sale, end-of-life, or end-of-support status can be herculean. The ability to automate both EOL status discovery and the identification of devices that have reached EOL saves time and money even as it helps eliminate potential network vulnerabilities,” said Rajesh Ganesan, Director of Product Management at ManageEngine.