NEI (Nasdaq: NENG), a leading provider of application platforms, appliances and deployment services for software developers, OEMs and service providers worldwide, today announced the general availability of NEI Element Manager 3.0 with new and enriched Smart Services. Element Manager 3.0 allows software developers to quickly build and deploy secure, hardened solutions, with low-maintenance lifecycle management in both physical and virtual environments. End-user enterprises benefit from its award-winning health, update and backup capabilities - all of which make applications easier to maintain and support.

NEI Element Manager 3.0 is a complete, light-weight supervisory and alarming console used to monitor appliance health, automate alarming and updates, deploy OS and application patches, schedule backups and restore field-deployed appliances. Version 3.0 includes advanced tools and resources to help customers scale and manage deployments, including:

• Multi-Appliance Console - Maintenance for all deployed appliances can be performed from a single appliance without the need for a separate, dedicated management server. This approach simplifies management of the units, leading to support and cost savings. Once appliances are added to the console they can then be grouped by location, type, network or any user desired format. The ability to group appliances simplifies the console display and allows commands to be executed against a specific set of appliances with a single action. Configuration backup, image backup and update install can all be performed from the Multi-Appliance Console.
• Smart Task Manager - Reduces end user maintenance requirements by predefining and scheduling cleanup, archive and backup tasks. The Smart Task Manager allows the end user to adjust schedule times and define the location to archive files on the local network. Smart Task Manager comes with predefined scripts and is integrated with the NEI Image Customizer, allowing software vendors to easily add tasks to simplify maintenance of the application stack. In addition to coordinating routine maintenance, the feature can be used to periodically capture appliance information and send it to a central location for analytics. This allows the appliance vendors to improve the support of field deployments by providing feedback on actual usage.
• Update Manager Enhancements - Provides a facility to update all software on the appliance. These upgrades improve performance, reduce network traffic and enhance error recovery and reporting. This feature provides a robust and durable solution for software vendors to easily deliver a wider variety of updates and upgrades in both phone home and dark site formats.
• Virtual Appliance - The Element Manager has been restructured to enable virtual appliance deployments where dual-boot, multi-partition implementations are not required. This allows software vendors to deliver physical and virtual appliances as a common solution with identical look and feel and feature set, simplifying support and maintenance
• Expanded OS Support - Element Manager 3.0 has been qualified with the 2.6.29 Linux kernel under NEI's Linux Package Management Service for both 32- and 64-bit applications. Element Manager 3.0 also has been qualified with Windows 2008 Server Standard Edition R2, Windows 2008 Enterprise Edition R2 and Windows XP Pro. Support continues for Windows Server 2003 Standard and Enterprise Editions.
  

"NEI Element Manager allows software developers to fulfill the appliance-model promise of low-maintenance lifecycle management," said Jeff Hudgins, vice president marketing, NEI. "With the release of Element Manager 3.0, we are satisfying the growing demand for greater ease of use, reduced complexity and scalability for enterprises with multiple deployed appliances."

More information about NEI's Element Manager is available at http://www.nei.com/smart_services.

About NEI

NEI is a leading provider of application platforms, appliances and support services for software developers, OEMs and service providers worldwide. Through its comprehensive suite of services that include solution design, integration control, support and other value-added service capabilities, NEI enables customers to more effectively deploy, manage, service and support their solutions. Founded in 1997, NEI is headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts and trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol NENG. For more information about NEI's products and services, visit www.nei.com.

NEI and the NEI logo are trademarks of Network Engines, Inc. All other names, brands and trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

    Editorial Contact:
        Lisa Cliver
        NEI
        972-633-3491
        lisa.cliver@nei.com

SOURCE NEI