ManageEngine Proves Itself a Reliable Source for IT Admins with New, Free PingTool for iPhone App

ManageEngine (News - Alert) is dedicated to helping IT administrators tackle heavy-hitting issues associated with such tasks as server and website monitoring, but with today’s heavy emphasis on mobility and trends such as bring your own device (BYOD), IT admins who are constantly on the go need to be equipped with the latest developments to easily assist them in their everyday operations.

Enter ManageEngine, a company that does just that.

ManageEngine offers enterprise IT management solutions including network management, desktop, server and application management, and is committed to further cementing its already sterling position in the industry with its array of unique monitoring tools.

Today, the company has revealed the newest addition to this family, its PingTool for iPhone (News - Alert), a free iPhone native app for server monitoring.

I was able to speak with President at ManageEngine Raj Sabhlok on this newest development, as well as what the company’s goals and plans for 2013 are.

Sabhlok explained to me that for a variety of differing reasons, small to medium-sized businesses (SMB) have trouble investing in paid-for tools. These reasons can include being in a start-up mode, having a tight budget, lacking an expendable budget for tools, and lacking a larger environment.

In light of this, ManageEngine has made it its goal to cater to these types of companies to help assist them during this growth phase, he noted.

The goal for ManageEngine is simple: create flourishing relationships with these growing companies in order to preserve healthy stances with them in the long run.

“Every one of our products today that are major revenue-generating products has a free version. In many cases, they provide excellent functionality and [are ideal] for a small company to really manage whatever aspect of IT that their product is targeted for. We’ve done that for every one of our products, but in some cases, we’ve gone beyond that,” Sabhlok said.

This new PingTool for iPhone app is a perfect example of how the company goes above and beyond for its customers.

Sabhlok continued, “This Ping tool for the iPhone is such a tool where we thought it’d be fun and neat to offer this type of functionality…where an IT technician on-the-go can monitor their infrastructure – namely their servers or their website – on their iPhone from anywhere at any time. It’s a tool that we thought would be interesting for the market and for our industry.”

With PingTool, IT admins that are iPhone users can now reportedly manage the availability of critical IT devices right from their handheld device. As we mentioned, another huge influencing factor for this development is the growing trend and adoption of mobility, which the company sounds off on in the statement.

“Considering the influence mobile is having on network management, it is only fair that the industry equips its IT force with utilities that let them manage their network from anywhere,” explained Shailesh Kumar Davey, vice president of engineering at ManageEngine. “The PingTool for iPhone is our latest contribution to that goal. The fact that this tool, like our other free tools, is fully functional and available at absolutely no cost makes it all the more compelling for users.”

So what exactly does PingTool for iPhone offer IT admins? Not only does it offer them a complete view of what is happening across their local networks and websites, but the statement also explains that it lets iPhone users:

• Monitor the availability of servers, routers, other network devices and websites
• Gain visibility on the trip time for ping packets and on the health of the hosts monitored
• Monitor five hosts simultaneously
• Traceroute or do a DNS lookup in the event of a host not responding for ping
• Monitor the response time of critical websites

At the end of the day, by giving the IT administrator enhanced visibility through enhanced monitoring, he or she can guarantee optimum efficiency and functionality of critical equipment – all while conveniently on the go.

So what will this new development hopefully spell out for ManageEngine’s future and the rest of 2013?

“This is part of our broader strategy to enable all-sized businesses to have best-in-class management tools. We recognize that some companies are not in a position to invest in paid-for tools, and this is a great [solution],” Sabhlok concluded. “ManageEngine has always catered to those companies and assumes that as those businesses grow, we will see them as paid-for customers down the road as well.”

With an already loyal and satisfied client base, it seems ManageEngine is certainly on the right track for this year.