Unveiled simultaneously to a select group of companies and representatives of the media on Thursday, at the Hilton Hotel in Kingston, both products - the Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft System Centre - are being promoted as a major boost to business security and infrastructural administration in Jamaica's private and public sector.

During the launch, participants were able to witness first hand demonstrations of the products.  The Forefront products, which are geared primarily towards providing comprehensive protection and control over the security of business' network infrastructure, include: Microsoft Forefront Client Security, Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint, Microsoft Forefront Security for Office Communications Server Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006; and the Intelligent Application Gateway.

The Forefront software is capable of integrating itself fully with a company's existing IT infrastructure, due largely to Microsoft's control and production of most of the IT software currently on the market.  Among some of the capabilities, outlined in the demonstration, that the Forefront products will enable its users to apply, include restricting the level of access to a computer network to users both inside and outside of the network.

"[For example] if someone tries to get into a system from a remote location, one can quarantine it and check it to see if it matches the company's compliance standards.  So if someone tries to access your system from a cyber café, for example, you can monitor it.  This is particularly useful if they take laptop machines out of the company's trusted environment and go outside to work," Dwayne Fernandez, a representative of the Security Elite, West Indies said during the demonstration.

"The information has to be available to those who need it [but] has to be protected from those with malicious intent," he added.  Forefront also allows for the utilisation of one central console to manage several antivirus engines over a computer system, a dramatic shift from what currently obtains in the industry where single antivirus engines are typically deployed by users.

Via the Microsoft System Center family of products, IT professionals will receive products and solutions geared towards performing proactive maintenance of computers and computer systems.  Andres Blanco, security initiative manager for Microsoft Caribbean expressed particular satisfaction with the capacity planner feature of the System Centre line of products, which he claims will, among other things, enable persons to test the effects of software before implementing widescale installation on their computers within a system.

Microsoft Forefront and Systems Centre also received endorsements from Senator Kern Spencer, minister of state in the Ministry of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce.  "Microsoft Forefront business security products promise to provide greater protection and control over the security of network infrastructure in both the private and public sectors.  Importantly, also the wide array of technical and industry-specific guidance will help businesses configure their security products correctly and effectively," said Spencer.

The senator also noted that Jamaica was experiencing much success in the deployment of government e-services (electronic services), including the Inland Revenue Department's tax payment portal and the Jamaica Customs e-payment system.  He said that during the last financial quarter, which ended on March 2006, approximately $9 million was collected online by government offices, with the total collected to date being in excess of $73 million.

Local business owners interested in learning more about Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft System Centre can contact the local Microsoft branch or visit Microsoft's website where they can get free trial versions of the software.

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