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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/11584
COMPANY PROFILE
FILEWAVE > SYSTEM MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS FOR EVERYONE
WORDS BY MATTHEW SCHILDROTH
speed, control, and software management with any hardware from any platform.
MD > What products do you offer besides FileWave?
FileWave is a premier company for management of any site with more than one computer. It has been in the business for almost 20 years, designing solid software for system management whether you have just a small lab of computers in a school or a vast network in a large-scale corporation.
MacDirectoryhad the opportunity to speak with Thomas Kaufmann of FileWave, and it looks like they have a bright future as a company. The following interview has been edited and condensed.
MacDirectory > When and where did FileWave get its start?
Thomas Kaufmann > FileWave started in 1992 under the name of Wave Research in Belgium. It was renamed to FileWave in 1999.
MD > What are the types of companies or organizations that you market to?
TK > We offer our solutions to every organization -- small, medium, and worldwide companies, as well as government and educational institutions. You would find FileWave everywhere.
MD > What are some of the accomplishments that you are most excited about in relation to FileWave as a company?
TK > FileWave is a very small company. We have about 20 employees worldwide, but we are able to handle worldwide customers such as IKEA or Publicis and still hold a very high quality standard not only in the product, but also in customer relation and support.
MD > What sets FileWave apart from other site management services or software?
TK > What sets us apart is the way we handle software. All software deployment solutions on the market really focus on sending out installers very fast, but leave
very little space for managing the deployed software. Also, their software deployment very often needs the end- user (client) to interact so that the software gets installed correctly.
FileWave, on the other hand, has the focus on software management. That doesn’t mean we are not as fast as the others, but it gives the administrators the possibility to modify packages at any time -- before, during, and after a deployment.
Furthermore, FileWave’s most impressive and most powerful feature is the FileSet- Magic. This is the FileSet creator based on the snapshot technology. Compared to other solutions which also have a packager, FileSet-Magic creates no installers, it creates containers where all necessary folders, files, and their metadata are saved.
Based on this FileSets is also self-healing.
It is automated, and the FileWave client checks every 24 hours if any file became corrupted or was modified and self-heals all missing or modified files. It’s a file-by- file verification. Of course, FileWave offers three different verification levels, which the administrator can choose for a complete FileSet, or for each file, depending on the needs of every client.
MD > What type of flexibility does FileWave have as far as hardware system requirements?
TK > FileWave does not have high hardware requirements. The only thing needed is enough hard disk space for the FileSets on the server. Due to the cross- platform capability of FileWave, it doesn’t even matter if a customer chooses a Mac, Windows, or Linux server.
Basically, the faster the hardware, the faster FileWave is. In times like this where all companies need to watch what they are spending, FileWave is the perfect way to mix
TK > FileWave is just one product in our portfolio. Next to it we also offer the FileWave Inventory solution, which is partly integrated into FileWave, but is also a standalone product based on MySQL and PHP.
FileWave Inventory offers a very comfortable and flexible way to always have an up-to-date overview of your hardware, software, and your licenses. It reports all the information to e-mail addresses you enter, or offers the possibility to connect other software to it. For example, due to the background of MySQL database, every company is able to connect their help desk tool with FileWave Inventory and get the symbiosis of all their important information out of it.
MD > As the mobile technology field grows, what are steps that you may take to grow with it? Will there be mobile administration tools available?
TK > There are some plans we have, and there will definitely be a mobile administration at some time. Every day, the market brings up new opportunities which we will take. For example, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 7, Apple’s iPhone and Mac OS, as well as Google’s Android phone, which is based on Linux. These all offer us great bases to build administration tools.
MD > Would the average user be able to use FileWave’s services without a lot of work?
TK > Absolutely. FileWave is a very easy-to- use product. Furthermore, FileWave offers training for basic and advanced users at all times, at our office or on site.
MD > Is FileWave equally functional to small office businesses as it is to large scale corporations?
TK > Yes, our smallest customer has 10 computers and our biggest customer has 20,000 clients. With the Booster technology, FileWave is scalable to all sizes.
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