Macs Attract New Support From ...

Computerworld - ... IT vendors that contend that Apple Computer's desktops are on the rebound inside big organizations. "We've been impressed with the resurgence of the [Macintosh] platform. It's gaining momentum," says Bennett Griffin, CEO of Griffin Technologies LLC, a security vendor in Lawrence, Kan. At this week's Macworld conference in San Francisco, Griffin's company will release its $129 SecuriKey Professional Edition product, which combines a 1-in.-long USB encryption device and client software to protect data on Macs. That could be useful when a Mac laptop is lost or stolen, or if you keep ultrasecret data on your G5 desktop. Without the USB dongle and a password, the data is inaccessible, Griffin claims. He says his bigger customers have been asking for help securing Macs along with Windows machines. Griffin's engineers are also developing an enterprise edition that will let systems administrators centrally manage SecuriKey devices from Macs. The admin console is available only for Windows now.
Even though IT shops have spent years trying to rid their companies of Macs, the pesky systems just won't go away, says John Dean, director of marketing at Atempo Inc. "People talk about consolidating under one platform, but I don't see it happening," he says. France-based Atempo is a 12-year-old vendor of Windows backup software that opened a U.S. office last year in Palo Alto, Calif. At Macworld, the company will unveil Time Navigator 3.7, which can back up and restore data to Mac OS X servers. Like Griffin, Atempo was pushed by large customers, such as Raytheon Co. and France Telecom SA, to add Mac support, Dean says. Mac users get Time Navigator's full capabilities, such as encryption of data during backups and self-service file-restore rights for end users. Pricing starts at less than $5,000.

Griffin Technologies' SecuriKey USB device