Minimized risk is one benefit, but the message also is one of easing server consolidation and user migration. Competition between the tool vendors heated up last year when BindView gobbled up Entevo, NetIQ consumed Mission Critical, and FastLane was acquired by Quest Software. The result now is that each vendor offers a suite of tools that IT executives can use from start to finish and beyond when rolling out Active Directory. Aelita, BindView, FastLane and NetIQ all provide tools for migrating users from NT to Windows 2000. The tools, which also support migrations from Novell's NetWare, let users clean up and consolidate domains before moving users to Active Directory.
Project management is the largest.
One key issue is integrating NT's SID history with Active Directory's access controls. The SID history helps users maintain links to NT resources when running Active Directory with a combination of NT and Win 2000 servers. Project management also helps IT executives create a history of what they've done, what succeeded and what failed. Modeling is another key feature of the tool suites. This lets users create a model of their planned directory architecture and test how it will function.