Patent ID: 8161149

Claim:
An apparatus for managing at least one device that cannot host a management function, comprising: one or more processors; an entity to determine at least one device cannot host a management function; a pseudo-agent processor (pseudo-agent) installed on and executing in, in response to the determination, a host machine on a network, said device cannot host a management function; at least one connector in communication with said pseudo-agent for interoperating with said at least one device on behalf of said pseudo-agent, said at least one connector configured to inspect values on said at least one device; a management system for providing information to said pseudo-agent, said information comprising any of: management information, remediation information and policy enforcement information; said pseudo-agent further comprising means: for evaluating said information; for determining, in response to said evaluating, relevance of said information to said at least one device, based upon evaluation thereof, said pseudo-agent automatically determining relevance based on configuration attributes and personal attributes; for taking, in response to said determining, one or more actions in connection with said at least one device, if so instructed by said management system via said information, based upon said relevance determination; and for reporting results of said evaluation, relevance determination, and taking of one or more actions to said management system.