Need a Professional IT Opinion

[Niclo Iste]

I'm needing advice on what is best suited for our needs. I don't want to know what's pretty, cheap, free, or fun to use. I am looking for a viable Anti-Virus solution for our office. We are moving away from Symantec because of many many reasons. We were going to move to NOD32 because it was small, fast, effective, VERY configureable, and not a graphical carnival of pictures & animations. However NOD32 recently decided they need to appeal to the McAfee customer base and now their features list is ultra simplified and the interface is gaudy and childish looking. If you have any suggestions on a professional streamlined and hopefully small footprint option I'd be greatful. I prefer something that gives so many options that we could practically configure it for any environment.

[NooNoo]

Have you had a look at avast professional?

[underfunded]

I have been a big fan of the Kaspersky suite.

[slgrieb]

Personally, I don't find the new interface for NOD32 annoying. The menu structure is laid out in a logical tree plan, and toggling into advanced mode presents a very comprehensive view of options. Overall, I'd say that it less confusing for the non-technical user, but offers improved configuration options for professionals. I also don't see that it has lost any performance at all. Of course, I've only been running it since Monday on 3 computers, and I haven't explored the Security Suite at all, or tested the Enterprise version yet.

Avast is a very good product. Kaspersky also gets very high marks for performance, but everyone I know who has used it has nasty things to say about the configuration process. It also appears to be a relatively heavy performance hit.

My recommendation would be 1. Re-examine NOD32 3.0, 2. If your office is running a current Windows Server O.S., re-consider Symantec (yes, I hate them too, but...), 3. Take a look at Avast! Pro, 4. Examine Kaspersky and alternative AV products such as Sophos and Norman with a particular emphasis on ease of configuration.

Frankly, I just wouldn't recommend any of Grisoft's offerings or BitDefender, TrendMicro, or McAfee.

[Niclo Iste]

I thank you all for your suggestions, I'm curious though. Is there a way to do a trial of the pay version of AVAST or is it the same as the free just more thorough? Also I'm needing a network administration console with the software. I'm curious slgrieb you seem to have a lot of security input as far as removal and opinions on software in relation to it. I'm wondering if I could pick your brain on a few things some time and learn from you about how to further my skills in those respects. My final question is why reconsider Symantec for the windows server? I know we're running some virtual servers too but unsure if those are hosted by linux or MS boxes.

[NooNoo]

There is a trial of the pro version, just go to avast.com and see for youself.

[Matridom]

I know you mentioned that your moving away from symantec, but by the sounds of it, you've only looked at their retail products. Have you looked at the corporate versions? It's run on my work computer and i've found no hunderance to it what-so-ever, updates are all silent and never prompt me for anything, there are no firewalls/content fitlers/do-dads built into it. Straight up AV.

[Niclo Iste]

It is corporate we're using. It has been problematic with many machines. It installs properly only 60% of the time. Not to mention it has missed MANY infections despite being up to date. Statistically speaking it only fairs marginally better than its home edition in my opinion. I'm giving NOD32 a second chance my letter to them with my concerns of their changes has prompted them to have their chief sales representative to contact me so we may have a phone conference regarding the product and its expectations. However I am still interested in any options that may be better though it's a hard sell regardless of my new disdain for some changes ESET has implemented.

[slgrieb]

Well, I'd reconsider Symantec Antivirus for the same reasons Matridom mentioned, plus it is very easy to deploy and manage the clients from a server installation. I can't say offhand that I ever had a major problem deploying the client to any computers other than a couple that had some fairly substantial problems unrelated to the SAV client. I think Symantec's detection technology is still some of the best available. When I compare notes with people I know in the biz, this seems to be a pretty common view.

I have talked to those who have had performance issues with 10, but also many who have experienced no problems with it. Still clueless about 11, BTW. The problems I have dealing with Symantec all involve quality and cost of support, plus cost of the product.

I have some older versions of SAV out there that are due for updating, and I'm looking forward seeing Eset's Business Edition of NOD32 due out on the 26th.