NEC LCD52V Brochure

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NaViSet
TM
 Administrator 
Introduction
Now more than ever IT departments are under increased pressure 
to maximize the use of hardware resources and reduce support 
costs. IT personnel must learn how to configure and support a 
multitude of hardware devices and software packages throughout 
the product lifecycle. Keeping track of these resources over the 
product lifetime also plays a vital role in being able to maximize 
their use and minimize their support costs.
Asset tracking has long been a vital part of this process. In recent 
years, this tracking has become more sophisticated and has gone 
beyond attaching a physical asset tag to each hardware device 
and then keeping a log of when and where each device was in 
service. 
Today it is possible to keep track of hardware and software as-
sets electronically via remote asset management systems that 
operate over a network. For example, PCs can be tracked and 
software can be installed, configured and licensing managed – all 
by remote from a centralized server.
As one of the most expensive and sophisticated PC peripherals, 
display monitors form a significant portion of the Total Cost of 
Ownership (TCO) of a modern computer installation. However, 
the ability to accurately track this asset has been a significant 
problem due to the lack of effective asset management and 
monitoring tools. This has resulted in display monitors typically 
having to be tracked manually throughout the product lifecycle, 
increasing support costs and TCO.
Additionally, the configuration necessary to ensure that each dis-
play monitor is being utilized to its maximum potential has been 
a burden on IT personnel. This is in part due to the wide variety 
of controls, the varied control naming and the multitude of user 
interfaces available on each device across different brands and 
models. As display monitors have become more sophisticated, 
in most cases their configuration has also become more complex 
and time consuming. Incorrect configuration of a display monitor 
can mean that the asset is underutilized in terms of its capabili-
ties. Incorrect configuration can even cause problems such as eye 
fatigue and headaches for the user.
NEC’s asset management solution
As a worldwide leader in display monitors, NEC has understood 
these issues and has developed a set of software tools aimed at 
bringing the display monitor peripheral into the process of asset 
management. Better asset management will help reduce TCO by 
maximizing the use of the display throughout its lifecycle and by 
minimizing the associated support costs.
The aim of these tools is to make it easier to manage each stage 
of the product lifecycle - from initial product acquisition through 
installation and configuration, minimization of power consump-
tion, problem resolution, asset tracking and, finally, the eventual 
decision for end-of-life disposal.
These tools were developed knowing that many customers have 
existing asset management tools and procedures in place, and 
that a proprietary solution is not in the best interests of NEC or 
the customer. Any solution offered must be flexible enough to 
complement any existing management tools, and be powerful 
enough to work on its own in cases where there is no preexisting 
infrastructure in place. NEC understands that customers may have 
a variety of different display monitors in use, and that these man-
agement tools should not be limited to use with just NEC prod-
ucts, which would effectively limit the tools’ overall usefulness.
Finally, these tools should be able to function with a minimum of 
prerequisite support software requirements, thus keeping costs to 
a minimum and simplifying usage and support.
It is with these philosophies and goals that NEC developed NaVi-
Set Administrator.
NaViSet Administrator is a Windows-based software tool for 
remotely managing display monitor assets throughout an enter-
prise. NaViSet Administrator is based on Windows Management 
Instrumentation (WMI), which is Microsoft’s implementation of 
the web-based Enter-
prise Management 
(WBEM) Standard from 
the Distributed Man-
agement Task Force 
(DMTF).
WMI has been present in some form on all versions of Microsoft 
Windows since Windows 95. The sophistication and power of 
WMI has grown with each release of Windows. However, effec-
tive management of display monitors has long been severely 
lacking when using the standard Windows WMI implementation.