AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - Apr 24, 2012) - SolarWinds® (NYSE: [ SWI ]), a leading provider of powerful and affordable [ IT management software ] for more than 100,000 customers worldwide, announced that the company has joined the Microsoft System Center Alliance program. The System Center Alliance is a network of technology providers building solutions that extend System Center. The program helps customers select partner solutions that provide a seamless IT management experience with System Center solutions.

In conjunction with its membership in the program, SolarWinds recently announced the availability of [ SolarWinds Patch Manager ], a solution that makes it easy to deploy, manage and report on patches for third-party applications using System Center 2012 Configuration Manager.

"SolarWinds is very excited to be a part of the Microsoft System Center Alliance program. We feel that SolarWinds Patch Manager gives sysadmins an affordable and effective way to address the challenge of keeping third-party applications patched while also extending the value of their System Center investments," said Denny LeCompte, SolarWinds vice president of product management. "More than just a patch catalog, SolarWinds Patch Manager provides a set of powerful patch management capabilities that truly simplify and reduce the time required to deploy, manage and report on third-party patches."

SolarWinds Patch Manager extends and enhances the power of System Center, providing these benefits:

• Easy creation, deployment, management, and reporting on patches for third-party applications across thousands of desktops, servers and laptops enterprise-wide using Configuration Manager
• Automatic delivery of pre-built, tested patches for common third-party applications such as Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Flash, Mozilla Firefox, iTunes, Oracle Java; Automatically sync patches with Configuration Manager and deploy when convenient
• Creation of advanced before-and-after deployment scripts or scenarios for difficult-to-deploy patches such as Oracle Java
• Ability to perform real-time software update management, including immediate update scans and installs, without remote desktop capabilities
• Analysis, maintenance and repair of the Windows Update Agents and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) from a central point of control on multiple desktops and servers enterprise-wide
• Enhanced collection views, client health views, client diagnostics information, and other client details
• Support for System Center 2012

"Microsoft is pleased to welcome SolarWinds into the System Center Alliance," said Sergio Klarreich, Microsoft Corp. director business strategy, Management and Security Division. "SolarWinds enables our mutual System Center customers to easily keep third-party applications patched, up to date, and secure. We're happy that our customers have this option for keeping non-Microsoft applications patched."

SolarWinds' IT management product portfolio includes [ network management ], [ server & application management ], [ log & event management ], [ virtualization management ], and [ storage management ] software, as well as dozens of [ free IT management tools ].

Pricing and Availability

Pricing for SolarWinds Patch Manager starts at $2,995 for 250 nodes. For more information, visit the [ Patch Manager website ], download a free 30-day evaluation, or call 866.530.8100.

About SolarWinds

SolarWinds (NYSE: [ SWI ]) provides powerful and affordable IT management software to customers worldwide -- from Fortune 500 enterprises to small businesses. We work to put our users first and remove the obstacles that have become "status quo" in traditional enterprise software. SolarWinds products are downloadable, easy to use and maintain, and provide the power, scale, and flexibility needed to address users' management priorities. Our online user community [ thwack ], is a gathering-place where tens of thousands of IT pros solve problems, share technology, and participate in product development for all of SolarWinds' products. Learn more today at [ http://www.solarwinds.com/ ].

SolarWinds, SolarWinds.com, and Orion are registered trademarks of SolarWinds. All other company and product names mentioned are used only for identification purposes and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.