NEC AccuSync LCD52V White Paper

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White Paper

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.