Regardless of which vendor you choose, keep in mind that the endpoint security market is relatively immature--witness our beta testing of three major vendors--and the complexity of any of these products warrants a carefully planned deployment strategy. We urge you to experiment with the products on your own laboratory test systems with images from your production environment to make sure they don't have any adverse consequences on your particular application mix.

Double check default policy settings to make sure they offer reasonable protection, and if not, adjust them for your environment and risk profile. And, finally, have your support staff become familiar with the various quirks of these management GUIs before production roll-out.