Multi-Installation Management Utility?
I'm not sure if this is of any use to anyone else but just in case there are others out there with the same situation, I'd like to hear from you.
To save you a little reading time, this solution is built for the Windows Platform only since it uses Excel. However, the target managed environment can be any platform.
Disclaimer: I have no bias, one way or the other, for any platform - It's all "good" for me because it creates endless opportunity for my "real" job. I happen to have chosen to build this utility on the Windows platform because it was convenient for me and the tools I need exist there...
My "real job" is management consultant and not managing and maintaining Drupal (or other software) installations. Because I do a lot of research and consulting in both Commercial and Open Source architectures and applications, I seem to spend a lot of time helping friends and colleagues manage and maintain their environments.