BMC Software is to refresh its family of Patrol management products
with enhancements designed to make it easier for customers to
install its software as well as to improve the security of their
computing environments.
A new installation feature lets customers install or upgrade Patrol
products across systems from multiple vendors simultaneously,
rather than having to configure each separately. The software uses
wizards and predefined settings for common system configurations
and can cut installation times by more than half, according to Sean
Duclaux, BMC product marketing director.
The company has added new security mechanisms that allow
administrators to limit the ability of certain users to perform
tasks within Patrol. The mechanism lets customers define management
profiles and job responsibilities for groups of users, Duclaux
said.
BMC has also extended its software to new platforms including SuSE
Linux AG's SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 and Microsoft Corp.
Windows XP, and is working with Microsoft to support its
forthcoming Windows .net Server operating system, he said.
BMC called the upgrade its "enablement release". It also includes a
new type of Patrol agent, a program that sits on the systems being
managed and feeds information about them back to the various Patrol
management modules.
Existing, Patrol agents deliver information to administrators
directly in what Duclaux called a "two-tier" model. The new agent
due out today (18 March) gathers information about systems in a
"broker cloud" where it can be shared among various Patrol
management modules, Duclaux said. The goal is to make the products
more effective for troubleshooting, diagnostics and other
management tasks.
Customers will need the new agent if they want to take advantage of
new components to be made available later in the year, including
new consoles and a new software distribution feature, BMC said. The
new agent is free to Patrol customers who are on BMC's maintenance
plan and will be included for free with newly purchased Patrol
modules.
One analyst said the enhancements are a move in the right
direction.
"I've seen demonstrations of it, and from what I've seen, it looks
easier to install and more effective," said Richard L Ptak, a
senior vice-president with the Hurwitz Group.
Systems administrators are being asked to manage an increasingly
broad array of hardware and software, and vendors such as BMC are
trying to offer tools that let customers administer multiple
environments without needing to have specialised knowledge in each
area, he said. Rivals such as Computer Associates International,
Hewlett-Packard and Tivoli Systems are moving in a similar
direction, he added.
BMC released a list of products that take advantage of the new
installation and security features. They include Patrol for
Microsoft Windows Servers, Patrol for Unix, an updated version of
Patrol for Desktops, Patrol Console and Patrol Explorer. A complete
list of compatible Patrol products is available on BMC's Web site.