AMD has introduced a set of open
source tools that can be used to test whether its products will
work with other hardware components, as a means of helping users
manage diverse IT environments.
The processor manufacturer's
Simfire software is designed to help IT managers
monitor desktop and notebook computers from multiple suppliers. At
present, desktop management comprises disparate analysis tools,
which makes it difficult to exchange information between
applications, said AMD.
An Ovum Summit
survey of 333 IT decision makers found a strong correlation between
the use of IT service management best practices and related tools
and high customer satisfaction.
Ben Williams, vice-president of commercial strategy and
solutions at Ovum, said, "Providing a common way for systems to
access and exchange management information across the entire IT
infrastructure directly addresses the costs and complexity of IT
management.
"IT management tools need to work at a granular level,
monitoring components, memory and processors, because of the
increase in the use of high-performance computing."
High-performance computing uses multiple computers to run a
computationally intensive task in parallel. Such a configuration
often requires careful monitoring to achieve optimal
performance.
Alexa Bona, research director at analyst firm
Gartner, said,
"IT managers should be aware that multicore architectures will not
necessarily double system performance." When processors run faster,
they also require more power and generate more heat.
Teresa Jones, senior research analyst at
Butler Group, said,
"Large, complex IT set-ups have many moving parts." Depending on
how these are interrelated and joined up, if one fails it can
cause major disruption to the systems that rely on them.
"If one monitors at a granular level, it can be possible to
detect issues before they become a problem and then take preventive
action."
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