BMC Simplifies Its Management InfrastructureBMC Simplifies Its Management Infrastructure

This year or any other, IT executives will want two things they often don't get: an easy way to implement and change infrastructure and new products that will co-exist with their current products. BMC Software Inc. hopes to give them both.

Adding to some of the leading app-management capabilities of its Patrol product suite, BMC will unveil Central Operator for Windows and the Internet on Jan. 7, along with Distribution Server software. Each Central Operator module will be available immediately for $3,500; the Distribution Server is free.

The Central Operator could let administrators assign user rights and privileges from a single console while controlling authentication and security. The same console can draw information from apps, databases, servers, and networks. The Distribution Server centralizes the distribution of new BMC products and upgrades; this could save many companies a lot of time and money in managing the infrastructure. Too often, new products and upgrades are installed station by station, taking hours of time per administrator.

Independent analyst Rich Ptak says the Distribution Server provides automatic software distribution of BMC products only, which makes it inferior to products from Marimba, Novadigm, and IBM's Tivoli division, all of which support multivendor systems and software. But he says the Central Operator gives BMC a console that makes it a player in the enterprise-management market. Says Ptak, "It makes BMC significantly more competitive against Tivoli and especially CA."