It's a new day at Tivoli. Rather than keeping IBM at a distance as it has done since Tivoli was acquired in 1996, Tivoli is embracing its identity with IBM and taking advantage of the extensive resources IBM has to offer.
This is good news for Tivoli's customers and potential customers. With a new general manager, Robert LeBlanc, at the helm, and an infusion of new blood in its executive team, Tivoli appears poised to make a noticeable impact upon the industry.
This is definitely a company to watch in the coming year. It has initiatives in the works that clearly demonstrate that Tivoli intends to be a leader in the market, not a follower.
Tivoli's product lines are organized into four management pillars: Performance and Availability, Configuration and Operations, Security and Privacy, and Storage.
Its products are being developed so that they can be deployed individually, but they can also provide integrated management functionality when installed with other Tivoli products. The result is that Tivoli products are competitive to many point products, as well as being competitive with other management suites.
The best part of this is Tivoli's focus on "time to value." Tivoli is listening to the market and clearly understands that customers have a low tolerance for long implementation times. Gone are the days when customers would tolerate multiyear implementations. In addition, Tivoli is consolidating and simplifying its product line to reduce confusion and complexity for customers.
While Tivoli still faces some challenges, there's a lot of potential with the combined IBM/Tivoli effort. Stay tuned to see what the folks at Tivoli have in store for all of us.
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Dennis Drogseth is a director with Enterprise Management Associates, a leading analyst and market research firm based in Boulder, Colorado, focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise management. Dennis has extensive experience in network management platforms and products and is researching trends in management software and changing IT roles internationally. His 18-plus years of experience in high-tech includes positions at IBM and Cabletron. He has been quoted in the press and is a speaker at industry events. He can be reached via e-mail.
Audrey Rasmussen is a research director with Enterprise Management Associates in Boulder, Colorado, a leading analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise management. Audrey has more than 20 years of experience working with distributed systems, applications and networks. Her current focus at EMA is e-business, SMB/SME and MSPs. She can be reached via e-mail.
Enterprise Management Associates in Boulder, Colorado, is a leading analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise management software and services.
