BMC updates event software

BMC Software last week released two upgraded software applications and a partnership with Business Objects, all of which the company says will help customers determine, track and report on how network troubles affect applications and service levels.

BMC Software last week released two upgraded software applications and a partnership with Business Objects, all of which the company says will help customers determine, track and report on how network troubles affect applications and service levels.

BMC Event Manager 4.1 can automate corrective actions based on policies customers create in the software. Rather than writing scripts to automate actions, network managers can build the “if, then” policies using Event Manager and the software would take the action. For instance, Event Manager can be configured to track events in relation to a specific application and apply time-sensitive policies to automate the response to the event.

Event Manager software sits on a Windows, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX or Linux server and collects data from managed systems using polling or querying technologies. The software also can collect data from existing BMC or third-party software agents on machines.

“A solid event management system is core to building a service management system,” says Mark Ehr, a senior analyst at Enterprise Management Associates. “BMC is working to tie events from all their systems together and make it easier for customers to make sense out of all the data.”

BMC competes with Computer Associates, HP and IBM Tivoli software for event management software dollars, and the company is looking to make its event management system part of its broader Business Service Management (BSM) strategy.

CA, HP and IBM also tout product road maps that would help customers define, track and resolve problems with the IT components and services associated with specific applications and processes deemed critical to the business.

Another addition to its BSM strategy is its upgraded service-level management (SLM) software. SLM Express 1.4 lets IT managers set warning levels when an IT action might breach a service-level agreement (SLA) with customers or service-level objective (SLO) with internal users. The software would note trends and alert staff in advance of the potential SLA breach, BMC says.

SLM Express 1.4 sits on a server, collects data from IT components such as servers and databases, and compares the performance from IT components with the pre-defined SLAs and SLOs. The software alerts staff if IT performance problems are going to make it difficult to deliver on pre-set terms. SLM Express also gives IT managers accurate data on the service levels the network can deliver to aid in constructing SLOs with internal users and SLAs with customers.

Both products use new reporting capabilities BMC added through a partnership with Business Objects.

BMC’s Patrol Reporting software includes reporting capabilities through an OEM deal with Business Objects, which can help customers automate SLA reporting. IT managers also can use the reporting software to dynamically drill down through events to see underlying data and determine the source of service troubles. The software delivers reports via a single Web portal for Unix, Windows, Oracle and Exchange machines.

Pricing for BMC Event Manager 4.1 starts at $50,000. Pricing for SLM Express 1.4 starts at $5,000. Base Patrol Reporting is free to all Patrol customers.