Remedy adds tools to track assets

Remedy this week will release a service for its asset management and help desk products that lets users integrate detailed inventory data on corporate hardware configurations and installed software.

Remedy this week will release a service for its asset management and help desk products that lets users integrate detailed inventory data on corporate hardware configurations and installed software.

The company, which BMC Software recently purchased from financially troubled Peregrine Systems, is integrating its Remedy Help Desk and Asset Management products with TS.Census, asset-tracking software developed by Tally Systems. The new product is called Remedy Discovery Service for Tally TS.Census.

Tally provides a way to inventory hardware on a network and the software on that hardware, a feature that has been missing from the Remedy product line. TS.Census collects asset information from hardware, such as media access control address, processor speed and installed RAM, as well as data about software versions and service packs.

The Remedy Discovery Service pulls the information from TS.Census into its Action Request System, providing help desk personnel with insight into machines they are trying to troubleshoot. TS.Census also provides the Remedy Asset Management system a list of installed software that can be reconciled against purchase and lease contracts in that system so companies can ensure they have licenses for all their software or prevent overbuying of licenses.

“The help desk relies on the accuracy of configuration data, but not all that data can be tracked through a trouble ticket system,” says David Friedlander, an analyst with Giga Information Group. “By integrating help desk and inventory data, you can speed help desk efforts.”

Friedlander says the Remedy-Tally relationship is a good one and that Giga expects to see more partnering and consolidation in the asset-management market, which has been in turmoil recently.

Remedy competes with companies such as Computer Associates, MRO Software and Network Associates.

The Remedy Discovery Service features a graphical data-mapping tool for creating custom rules for moving data from TS.Census to the Remedy products. The software comes with a set of predefined mappings and includes a scheduling component, and an event trigger that will update data based on any changes made to the system.

“One of the main benefits of this integration is that it puts data in a place where it can best be used,” says Sarah Davie, product manager for TS.Census. “It helps justify the time and money spent on inventory tools.”

The Discovery Service run on Windows NT and 2000 and is priced at $10,000.