BMC Intros Virtualization Suite

As businesses deploy more IT virtualization and automation technology, they're faced with an interesting question: Just how smart is the software that decides how many resources " CPU cycles, network bandwidth, storage capacity " a specific application or process gets? If the software does a poor job, it could mean resources are wasted by being allocated to where they aren't needed.

BMC Software Inc. on Monday unveiled software that's designed to help with those questions. The additions to its service-oriented resource management system include the BMC Virtualizer Suite, a new version of BMC Performance Assurance for Virtual Servers, and integration with other BMC management products to help with more holistic management across the infrastructure.

The virtualizer suite automatically orchestrates on-demand provisioning, with components for high-availability and capacity on-demand. The new performance assurance software does predictive modeling for virtual servers to reduce or eliminate unnecessary provisioning. The virtualizer software integrates with existing BMC management products such performance manager, performance assurance, configuration management, and discovery applications. These products are designed to help get IT resources synchronized with the appropriate software updates and change-management processes.

The software can help customers make sure the right IT resources are in the right place at the right time, says Rich Ptak, founder and analyst at Ptak & Noel Assoc. "With performance assurance and the virtualizer suite, customers could take care of the immediate needs but also see the effects of the change on other processes," he says. "They can ensure that a very squeaky wheel doesn't suck all the IT resources away from other processes in need."