IBM Offers Tivoli Management Suite For Smaller Companies

Continuing a push to expand it role as a provider of technology to small and medium-sized businesses, IBM on Friday introduced versions of its Tivoli management software tailored for smaller companies.

Although sales to SMB customers account for about 22% of all IBM revenue, the company had previously not provided a suite of Tivoli software management tools for those customers.

"Small and medium businesses are prone to the same management issues as large businesses, but at time they lack the budgets, the staffs, and skills to actually set up and manage the systems their businesses depend on," says Bob Madley, VP of strategy and market management for IBM Tivoli.

"Tivoli is bringing its enterprise-class management structure into products specifically designed for small and medium businesses," he says. "These aren't just a rehash of existing products and capabilities. They are easy to install, deploy, and provide rapid time-to-value to the small and medium business with minimal amounts of investment."

The products are designed to automate management of systems, storage, and security. They were developed by working with more than 45 IBM Tivoli partners that regularly service the SMB market, as well as with direct feedback from SMB customers, Madley says.

The new products include Tivoli Identity Manager Express, which helps thwart insider attacks by removing accounts and privileges when people leave the company, and block others from misusing accounts that a company neglected to cancel.

Tivoli Storage Manager Express provides backup and recovery capabilities in combination with IBM Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files to automatically protect data located on desktops and laptops.

Tivoli Provisioning Manager Express is an inventory management and software distribution product that collects, stores, and maintains hardware, software, and asset information.

Tivoli Monitoring Express is designed to provide automatic management of online applications such as E-mail or bill paying systems.

The new Tivoli Express products will be made available over the next 30 to 45 days.