IBM Launches New Virtualization Software

IBM has announced new virtualization software that enables companies to deploy and install software on tens of thousands of laptops, desktop PCs, servers and even wireless devices.

The new technology is called Tivoli Provisioning Manager and it helps clients to reduce the time it takes to manage and upgrade systems by hours or days, depending on the size of the infrastructure. The product incorporates technology that was developed internally, as well as technologies that have been acquired elsewhere such as the technology IBM acquired from Rembo Technologies just three months ago.

According to IBM, the software senses when the network can handle software upgrades and automatically begins those upgrades when there is sufficient network bandwidth. It also runs automatic compliance checks, such as validating that antivirus software is up-to-date, and deploys the software across the infrastructure.

Automating changes to IT systems, such as application upgrades and security patches, improves the time-consuming, labor intensive, error-laden process of making changes, which helps to free up the system administrators and allows them to focus on other tasks.

Tivoli Provisioning Manager software includes two new virtualization technologies. The first, adaptive bandwidth control, which gives important business operations priority but allows administrative IT tasks like anti-virus updates to be handled whenever network space is available. The second, peering, is a new grid computing-based approach to distributing software over long distances. It allows files, such as email applications or video clips, to be downloaded from a local server or even a nearby desktop. Software is delivered faster to computer users while network traffic and hardware required to support high-traffic volumes are reduced.

The software runs as part of a services oriented architecture, which is a way of reusing a company’s existing technology to more closely align with business goals helping to result in greater efficiencies, cost savings, and productivity. It is integrated with the IBM Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database, which allows the technologies to share information about the status of IT services.

The product is part of IBM’s IT service management offerings, which automate some of the most challenging processes associated with managing complex IT environments. The full suite of Tivoli Provisioning software will be made available in September.