Tivoli Inventory 4.0 Provides A Cross-Platform Automated Solution For Inventory Management

Transcription

1 Software Announcement May 1, 2001 Tivoli Inventory 4.0 Provides A Cross-Platform Automated Solution For Inventory Management Overview Challenged by the need to efficiently maintain accurate IT asset information in your distributed systems networks? With the enhancements found in Tivoli Inventory 4.0, you can quickly and easily automate the management of your hardware and software assets. Tivoli Inventory 4.0 With a variety of scanning enhancements and new business-minded capabilities, Tivoli Inventory provides an efficient scalable solution to your asset management problems. The following significant functional enhancements have been added: Hardware and Software Scan Enhancements Automated Desktop Management Interface (DMI) Scanning process Provide more comprehensive UNIX hardware information, in addition to peripheral device information Leverage header scanning and improved software signature file Optimized Database Schema Allows for history tracking for business reporting and asset management purposes Enhances data storage and retrieval of your inventory information Provides a data dictionary and indexing Closely aligned with the industry-accepted CIM standard Additional Crystal Reports are provided for exception reporting Scan Customizations Able to specify when to scan a system (for example, you can specify scans to occur at logon, at machine boot-up, after a critical system change, or on a scheduled basis). Granular scanning allows you to specify exactly what to scan. Scan customizations let you control what is being scanned and written to the database in accordance to the individual s company s corporate asset management policies. In conjunction with the Mobile Interface provided by Tivoli Management Framework 3.7.1, mobile users workstations can now be scanned. Endpoint Initiated Scanning Provides the capability to verify that endpoints in the environment are in compliance with the corporate image Allows scanning of disconnected endpoints In conjunction with Tivoli Management Framework providing Wake on LAN support, endpoints can now be scanned during off-peak hours Key Prerequisites Tivoli Inventory requires the Tivoli Framework Planned Availability Date May 11, 2001 At a Glance Tivoli Inventory 4.0, using the infrastructure provided by Tivoli Management Framework 3.7.1, enhances inventory management in large distributed networks by: Providing a centralized software management system Supporting mobile users to scan and collect asset information when needed for business purposes or when mandated by corporate policies Facilitating scan customizations Collecting scanned inventory data simultaneously throughout your enterprise Supporting Wake on LAN technology Providing an improved GUI for scanning purposes and for tracking the status of your distributed profiles Enhancing scalability in large enterprises For ordering, contact: Your IBM representative, an IBM Business Partner, or IBM Americas Call Centers at 800-IBM-CALL Reference: YE001 This announcement is provided for your information only. For additional information, contact your IBM representative, call 800-IBM-4YOU, or visit the IBM home page at: IBM United States IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation

2 Description Tivoli Inventory 4.0 is an application for discovering and maintaining up-to-date hardware and software asset information in homogenous or heterogeneous enterprises. Tivoli Inventory can identify and track changes regarding software applications, hardware configuration, and peripheral device information. Tivoli Inventory 4.0 provides hardware and software scanning enhancements, including improved UNIX hardware information, automated Desktop Management Interface (DMI) scanning, and header scanning. In addition to the new DMI GUI in Version 4.0 that allows you to specify which DMI components you want to retrieve information about, a script can be generated for simplified table creation of the desired DMI information. Tivoli Inventory 4.0 will support header scanning, which can be used as an alternative method of quickly gathering software application information. Header scanning involves obtaining application-specific information, provided by the software vendor, from the header file of the application. In addition to header scanning support, Tivoli Inventory is also expanding its signature knowledge base to provide software signatures for additional platforms, including a new and improved UNIX signature file. In addition to DMI scanning, Tivoli Inventory 4.0 will exploit the data sources provided by Windows 2000 as additional data sources for hardware and software information. Scanning of the Active Directory and the Windows 2000 Installer catalog by Tivoli Inventory will ensure a more comprehensive picture of the Windows 2000 components in your environment. With Tivoli Inventory, you can scan peripheral devices such as printers, modems, and Ethernet adapters. This capability leverages the new USB (Universal Serial Bus) technology and the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus. The new USB technology will allow you to identify devices such as printers and scanners which have USB support. The PCI bus can also be scanned via a PCI scanner, which is integrated into the Windows hardware scanner. The PCI bus is the most common slot currently installed in the industry for devices such as modems, Ethernet adapters, and video cards. In addition to the improved mobile support being provided by Tivoli Management Framework 3.7.1, Tivoli Inventory 4.0 will provide history tracking of the hardware and software assets found in your environment. The history tracking capability will allow you to monitor asset changes throughout your environment for asset management and business reporting purposes. Additional Crystal Reports are provided out-of-the-box to help you identify exception occurrences. The enhancements made to the Tivoli Inventory database schema will enhance the storage and retrieval of your inventory information and will provide a data dictionary. The new schema is closely aligned with the industry accepted CIM (Common Information Model) standard. With Tivoli Inventory 4.0, you will be able to specify when to scan as well as what to scan. In addition to specifying whether to scan at user logon, machine boot up, after a critical system change, or on a scheduled basis, Tivoli Inventory 4.0 will provide granular scanning capabilities. Granular scanning provides better management of the type and amount of data retrieved and stored in your Inventory repository. With granular scanning, you can limit scans to specific information, such as hardware sub-components, file headers, custom data, software and sub-components, to name a few. By utilizing granular scanning and the scanning customization capability, you are able to control what information is retrieved at what time and align the necessary scans with your business needs. Many environments have some machines that are not connected to the Tivoli environment. The endpoint-initiated scanner performs scans at the endpoints for specific information and can be used for disconnected machines. The endpoint-initiated scanner allows you to verify that the endpoints in your environment are in compliance with your corporate image. Many companies are concerned that appropriate and mandatory software applications are present on machines, but are not interested in what other extraneous applications are installed. The endpoint-initiated scanner scans for the presence of the specified software applications, and returns only the results of applications of interest to the Inventory database. This scanner can also be used as a stand-alone scanner for disconnected machines by storing the scan results on a floppy disk for sneaker net scanning. The scan results can then be written and stored in the Tivoli inventory repository. In conjunction with Tivoli Management Framework V 3.7.1, Tivoli Inventory 4.0 provides support for mobile users. At times, when a profile is distributed, a user is not connected to the network, while other times, they are connected and receive the Inventory profile, but disconnect before the scan results are collected. With Tivoli Management Framework and Inventory 4.0, these scenarios are addressed. In addition to additional Crystal Reports being provided out-of-the-box with Tivoli Inventory 4.0, online help will also be provided. The new user-friendly online help will be panel context sensitive and will open definitions inside of definitions. The help topics will change in accordance to the tasks you are performing. This enhancement helps to make our customers lives easier. Through integration with other Tivoli applications, the capabilities available to an administrator are expanded beyond hardware and software scanning. A system administrator can: Use Tivoli Inventory in conjunction with Tivoli Software Distribution and the Tivoli Management Framework query facility to query a configuration repository to determine the appropriate targets of a distribution, as well as to track information about software distributions and the change management status of software packages on target systems. (Tivoli Inventory or later required for use of Historical Database.) Use Tivoli Integration Pack for NetView to track and maintain network information in the Tivoli Inventory database. Euro Currency This program is not impacted by euro currency. Refer to: Reference Information Software Announcement , dated February 15, 2000 Software Announcement , dated April 25,

3 Trademarks Wake on LAN is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States or other countries or both. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark is a registered trademark of the Open Company in the United States and other countries. Tivoli is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation or Tivoli Systems Inc. in the United Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others

4 IBM US Announcement Supplemental Information May 1, 2001 Education Support Training is available for all Tivoli products. Education is offered through IBM Education and Training, and through Tivoli Systems. Worldwide information about education offerings is available on the IBM Education and Training home page at: For current information on Tivoli Systems education, call or visit the Tivoli Systems home page on the Internet at: Offering Information Product information is available through Offering Information (OITOOL) at: Publications The following documents will be shipped with the Tivoli Inventory program in hardcopy form. Windows 98, 2000 professional, and 2000 Advanced Server SP1 for endpoint Windows 95 is not supported on Tivoli Inventory V4.0. Packaging Planning Information Tivoli Inventory is distributed with: An International Program License Agreement (Z ) A License Information document (LC ) CD-ROMs Refer to the Publications section for other documents that ship with the product Security, Auditability, and Control Tivoli Inventory uses the security and auditability features of the operating system software and the Tivoli Management Framework. The customer is responsible for evaluation, selection, and implementation of security features, administrative procedures, and appropriate controls in application systems and communication facilities. Title Tivoli Inventory User s Guide Tivoli Inventory Release Notes Tivoli Inventory Config Rep Poster Order Number GC GI SX Ordering Information Basic License: For ordering information on the base program, refer to Software Announcement , dated February 15, Technical Information Specified Operating Environment Hardware Requirements: Hardware platforms supporting UNIX or Windows NT with the software levels stated in the Software Requirements section. Software Requirements Tivoli Inventory runs on the following software platforms: AIX for server, gateway, and endpoint Sun Solaris 2.7 for server, gateway, and endpoint HP UX 11.x for server, gateway, and endpoint Windows NT 4.0 SP 5 for server, gateway, and endpoint OS/2 Warp V4 and Warp Server for e-business for endpoint Netware 5.0 and 5.1 for endpoint End of Support: Tivoli support for the release of Tivoli Inventory on the distributed platforms (not OS/390 ) will be discontinued 12 months after the general availability of the 4.0 release. Terms and Conditions Agreement: IBM International Program License Agreement (IPLA), IBM International Agreement for Acquisition of Programs and Support (IIAAPS), IBM Agreement for Acquisition of Support (IAAS), with the Attachment for Support and its Addendum for Tivoli Systems, and an Order Form Transferable: Applies except when Support is in effect Limited Warranty Applies: Yes Guarantee: Two months Getting Started Period: Not applicable This announcement is provided for your information only. For additional information, contact your IBM representative, call 800-IBM-4YOU, or visit the IBM home page at: IBM United States IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation

5 Usage Restriction: Yes. Usage is limited to the quantity of Tivoli Management Points acquired for a one-time charge (OTC). Educational Allowance Available: Yes, 15% to qualified educational institutional customers Volume Orders: Not applicable Upgrade Protection Applies: Covered as long as Support remains in effect Licensed Program Materials Availability: only Object Code Entitled Upgrade for Current Upgrade Protection Licensees: As announced for each program Tivoli Support Support Center applies: Availability: Yes Access is available through the Tivoli Support Center, 800-TIVOLI8 ( ) The first year of Tivoli Support is available at no additional charge. The first year starts when the product is shipped to the customer. Subsequent years of Tivoli Support are available for a fee as part of the IAAS, IIAAPS, or any equivalent agreement Available until Twelve months after written the product notice of product is discontinued: discontinuance, (that is, end-of-life (EOL)) Prices For all local pricing information, contact your IBM representative. Charges are based on Tivoli Management Points. Charges per Tivoli Management Point are unaffected by this announcement. Consult your local IBM representative for the applicable OTC. Customer Financing: IBM Global Financing offers attractive financing to credit-qualified commercial and government customers and Business Partners in more than 40 countries around the world. IBM Global Financing is provided by the IBM Credit Corporation in the United States. Offerings, rates, terms, and availability may vary by country. Contact your local IBM Global Financing organization. Country organizations are listed on the Web at: Order Now Use Priority/Reference Code: YE001 Phone: Fax: Internet: Mail: 800-IBM-CALL 800-2IBM-FAX ibm direct@us.ibm.com IBM Atlanta Sales Center Dept. YE001 P.O. Box 2690 Atlanta, GA You can also contact your local IBM Business Partner or IBM representative. To identify them, call 800-IBM-4YOU. Note: Shipments will begin after the planned availability date. Applicable for: APAR Mailing Address: Support Line: No Product Web Site The current release The immediate previous release level for twelve months after the general availability of the current release Tivoli Systems Inc Capital of Texas Highway Austin, TX USA Attention: Product Development Trademarks AIX, OS/2 Warp, SP1, and OS/390 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United Windows NT and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark is a registered trademark of the Open Company in the United States and other countries. Tivoli is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation or Tivoli Systems Inc. in the United Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. A complete list of products, terminology definitions, and licensing documents are available at the following Web site: