The BMC Atrium Configuration Management Database (CMDB) 2.0 is the first update of the software since January 2005, the company said.
In addition, BMC brought out a new product called BMC Atrium CMDB Enterprise Manager, software product dictionary and software library modules for Enterprise Manager, and BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.0. Other new products from the Houston-based vendor include tools for identity discovery, process discovery and mainframe discovery, as well as an analytics offering.
Atrium CMDB 2.0 has been used in a proof-of-concept test at Mary Kay Inc. in Addison, Texas, in recent weeks and will be implemented in the next year, said Steve Moore, technology leader at Mary Kay. The cosmetics company
began rolling out the configuration management software last September. Moore credits the database with already providing more efficient monitoring of the systems the company uses to support 3,500 employees and 1.4 million independent sales consultants.
Moore said that he also expects that Atrium CMDB 2.0 will help improve the integration of a variety of discovery and monitoring tools from BMC and numerous other vendors across Mary Kay's vast service-oriented architecture.
"We have the opportunity to integrate [various tools] with one vendor [and] the capability for a graphical representation for everything in the CMDB," he said.
Mary Kay's IT operation manages about 825 servers along with 350 network nodes, according to Moore.
While management tools can't completely erase the divisions between business processes and IT systems, the configuration management database is helping to monitor and discover what system components are needed for a business process, such as an e-commerce application, he said.
Rich Ptak, an analyst at Ptak & Associates Inc. in Amherst, N.H., said the new version of BMC's Atrium product "probably" gives it an edge over competing products from the likes of CA Inc., IBM's Tivoli Software unit and Hewlett-Packard Co.
The latest version of BMC's offering is easier to use, has better data access capabilities and provides greater integration of a variety of management tools, he said.
An effective content management database "is a major enabler of business service and business process management," Ptak said. Good tools can pull together information from throughout an enterprise and ensure that it is synchronized and accurate he said.
Pricing varies for Atrium CMDB 2.0. Enterprise Manager is priced at US$100,000, plus $10 per managed desktop.