BMC Takes CONTROL of Single Sign-On
BMC Software (Houston) recently announced it has added another single sign-on (SSO) component to its CONTROL-SA product family by expanding its relationship with AXENT Technologies, Inc. (Rockville, Md.).
Through the agreement, AXENT’s PassGo solutions can now be integrated into CONTROL-SA, providing administrators with tightened control of user access rights while also allowing them to simplify employee access to e-business applications.
“Assuring e-business availability includes authorized access to business critical systems by the appropriate employees,” says Jerry Periolat, director of BMC channel operations for BMC Software’s IT process automation business unit. “Our combined solutions will enable our customers to enhance their e-business initiatives and be competitive in the new Internet economy.”
Typically, companies that have multiple platforms usually require various passwords to access information from the servers, a process that can be tedious and time consuming. E-business has only enhanced the problem, as its requirements usually dictate that more systems and applications be accessible.
AXENT’s PassGo solution eliminates this problem, granting authorized employees access to a full range of applications and servers with one password. “People want the ability to log in once and get full access to the enterprise, regardless of platform,” says Ron Tamir, product manager for CONTROL-SA product family at BMC.
CONTROL-SA allows the security administrators to view and manage the entire security environment from one location. Therefore, the combination of the two products provides effective access without compromising security policies. “CONTROL-SA manages the single sign-on to ensure that everything is secure,” adds Tamir.
For BMC, the agreement means that CONTROL-SA now supports integration for three SSO products. In most cases, CONTROL-SA customers approach BMC if they want SSO capabilities. “We’re trying to extend integration into other products to give our customers more options,” says Tamir. “We try to stay neutral, but if our customers want a specific product or if we feel a specific product better fits their needs, then we will recommend it.”
In other BMC news, the company announced it has enhanced the AS/400 product management capabilities in the latest release of CONTROL-M by adding server/management capabilities for the first time, allowing users flexible and efficient configurations of the managed systems.
CONTROL-M supports applications running on servers such as OS/390, AIX and Windows NT, streamlining the management of the operating systems. This way, organizations can manage the production environment according to business needs.
“The ability to manage different platform combinations from a central point allows organizations to tailor their production management strategy to the specific demands of their business applications,” says Cindy Sterling, senior program director for IT process automation at BMC Software. “As a result, new implementation is faster, management is simplified, and the ability to successfully complete business transactions is optimized.”
The new server/agent technology enables AS/400 users to monitor and control any managed platform and initiate all production activities. Also, the server/agent is ideal for e-business applications, a growing need in some AS/400 shops.
CONTROL-M for both mainframe and distributed systems is generally available. Pricing starts at $25,000 and varies according to configuration requirements.
Related Information:
BMC Software (new window)AXENT Technologies, Inc. (new window)