BMC Combines Products to Monitor E-Biz Apps
BMC has beefed up its flagship product, PATROL, with functionality from products obtained from its acquisitions of BGS Systems and Boole & Baggage. BMC's new solution, called PATROL 2000, extends PATROL's capabilities of monitoring application performance on the back end by adding functionality from Boole & Baggage's Command Post, which manages devices and objects on a network, and BGS' Best/1, which offers a centralized management console. BMC has integrated the products to provide a common interface, the same agent architectures, a common data storage process, and shared reporting to the management console.
The addition of the console—a feature new to PATROL--gives users an end-to-end view of the environment. Overall, the combined products allow users to monitor Web-based services, such as site performance. "The announcement of PATROL 2000 marks a sharply increased emphasis by BMC Software on infrastructure management for e-business and Web-based applications," Tim Grieser, research director and industry analyst for IDC (International Data Corporation), said in a statement.
BMC says the combined capabilities allow users to drill down not only into applications to find problems but also into the operating system, database, and the network itself. The company is touting the product to service providers, who need to closely monitor application performance. If properly configured, PATROL 2000 will, says BMC, provide the monitoring and management capabilities needed to guarantee service level agreements (SLAs).
BMC is also offering a fixed-cost, fixed-time implementation of PATROL 2000 through a Guaranteed SureStart program. If implementation is not completed with the agreed-upon period, BMC will give customers a 20 percent rebate on the professional services fee. The vendor also agrees to stay on-site until installation is complete.
PATROL 2000 will be available in June, at prices beginning at $820. Departmental level pricing begins at $4,200. Users interested in learning more about the product can access a "Webinar" at http://www.bmc.com/patrol.