In line with its new focus on Java (CI No 3,352), Tivoli Systems Inc will make its system management offering totally Java-based before the end of the decade, the company said. The Austin, Texas organization will convert the TME Tivoli Management Environment into Java to enable it to have greater development powers, which Tom Bishop vice president of the Infrastructure Division says will lead to an indirect customer benefit. The Java conversion will be completed in three phases, starting with the Graphical User Interface followed by the applications, which Bishop says will evolve over time. That will be followed by the migration of the framework. Customers should not be affected by the changes, which will be implemented when they upgrade or buy new applications. Bishop says Tivoli has decided to go down the Java path, because it will enable the company to cut development time by around a third, at the same time providing customers with a simpler development language. But Computer Associates International Inc’s director of advanced technology Jay Huff says Tivoli is playing ‘catch up’. Last Autumn CA announced a Web browser interface for its Unicenter TNG systems management package, enabling users to manage devices from any computer supporting Java (CI No 3,251), and the company is currently beta testing Java agents so users have the choose of operating in either NT or Java. Huff says the company intends to have a full Java-based systems management offering ready within the next couple of months, a fair way ahead of Tivoli’s target of before the end of the decade.
