IBM has unveiled a number of new Tivoli Express products aimed at small to mid-sized businesses.
The products include Tivoli Storage Manager Express for back-up and recovery, Tivoli Monitoring Express for the determination of problems, Tivoli Identity Manager Express for managing access control, and Tivoli Provisioning Express for desktop management including software distribution, patches, and image management.
IBM claims the new Tivoli Express software enables mid-sized companies, such as online retailers, hospitals and local banks, to manage their IT with the same integrated capabilities that larger companies rely on – but with software that is more affordable and easier to deploy.
Indeed, the company is responding to the needs of SMBs for proactive management capability with simpler versions of Tivoli products that are easier to install, deploy, and manage, at reduced prices. It says that IBM Tivoli Express will be scalable to accommodate businesses that are growing, and it will offer a quick time to value.
Tivoli says it recognizes that it has to invest in the support of its business partners that will sell Tivoli Express products throughout the world. It also understands that it needs to increase the awareness of Tivoli products in the SMB market.
SMBs usually have smaller IT budgets and fewer skills in comparison to large enterprises, and yet they suffer the same type of problems in meeting the increased demand for IT services. For example, school districts and community hospitals may not have IT experts on hand to help with problems such as failed email systems or server outages yet often must rely on these systems.
IBM Tivoli has clearly recognized that there is an expanding market in providing management tools aimed at SMBs, and it has targeted a revenue growth of 40% for this sector in 2006.
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Source: OpinionWire by Butler Group (www.butlergroup.com)
