BMC Simplifies Atrium Configuration Management Database
CMDB, at its heart, is a historical database of how distributed systems within a federated network operate and change over time. Version 2.0 provides added support for storage devices and mainframes, which brings more network data into the product, said Andrej Vlahcevic, senior solution marketing manager at Houston-based BMC.
Adding more data to CMDB simplifies the process of understanding how a federated network works and evolves because the extra information "takes away some of the blind spots and gives you better modeling," said Vlahcevic.
Eric Smith, client services director at Maryville Technologies, a St. Louis-based BMC partner, said CMDB 2.0’s simplified management interface and additional hardware support make the product an easier sell to enterprise customers. "The previous version [of CMDB] tried to solve world hunger, and that made it a bit challenging," he said, explaining the complexity of CMDB version 1.0.
CMDB 2.0 brings improved modeling and, in turn, faster results, which can make the difference between a customer wanting to take on a CMDB project or take a pass, according to Smith.
"We were seeing the most pushback from [CMDB 1.0] at the higher boardroom level. Customers looked at it and said, 'This is going to take forever to adopt.' They wanted quick hits, saying, 'We don't need a three-year project. We need a six-month project [for something like CMDB],’ ”Smith said, adding that CMDB 2.0 will alleviate much of those boardroom concerns.
BMC channel chief Lori Cook said CMDB drives service revenue for partners, and policies that BMC enacted more than a year ago to drive professional-services referrals to partners are still in place. "My [professional] services team now represents less than 4 percent of BMC's total revenue," she said.
CMDB 2.0 runs best side-by-side with business intelligence (BI) software from Business Objects, Vlahcevic said. Most BMC customers that will upgrade to 2.0 already have a BI solution in place, but solution providers interested in deploying CMDB 2.0 at customer sites without a Business Objects platform can use CMDB's native reporting tool to quickly document a federated network database, he noted. Pricing for the stand-alone version of 2.0 is not yet available, he said.