Tivoli Systems has struck deals with Intel and Microsoft designed to make it easier for businesses to use its remote management software with a swathe of forthcoming workstations, PCs and servers, Tivoli officials said.
Microsoft has agreed to bundle the Tivoli Management Agent with its forthcoming Windows NT 5.0 operating system for workstations and servers, Tivoli said. Meanwhile, PCs that support Intel's Wired for Management technology will be able to automatically locate a Tivoli server in a network and download the management agent from it.
"Rather than having to put a CD in a computer to load the Tivoli agent, these deals take care of it in advance," making it easier and less costly to use Tivoli's management software, spokeswoman Ann Little said.
The deals represent a minor coup for Tivoli, officials said, and follow an agreement struck with 3Com in January in which the networking giant agreed to support the management agent in its network interface cards (NICs).
The Microsoft agreement in particular puts Tivoli at an advantage over competitors, Tivoli officials said, because it will make it easier for customers to use its products to manage applications in both servers and workstations. Software management products offered by its competitors are for the most part bundled only with servers, Tivoli officials said.
The management agent will ship with all workstations and servers that carry both the beta 2 and final versions of Windows NT 5.0, Little said. Microsoft has pledged to deliver the beta 2 version by mid-1998, with the final version scheduled to ship late this year or early next.
The agent can be downloaded to machines equipped with Intel's LanDesk Client Manager 3.3, which is scheduled for release in May. Alternatively, Tivoli will post information on its Web site mid-year about how to use the pre-boot execution environment in Wired for Management to download the agent, Tivoli said.
