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2001.05.08
NTT COMWARE CORPORATION and INTEL collaborate on Integrated corporate IT asset management
NTT COMWARE CORPORATION
Intel Corporation
NTT COMWARE CORPORATION (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo,President: Yuji Matsuo) and Intel Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President: John Anton) have agreed to collaborate on the integration of IT asset management and virus protection to build a streamlined management infrastructure. As the first step in their collaboration, NTT COMWARE CORPORATION and Intel will work on a LAN Information Management Service to be released on May 23, 2001. Intel will especially provide technical support for integrated client PC management. Both companies will promote the service in the Japanese market.
Recent progress in networking technology has encouraged companies to integrate various businesses processes into their networks. As technology has progressed, companies have been forced to implement a variety of applications on an increasing number of IT devices connected via complex interwoven networks. As a result, IT asset and inventory management has become crucial. Virus protection is also a critical issue for companies. Typically, the first solution is to assign a professional member of staff with the right tools for system management, or to outsource management to specialist firms. However, both of these solutions have the problems of excessive overhead costs and the operational difficulty of the management tools.
LAN Information Management Service provides a total management capability that includes the collection and analysis of information, planning and procurement and disposal of IT assets. The service includes (1) gathering and management of asset information, (2) IP address management, (3) monitoring of system health against viruses and distribution of vaccine software, and (4) distribution of software. The service permits centralized management for streamlined and effective maintenance and management of network architecture and for hardware and software lifecycle management instead of divisional management of networked servers and PCs. This Application Service Provider (ASP) (*1) model of service does not call for extra staffing or maintenance work, and that leads to lower overhead costs for information management on the Local Area Network (LAN). (*2)
The LAN Information Management Service is built upon two core components: the Intel® LANDesk® Management Suite, Intel's integrated management solution for speedy and centralized information gathering and management on networked PCs and other inventory, and Intel® LANDesk® Targeted IP Multicasting Technology (*3), Intel's automatic software distribution tool for large-scale network environments for fast and secure mass distribution of virus pattern files and applications.
In this collaborative project, NTT COMWARE CORPORATION will offer service, sales, customer support and help desk operations while Intel will support NTT COMWARE CORPORATION in sales and marketing activities. At exhibitions, seminars and training courses for organizations, both companies will cooperate in sales and marketing activities, including presentations.
NTT COMWARE CORPORATION has set a sales target for this service at approx. ¥2 billion by the end of fiscal year 2001.
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Application Service Provider (ASP)
An Application Service Provider supplies customers with software applications via the Internet. Users have Web access to the application server owned by the ASP. Users can save time and money by avoiding the costs of installation, administration and upgrades on their own computer.
*2 Local Area Network (LAN)
A Local Area Network provides data exchange services for computers and printers within a building.
*3 IP Multicasting Technology
IP Multicasting Technology is a communications technology that reduces the magnitude of network traffic during communications. This technology will become increasingly important as high-capacity content distribution is standardized in the multimedia environment.
Product Overview
Intel® LANDesk® Management Suite 6.4
Intel® LANDesk® Management Suite is an integrated system management solution that centralizes complicated desktop and server management tasks within the enterprise. Using Microsoft's Win32 control console or another Web console, users can distribute software applications and files, control remote desktops, keep track of their hardware and software inventory and stay compliant with software licenses, queries and reports. From anywhere on the LAN and WAN, administrators can perform maintenance, such as referencing inventory information, producing reports, controlling remote PCs and distributing software.
This frame-compliant, browser-based management functionality simplifies system administrators' key tasks and allows for swift response to diversified user needs. For server maintenance, setting parameters at system performance thresholds allows administrators to monitor server status and issue warnings. This capability improves the reliability of servers, and enables administrators to understand and deal with abnormal system events before the server system goes down.
The suite works in a variety of environments with support for the latest versions of major database applications and multivendor operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows* (including Microsoft Windows* 2000 Professional), Novell NetWare*, Apple Macintosh* and Linux*.
Intel® LANDesk® Targeted Multicasting Software
Intel® LANDesk® Targeted Multicasting Software uses IP multicasting technology to quickly distribute and upgrade software in an extended network environment. Its ability to automatically distribute the latest applications and software frees system administrators of the cumbersome task of setting up employees' PCs and servers one by one, and saves considerable time and money for enterprise system management. The tool works with newly-developed technologies to minimize the workload of traffic control in multicast groups and multicast packets along with application of the IP multicasting technique in large-sized networked environments.
First, the tool selects a proxy PC within each target LAN segment, the server distributes the target package to the PC via unicasting. Next, the proxy PC distributes the package to the target client's computers in that segment by multicasting. With conventional software distribution programs via WAN, the server had to distribute software to every target client. This multicasting technique requires no special routers or modification of router configurations, and facilitates effective use of bandwidth and improved load balancing among the servers. This tool is an optional component of the Intel® LANDesk® Management Suite.
* Intel and LANDesk are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and affiliated companies in other nations outside the United States. Other logos and product names are either the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.
Reference
LAN Information Management Service
Objectives
- IT asset management and virus protection on a network are complicated by the increasing number of PCs, sophisticated networking, distributed management and the variety of applications. However, thorough, low-cost management can be realized with centralized management of IT assets and virus protection.
- Many companies have felt that either outsourcing their management tasks or introducing management tools within their enterprise systems were the only solutions available. However, this solution is less useful for systems in small and medium-sized organizations because outsourcing is not affordable and management tools are too technically complicated to operate. NTT COMWARE CORPORATION's ASP service LAN Information Management Service is the true solution.
Features
- All the data processed by the service is centrally managed in the database.
- A Web-based reference database makes sure the right people have access to the right information wherever they need it.
- IT assets are fully utilized with centralized management of fixed assets, lease management, licensing compliance and maintenance contracts.
- Systems are thoroughly protected from viruses with controlled updates of virus definition files and system health scans.
ASP services only require that customers select the services they need and pay their monthly fee.
ASP service do not require ownership or operation of management tools or dedicated servers.
Configuration
Available Services
Basic Services
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Facility inventory management
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Automatically collects and manages current information on computers, servers, and other devices.
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| Facility statistics and analysis management |
Manages operating systems, memory spaces and units per node. |
| Software license management |
Automatically gathers information on installed software and manages licensing compliance. |
| Assets information management |
Keeps track of fixed assets, lease categories and lease duration. |
| Maintenance contract information management |
Keeps track of categories and duration of maintenance contracts. |
| Optional Services |
Report mailing |
Reports license compliance and due dates of maintenance contracts by mail. |
| Facility inventory detection |
Automatically detects facilities connected to the network to manage changes in network resources. |
| IP address management |
Tracks usage of IP addresses on the network. |
| Antivirus status monitoring |
Manages vaccine updates and scans of system health. |
| Vaccine distribution |
Periodically distributes virus definition files. |
| Software distribution |
Distributes specified software. |
| Software healing |
Restores damaged software. |
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(As of May 2001)
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