IBM announced the agreement to acquire Micromuse, Inc., a leading provider of network management software used to monitor and manage sophisticated technology infrastructures. Micromuse's technology already integrates with the IBM Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database -- the central data repository for IBM's ITSM offerings -- and utilizes Collation's application mapping capabilities. In addition, it builds upon capabilities in Tivoli Business Systems Manager, Tivoli Enterprise Console and Tivoli NetView. To learn more, read the Press Release on Micromuse.

Q: Why did IBM acquire Collation?
A: IBM acquired Collation because the Collation technology allows us (IBM) to deliver on a key capability in the change and configuration area of service management. A big problem in today's IT world is the lack of staff knowledgeable on the inner workings of complex business applications that support their businesses. Staff are hesitant to fix or change anything as one fix could break something in their complex intertwined IT infrastructure. For example, a patch to fix a security flaw in an application server breaks an on-line ordering application that utilizes the same server at the other end. Collation mapping technology helps IBM customers to proceed with changes with greater confidence, knowing that they have gained critical insight to help them make sure that changes made on one end will not balloon into a huge problem on the other end. They are also able to test their changes and understand the implications before rolling them out.

For more answers to your questions check out the Q&A.

Description: 90 minute presentation including Q&A

This presentation will begin by reviewing observations we've seen from customers doing work in the area of IT processes and a Configuration Management Database (whether ITIL-based or not). We'll cover the basic approach that the ITSM solutions are using in order to help customers improve the productivity of their processes. After that, the presentation covers the architecture of the ITSM solutions, shows the different process disciplines (Change & Configuration, Release, Availability, and Information Lifecycle) and some screen-shots from those solutions. Finally, the presentation narrows into the CMDB architecture and advanced topics like federation, extensibility, and security.

Speaker: Ron Baker, IBM Software Group

Speaker Bio: Ron is the Chief Architect for the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). He is responsible for the design of the basic data services infrastructure and data models used in the IT Service Management solutions. In addition, he works with other parts of IBM on data integration topics around the CMDB.

Audio, presentation and Q&A from webcast are now available for viewing.

Join Bob Madey, Vice President of Strategy and Market Management for IBM Tivoli Software as he provides you with an update on IBM’s IT Service Management (ITSM) strategy. Learn how IBM's ITSM platform addresses the latest market trends that are accelerating the need for businesses to adopt an IT service delivery model based on business process integration.

Get the answer to questions like:

• How is IBM’s ITSM platform different from a service desk platform?
• How does ITSM integrate and leverage your existing IT investments?
• What are the advantages of focusing your IT service management initiative with IBM?