HP OpenView Gets Midsize Flavor

In October, HP plans to roll out OpenView Client Configuration Manager (CCM), client management software that—unlike more sophisticated technology delivered by its full-blown enterprise cousin OpenView—is simple enough for business networks managed by only one administrator, said Bob Meyer, worldwide solutions marketing manager at HP, Palo Alto, Calif.

With little or no programming expertise, administrators managing environments of around 1,000 seats can use CCM for client inventory detection, software distribution and patch management, said Meyer, adding that the software is easier to deploy than the full-blown OpenView.

The arrival of CCM can be seen as a realization by HP that it has been losing client management deals to simpler platforms from vendors such as LANDesk, said Andy Hill, vice president of sales and marketing at Network System Architects Inc., an IT service management consultancy in Denver.

Network System Architects is an OpenView Elite Business Partner, but in Denver, where fewer corporate headquarters exist than, say, New York, OpenView has been running out of networks to fit into, said Hill. “I see this as a way to get [OpenView] into smaller businesses,” he said. “And as long as there is an upgrade path so somebody&s not in a dead end, it&s a good deal.”

Vince LoFaso, IT service management practice principal at Mayfield Heights, Ohio-based Agilysys, said CCM enables the distributor to “go back and hit a lot of opportunities we could not focus on before.” Agilysys is the first distributor to be certified to resell the product.

More distributors, however, are being certified for CCM, which is powered by technology gleaned from HP&s February 2004 acquisition of Novadigm, said Meyer. The software starts at $25 per seat license, according to HP.