Microsoft & IBM partner for Vista OS deployment
Many organisations have been working on better ways to deploy operating systems, often having to deal with more than one version of operating system across the enterprise. This situation is usually compounded by having multiple software images to suit different requirements and different hardware platforms.
Microsoft Vista brings many benefits and also some new approaches for imaging and deployment. There are of course many ways to deploy and manage software. The starting point for many is to work out how to put the initial software on the system (the ‘bare metal’ build). This establishes the operating system on the hardware and then allows for the addition of additional elements such as drivers and applications.
IBM has great solutions for managing enterprise organisations and helping to reduce the large labour cost and long timeframes usually associated with large deployments. Of particular relevant is the product known as Tivoli Provisioning Manager for Operating System Deployment (TPM for OSD). Microsoft and IBM are promoting this jointly.
With a single application, Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment delivers an easy-to-use, security-rich interface for remote configuration, simultaneous deployment, updates, and restoration of Windows across hundreds of devices.
The software:
- Reduces management costs by utilizing a centralized web console with wizards and task guidance and other ease-of-use features to remotely deploy and configure all computers across the enterprise.
- Reduces cost of manual IT support through automated installations to bare-metal devices.
- Provides flexible deployments, such as multicast or Unicast, with a single tool, and supports installation methods, such as network PXE boot and auto-executable CDs.
- Drives security of unattended deployments by closing security loopholes.
- Leverages scalability for large deployments. Multiple instances of the product can be configured to work together and build a corporate-wide OS installation infrastructure.
- Simplifies image creation, and reduces cost of image storage and maintenance with a universal image and driver injection feature.
- Conserves storage space with single instance storage to reduce the footprint of deployment images needed across an organization.
Download the four-page Enterprise Partner Case Study from Microsoft here.
Microsoft and IBM are collaborating on enterprise deployments of Microsoft Vista, although the solution can also address other operating systems or a mixed environment. Both organisations have announced this partnership and explained the benefits, which can be studied via the following links.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/shop/partners/ibmtivoli.mspx
http://www.ibm.com/software/tivoli/features/vista/
ATM provides IT managed services to customers, typically ranging in size from 100 to 1,000+ PC users. Many of our customers are best described as ‘medium to larger’ businesses such as Total Exploration & Production UK, Coca Cola, Ladbrokes, Reed and many more.
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