IT Asset Management with BMC Software

Accenture and BMC Software are working together to provide best-practice solutions to help IT organizations manage assets within their ever-growing infrastructure. The Accenture and BMC IT Asset Management Solution can provide a systematic and enterprise-wide approach to understanding the IT environment. In addition to controlling the total cost of ownership of IT assets, the solution sets the groundwork for future utility-style computing capabilities and represents a highly effective way to align IT with business objectives to create optimal value.

Accenture has worked with BMC Software for 10 years and together we have created a comprehensive IT asset management offering that combines best practices in process, governance and automation to help manage IT asset inventories to accelerate the realization of benefits.

The IT Asset Management solution also offers an ITIL®-driven approach1 and a full set of tools—such as a unified configuration management database (CMDB), automated asset data reconciliation and value-based reporting—that help improve financial management capabilities, optimize the value of IT assets and leverage utility computing in asset management.

In delivering this solution, Accenture contributes leading-edge capabilities in business and IT process management, proven methodologies and deep insights to help clients align technology to their unique business needs. Accenture has developed a number of assets to optimize the delivery of a BMC IT Asset Management solution, including:

• Workplan Template and Estimating Factors
• Requirements/Scoring Model
• IT Asset Management Assessment
• IT asset Management Methodology
• IT Asset Management Strategy and Roadmap
• Detailed Design and Architecture Blueprint
• Implementation Plan
• Target Operating Model

Using these resources, Accenture teams are able to quickly identify gaps in an existing IT infrastructure, implement and integrate the tools and capabilities necessary to fill those gaps, and establish asset management programs that deliver rapid, yet sustainable, benefits. Our ultimate goal is to help clients use their IT asset management capabilities to drive higher levels of IT performance—and by extension, business performance.

1The IT Infrastructure Library, or ITIL, guidelines are an accepted standard in the area of service management. ITIL’s comprehensive documentation on the planning, provision and support of IT services provides the basis for improving the use and effect of an operationally deployed IT infrastructure and describes the architecture needed to establish and operate IT service management.

BMC Software’s tools and applications complement Accenture’s capabilities by automating and integrating IT life cycle management practices and systems in a way that lowers costs, improves return on capital and speeds solution delivery. Specifically, the Accenture and BMC IT Asset Management Solution integrates three BMC products to create a single solution that can help manage assets and configuration information throughout the IT life cycle:

• Remedy® Asset Management. This industry-leading software application streamlines and automates processes related to tracking total cost of ownership and contracts throughout each asset’s life cycle. It reconciles discovered and stored asset data, enhances data integrity and enables project teams to quickly build workflows without coding and establish links to other systems. The cornerstone of Remedy Asset Management is the BMC Atrium™ Configuration Management Database (BMC Atrium CMDB), an intelligent repository that houses three levels of data—assets, configurations and relationships—necessary to accurately model the IT environment. Another key component of this application is Remedy Flashboards—a visual management tool that allows clients to create customized dashboards that graphically monitor key asset management metrics in real-time.
  
  
• BMC® Discovery Express. BMC Discovery Express is a non-intrusive auto-discovery tool that collects and populates the BMC Atrium Configuration Management Database (CMDB) with high-level asset information and vital statistics related to servers, desktops and network devices. Powered by an agent-less technology, Discovery Express is managed through an easy-to-use Web-based interface.
  
  
• Marimba® Configuration Discovery from BMC Software. Rounding out this integrated solution is the Marimba Configuration Management tool that enables clients to efficiently track detailed information related to their IT assets through an automated, agent-based technology. This software provides accurate hardware and software inventory information on servers, desktops, laptops and handheld devices across major platforms in the environment—even if these systems are only intermittently or infrequently connected to the network—and feeds this data to the BMC Atrium CMDB.