Symantec's Altiris division is introducing a new tool to help midmarket companies implement process automation.Symantec will bring IT process automation to the midmarket on March 13 when
it launches a new tool that simplifies the automation of IT tasks.
The new Altiris Workflow Solution brings a new level of simplicity to
midmarket customers trying to adopt ITIL best practices.
"Our midmarket customers have asked for help in implementing ITIL and
find it's expensive. A lot of customers give us a Visio diagram of an ITIL best
practice that ends up on a shelf or in a box," said Matt Meservey, product
manager for Altiris.
Whether the customer is trying to automate IT workflows or just automate mundane
tasks, such as patching software, the Altiris Workflow Solution does not
require scripting or coding to implement a workflow.
"Until people see how easy it is to implement, they sometimes don't get
it. We have a help desk midmarket customer that's been trying to implement
workflows around hardware purchasing. We pulled their Visio diagram into the
Workflow Solution palette, where it's just drag and drop. It took us 40 minutes
to implement the workflow," Meservey said.
The tool includes a WYSIWYG designer that allows users to build a workflow
form using drag-and-drop actions. The designer coordinates IT tasks, processes,
best practices and automation tools. The workflow forms are published to a
workflow server that automates the actual workflows. "Once you're done you
publish it to the server and close it, and then it's all automated and it
tracks the entire process," he said.
The Workflow Solution, which Symantec acquired earlier in 2008 with its
buyout of Transparent Logic, integrates with different Web services, databases,
and service and configuration management tools. Prior to the acquisition,
Symantec had an OEM deal with Transparent Logic.
"The midmarket focus makes sense," said David Williams, a Gartner
analyst. "A lot of process automation is somewhat limited." Williams
said he believes the Altiris Workflow Solution competes with a desktop-oriented
process automation tool from FullArmor.
Altiris Workflow Solution is available now.
