2015 IBM Corporation. IBM BigFix Inventory. Advantages of migrating from Software Use Analysis 2.2 to BigFix Inventory 9.x

Transcription

1 2015 IBM Corporation IBM BigFix Inventory Advantages of migrating from Software Use Analysis 2.2 to BigFix Inventory 9.x

2 END OF SUPPORT Software Use Analysis 2.2 will withdraw support in April After this date, IBM Support will no longer provide assistance with the application nor deliver patches. To have access to new features, certifications of operating systems and virtualizations as well as assistance of IBM Support, migrate to the latest version of BigFix Inventory*. Software Use Analysis 2.2 BigFix Inventory End of support: 04/2017 Migrate to BigFix Inventory to take advantage of the new features and certifications. *Software Use Analysis was renamed to BigFix Inventory in line with the BigFix portfolio rebranding. 2

3 SUMMARY New look and feel Extended catalog management Oracle Database discovery Resource utilization IBM PVU subcapacity reporting Instant notifications Security risk mitigation Granular role management Support for Unicode Single sign-on Improved import performance Delta file system scan New supported platforms Signature community Beta program and live demo sessions Migration process User interface screenshots Resources 3

4 NEW LOOK AND FEEL BigFix Inventory has a completely new look & feel. The user interface is neat and clear, and the menu redesigned to improve its usability. The new look and feel improves usability. The dashboard displayed on the home page provides an overview of the infrastructure, information about the completeness of data and the state of IBM software bundling. It also provides links to information about troubleshooting the most common problems that you might encounter in the abovementioned areas. See screenshot 4

5 EXTENDED CATALOG MANAGEMENT Extension of the catalog management functionality allows for creating all types of software signatures without the use of Software Knowledge Base Toolkit (SwKBT). Because BigFix Inventory provides the same set of capabilities for creating and editing signatures as SwKBT, you can migrate the entire custom catalog content to BigFix Inventory and remove SwKBT from your infrastructure. Managing signatures in one application saves your time, facilitates the work, and reduces maintenance costs. File signature Package signature Extended signature You can create file signatures, package signatures, and extended signatures directly in BigFix Inventory. See screenshot 5

6 ORACLE DATABASE DISCOVERY BigFix Inventory provides extended discovery of Oracle Database. It allows for retrieving granular information about editions, options, and Management Packs of Oracle Databases that are deployed in your environment. Combine information about discovered databases with hardware inventory data to calculate Oracle license demand. When you combine this information with the collected hardware inventory data, you can calculate the demand for Oracle Database licenses. 6

7 RESOURCE UTILIZATION You can track the utilization of all license metrics for products that deliver resource utilization data. BigFix Inventory collects data about the utilization of license metrics such as client devices or floating users for products that deliver resource utilization data in the form of.slmtag files. You can export the history of license utilization and aggregate it outside BigFix Inventory according to the information that is provided in the license agreement. See screenshot Collect information about resource utilization and aggregate it to calculate the license demand. 7

8 IBM PVU SUBCAPACITY REPORTING Many IBM products are based on PVU subcapacity. To fulfil the licensing terms, customers are required to install License Metric Tool and create quarterly audit reports of PVU consumption. Unlike Software Use Analysis 2.2, BigFix Inventory provides the possibility of monitoring PVU consumption of IBM software under full and subcapacity licensing. Thus, you can use BigFix Inventory to comply with subcapacity licensing terms and create reports without the need of deploying and maintaining License Metric Tool. If you are already using License Metric Tool, the two applications can coexist. In this case, computers that do not require the extended capabilities of BigFix Inventory can be monitored by License Metric Tool. You can also consolidate both applications and use BigFix Inventory for IBM subcapacity licensing. See screenshot Create audit reports needed to comply with the IBM subcapacity licensing terms. 8

9 INSTANT NOTIFICATIONS Instead of checking reports regularly, you can schedule notifications that will alert you when the key data changes. In Software Use Analysis 2.2 you can schedule notifications that are sent according to a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule. In BigFix Inventory, you can also schedule notifications that are sent whenever a particular number of rows is exceeded on the report. For example, you can specify that notification is sent when more than 10 agents have not reported to the BigFix server within the last two weeks. Schedule instant notifications to be alerted about changes in your environment 9

10 SECURITY RISK MITIGATION BigFix Inventory collects file checksums which allows for combining software asset management with security risk mitigation. File checksums are long strings that describe the content of files and act as their fingerprints. You can use BigFix Inventory to collect file MD5 and SHA256 checksums to verify the integrity of files and mitigate security risks. This functionality enables IT Operations and Software Asset Management departments to closely cooperate with Security teams. It allows for collecting key security attributes that are needed to identify security exposures as part of the regular software discovery process. Use file checksums collected during software discovery to mitigate security risks. 10

11 GRANURAL ROLE MANAGEMENT BigFix Inventory fits well into organizations with multiple roles and multi-tenancy access rights to reports and data. It comes with a set of predefined roles and permissions that can be easily customized according to the needs of your organization. Granular system of roles and permissions adjusted to your security requirements. The predefined roles include: Administrator, Auditor, Catalog Manager, Contract Manager, Software Asset Manager, and Infrastructure Administrator. 11

12 SUPPORT FOR UNICODE Data gathered from computers deployed in various geographical locations is encoded into UTF-8 to ensure that it is displayed correctly. Starting from version 9.5, the BigFix Platform can gather data from BigFix clients that are deployed in different geographical locations and thus use different code pages and languages. The data is encoded into UTF-8 format, and reported back to the BigFix server. As a result, regardless of the system and encoding that the client computers use, the data is correctly displayed both in BigFix and BigFix Inventory. Ɯ Њ Ώ Unicode characters are encoded into UTF-8 to be correctly displayed 12

13 SINGLE SIGN-ON You can use two-factor authentication and single sign-on to log in to BigFix Inventory and maintain login consistency with other applications in the enterprise. Enable single sign-on and maintain login consistency with other applications. You can configure BigFix Inventory to use two-factor authentication with single sign-on based either on the exchange of Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML 2.0) token and Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services as Identity Provider or you can use the IBM Lightweight Third-Party Authentication (LTPA) technology and IBM Security Access Manager for Web as the authentication service. 13

14 IMPROVED IMPORT PERFORMANCE BigFix Inventory provides a number of features that significantly improve the import performance. Performance of the initial import measured under laboratory conditions in an environment with computers improved by 12% when compared to the results obtained by Software Use Analysis :00 04:48 03:36 02:24 01: patch Performance of the reimport of data measured in the same conditions improved almost by 50%. 00:00 Initial import Reimport The reimported data contained 1% of changed file system data and 70% of changed usage data. Even though imports in BigFix Inventory process much more data than in Software Use Analysis 2.2, their performance is significantly better. 14

15 DELTA FILE SYSTEM SCAN Length of the import is significantly shortened thanks to the delta file system scan. The file system scan generates two outputs: full file system scan and delta file system scan. Results of the former contain information about all files that were discovered on the endpoint. Results of the latter contain information only about files that changed between the last two full file system scans. Results of the delta files system scan are imported in the first place which allows for significantly shortening the import time. Using delta file system scan allows for reducing the length of the import. 15

16 NEW SUPPORTED PLATFORMS Support for new platforms and virtualization technologies is added in every application update for BigFix Inventory. It allows for maintaining platform currency and increasing environment coverage. Some of the platforms for which support was added in BigFix Inventory include Mac OS X, Windows 10, CentOS, and Debian. Discover software installed on Mac OS X and other newly certified platforms For more information, click here. 16

17 SIGNATURE COMMUNITY BigFix Inventory provides the possibility of exporting and importing custom signatures. This functionality allowed for creating the signature community a place where you can find custom signatures created by others. Before you start creating custom signatures, check whether they are already available on the community. If you find the signatures you need, download them and import straight to BigFix Inventory. Similarly, if you create your own signatures, consider exporting them from BigFix Inventory and contributing to the community. For more information, click here. Search the signature community and import signatures created by others. 17

18 BETA PROGRAM AND LIVE DEMO SESSIONS BigFix Inventory provides you the possibility of actively participating in the development process. By joining the beta program, you get access to features that the team is currently working on. You can try them out, provide your feedback and influence the final shape of the new functionality. You can also participate in live demo sessions during which you can watch the features under development at work, discuss them with the development team and learn about the future plans. It all gives you a unique opportunity to become a part of the team and create a product that always meets your needs. Join the beta program and attend live demo sessions to discuss new features with the development team. 18

19 MIGRATION PROCESS To migrate from Software Use Analysis 2.2 to BigFix Inventory, you must first install the BigFix Inventory server. During the migration, the two servers are connected to a common BigFix Platform, which gives Software Use Analysis 2.2 access to fixlets that are necessary to migrate the computers. BigFix Platform Data that was collected from the computers before the migration is not migrated, because it is collected by the new scans from BigFix Inventory. It is frozen in Software Use Analysis 2.2, and you can access it at any time. The items that are migrated are the customizations specific to your environment. They include computer groups, users, custom signatures, contracts, and contract custom fields. For more information about the migration and its scope, click here. Software Use Analysis 2.2 BigFix Inventory Historical data Migrated computers Historical data is stored in Software Use Analysis 2.2, whereas all current data is from now on saved in BigFix Inventory. 19

20 2015 IBM Corporation IBM BigFix Inventory User interface screenshots

21 DASHBOARD Return 21

22 CATALOG CUSTOMIZATIONS PANEL Return 22

23 RESOURCE UTILIZATION REPORT Return 23

24 IBM PVU SUBCAPACITY REPORT Return 24

25 2015 IBM Corporation IBM BigFix Inventory Resources

26 RESOURCES Migration documentation Migration cookbook BigFix Inventory wiki Download instructions Migrating Software Knowledge Base Toolkit Forum 26

27 Statement of Good Security Practices: IT system security involves protecting systems and information through prevention, detection and response to improper access from within and outside your enterprise. Improper access can result in information being altered, destroyed, misappropriated or misused or can result in damage to or misuse of your systems, including for use in attacks on others. No IT system or product should be considered completely secure and no single product, service or security measure can be completely effective in preventing improper use or access. IBM systems, products and services are designed to be part of a lawful, comprehensive security approach, which will necessarily involve additional operational procedures, and may require other systems, products or services to be most effective. IBM DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ANY SYSTEMS, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES ARE IMMUNE FROM, OR WILL MAKE YOUR ENTERPRISE IMMUNE FROM, THE MALICIOUS OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY PARTY. THANK YOU Copyright IBM Corporation All rights reserved. The information contained in these materials is provided for informational purposes only, and is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind, express or implied. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, these materials. Nothing contained in these materials is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM or its suppliers or licensors, or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software. References in these materials to IBM products, programs, or services do not imply that they will be available in all countries in which IBM operates. Product release dates and / or capabilities referenced in these materials may change at any time at IBM s sole discretion based on market opportunities or other factors, and are not intended to be a commitment to future product or feature availability in any way. IBM, the IBM logo, and other IBM products and services are trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation, in the United States, other countries or both. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.