Autonomic Software

Patch Management

ANSA is a policy driven, automated management solution that extends to the network, system, and application level, resulting in a secure and reliable computing environment.

When considering the current state of enterprise security and patch management it is difficult to believe that, until just a few years ago, patch management was viewed as a labor intensive project rarely given a second glance (let alone an update) after the initial install. Now, however, the importance of reliable patch management solutions has been sparked by the danger associated with unsecured computing environments which are, at a given moment, susceptible to any number of worms or malicious attacks. Even further, new government regulations (such as SOX and HIPAA) are pushing enterprises to regain control over their asset information. Unfortunately, although fear of compliancy regulations and system infiltration has spurred consumers to find a solution to system vulnerability, it has not put a stop to the frequency or severity of unpatched software.

The goal of a Patch Management Solution is to create an organized and stable computing environment continuously protected against security breaches. This goal is not attainable, however, without the ability of an IT administrator to validate, test, and deploy patches in a timely manner. Any delay between the discovery and repair of system vulnerabilities allows for an even greater chance of attack. IT departments are overwhelmed by the rate at which new patches, updates and "hot fixes" are released. Short on resources and time, impulsive decisions are often made resulting in oversight and system vulnerability. Due to the criticality of time management and proper installation, the time consuming process of manually deploying updates patch-by-patch is widely rejected by IT executives, analysts and vendors alike.

Autonomic Software, Inc. has developed our ANSA agent to pick up where even the most vigilant administrators often fall short- patch management. With the needs of these IT professionals in mind, ANSA was developed as a tool to extend the capacity of IT resources, enabling project teams to respond in a more deliberate and timely manner.

A powerful and flexible patch management solution

ANSA provides a cross-platform (Windows, Linux, Oracle-Linux, Solaris (UNIX), and Macintosh (Apple) solutions utilizing agent-based, N-tier architecture. Also delivering an automated approach to patch management, our ANSA agent can meet the needs of every organization with computing assets. Through the use of a policy engine, ANSA allows IT Administrators to set rules for various severity levels for patches, and establish what steps should be taken for each. Our patented agent technology allows for an extremely small footprint while still allowing the fastest possible distribution of patches by groups, system function, or system state. Patch Distribution can be managed per site or across an entire multi-site enterprise from a single web-based user interface by one or more parties.

Integrated Asset Management Benefits

70% of organizations have a 30% discrepancy between a planned inventory and their actual inventory (Gartner). Autonomic customers use the expert knowledge gained from proper asset management to realize significant benefits.

Regulatory Compliance

With the existing Sarbanes-Oxley regulations, easy extraction of an organization's inventory reports addresses one of the most fundamental requirements for a compliant enterprise. Manual inventory is often difficult to leverage in variable situations.

Lower IT expenses

The cost-savings realized through the implementation of an asset management solution can be as much as 26% of an IT department's overall budget. (GIGA Information Group).

Time Management

Information improves the efficiency of IT organizations. Reducing time spent on support and maintenance issues, provides more time for innovation and production.

Asset Knowledge

Asset management data improves the control and management of IT assets through details on memory, network devices and physical locations, etc.

Please keep in mind that Autonomic Software’s intelligent agent solutions work exactly the same way in both physical and virtual environments.

Integrated Asset Management solutions

Offered as an integrated solution within ANSA suite, the asset management functions allow users to collect and maintain complete, current and useful IT asset data across the enterprise

Track IT assets - Detects virtually anything plugged into an Ethernet cable

Analyze software use - Collect comprehensive information regarding installed software for both long term planning and reclamation

Monitor unauthorized users - Identify attempts to access proprietary information

Report compliance - Develop data for internal and external audits

Resolve user issues - Compile data of current issues

Hardware and software updates - Plan and target software, OS or file set distributions

IT standards - Develop, implement and report on enterprise-wide IT standards

Lease status - Monitor and remove outdated hardware from service

Diverse platform support - Windows, Linux, Oracle-Linux, Solaris (UNIX), Macintosh (Apple)

Asset repository database (UNIX), Solaris Oracle-Linux, Linux, Windows, - support platfor