Altiris sees value in utility software
Company to move toward virtualization software, on-demand services aimed at small and midsize businesses.
Tom Galantomos, Altiris' director of strategic alliance sales for the Asia-Pacific region and Japan, said the new positioning is aimed at helping companies get more value out of their IT spend.
He explained that Altiris will focus on what it describes as a service-oriented management concept, encompassing service-oriented architectures (SOAs) as the technology backbone, products that address management processes and a service-based delivery model.
Galantomos added that this would take the form of on-demand managed services or software-as-a-service, which will be especially relevant for small and midsize customers as it gives them access to enterprise-class applications, without the hefty licensing fees.
To help its virtualization software gain more traction, Altiris next month will offer a free downloadable tool which users can deploy to change the settings of applications on their PCs according to their personal requirements.
The company currently offers what it calls a Software Virtualization Solution, which it says enables businesses to manage software via centralized servers.
Altiris will also work more closely with partners to resolve problems associated with business processes, said Geoff Masters, its vice president for the Asia-Pacific region, during a media session Monday.
The company has in the past focused on "point solutions," providing products that cater to specific components of an IT infrastructure, he explained. Altiris has now broadened its focus, offering software suites that address a customer's entire IT implementation, Masters said.
The move, he noted, was in response to changing business needs, and the increasing dependence on IT to manage business processes.
Citing data from Forrester Research, Galantomos pointed out that "smart" businesses typically pump 40 percent of their IT budgets into new corporate initiatives, leaving about 60 percent for maintenance and support.
On the other hand, companies that spend 85 percent of their budget on run-of-the-mill costs, and only 15 percent of their budgets on new IT initiatives, will not enjoy optimum value from their IT spend, he said.
These organizations need tools that can help them with lifecycle management, process automation, and security and compliance, Galantomos said.
Vivian Yeo of ZDNet Asia reported from Singapore.