Infrastructure Modeling

“Configuration Management provides a logical model of the infrastructure or a service by identifying, controlling, maintaining and verifying the Configuration Items in existence.”

LiveTime Service Manager has a centralized Configuration Management Database (CMDB) to manage and control infrastructure information. At the simplest level the CMDB can be used to store hardware, software and document asset details. At its most complex, the CMDB can be configured as an enterprise-wide IT business service catalog defining business services and the supporting infrastructure.

Powerful Templates

The CMDB includes configuration item (CI) Type templates that can be customized to include user-defined attributes.

The CI lifecycle editor allows the transitional states of different CIs to be pre-configured, which determines the states of change for each CI. CI baselines can be set so it can be returned to a previous state, if required.

Federated CMDB

LiveTime’s federated CMDB can be scheduled to automatically synchronize with multiple third party asset discovery and management tools simultaneously. This allows organizations to build a complete picture of their infrastructure in line with the support organization’s requirements, as item information can be sourced from different repositories and stored within LiveTime.

Providing such access to the most up-to-date infrastructure information only enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of service desk staff when working on support issues.

The LiveTime Asset Management Integration Engine (AMIE) enables enterprises to quickly and easily synchronize with third party asset management systems. Using XML descriptor files embedded within the LiveTime application, AMIE is able to connect to the foreign host and transfer any type of Asset Management data into LiveTime’s Configuration Management Database (CMDB).

AMIE can also recognize schema changes on the foreign host, and dynamically adapt to these modifications in real time. The system comes pre-configured with adaptors for all the major asset management vendors such as Novell ZENworks, Microsoft SMS, LANDesk, LogInventory and many others (see integrations page for a complete list). Other adapters can be added as required using simple XML descriptor files. You can also edit the existing implementations and control the information that is imported into LiveTime when needed.

Staging and Snapshots

LiveTime provides a powerful staging area where you can manage individual snapshots from contributing data sources. Multiple sources can be merged into a single Configuration Item (CI) and attributes independently mapped to provide a holistic view of your infrastructure.

The ability to view the attributes and values of every CI, contributing data sources and relationships provides service desk technicians with unparalleled diagnostic information to solve requests, problems or make changes.

The ability to federate datasources out-of-the-box with no consulting is unequalled in the industry and further demonstrates LiveTime’s commitment to open standards and interoperability.