IBM self-healing software tackles IT complexity

Building on IBM's initiative to help companies reduce the
inherent complexity of IT environments, IBM announced a series of 'self-healing'
software products that can automatically find and fix problems before they slow
down an online business or cause a company to lose valuable customer information
because IT systems freeze. The software marks the next wave of self-managing,
autonomic technology from IBM by proactively healing technology problems.

ALAN GANEK New autonomic computing software automatically finds and fixes problems

The new IBM Tivoli software can pinpoint and then reach out
to solve problems, such as repairing Internet logjams or bringing systems back
online after a power outage. This sidesteps the time-consuming task of finding
and fixing glitches that naturally occur in complicated, intertwined systems,
allowing all kinds of businesses - from mid-sized retailers to multinational
insurance companies - to safely and completely manage their online
applications.

Similar to how the body's autonomic nervous system can heal
a broken bone without conscious thought; IBM's new self-healing software heads
off slowdowns and service interruptions - before consumers move on to other
web-based businesses in frustration, for example.

The task of troubleshooting system crashes and breakdowns can
take teams of IT specialist hours or even days as they manually pore over error
logs to trace problems, step-by-step, back to the point of failure. In fact, IT
analyst firm Enterprise Management Associates estimates that determining the
cause of a problem can take 50% to 80% of an IT staff's time, while 15% to 20%
of their time is spent repairing it.

Launched in 2001, IBM's cross-industry autonomic computing initiative has
worked over the past four years to radically simplify IT management, and the
underlying infrastructure, by automating processes and building intelligence into systems themselves,
helping to move businesses toward environments that are self-managing. IBM has
built the broadest portfolio of autonomic-enabled products, services and
solutions in the industry, with more than 475 self-managing autonomic features
in 75 distinct IBM products.

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