Integrien Updates Optimization Tool

Integrien is attempting to pushing into the front lines of vendors a new generation of IT optimization tools with Alive 6.0, set to be released this week.

Integrien competes with companies such as Netuitive, offering software designed to monitor production systems and adaptively learn the vagaries of a given IT environment.

Alive incorporates algorithms that crunch data from monitoring software like IBM's Tivoli and Hewlett-Packard's OpenView to provide real-time analytics, which are viewable through a graphical user interface that has been redesigned for this release, according to Integrien, based in Irvine, California.

It is also possible to take historical system data and load it into Alive, according to Integrien. The algorithms can analyze that information to give the software a head start of sorts when it is moved into production.

Alive 6.0 includes new algorithms focused on reducing the number of unnecessary alert notifications, as well as "alert" analytics that can predict future problems based on ongoing events. The software also now has a role-based graphical interface that can provide views tuned for various workers within IT departments.

The software is also designed to be integrated with e-mail programs, trouble-ticket systems or mobile devices such as pagers. Getting system performance information in mobile form is key to freeing up IT workers' time, since they won't have to remain stationed at a screen, CEO Al Eisaian said.

Integrien officials make much of the under-the-hood coding in the product.

The firm's CTO, Mazda Marvasti, has a background in statistics and probability, and has "15 Ph.D's" working on the algorithms at the core of the software, according to Eisaian. "We really invested in the R&D," he said.

Pricing for Alive starts at about US$50,000 and an average deal amounts to about $400,000, Eisaian said.

Integrien's main challenge is figuring out how to address various workgroups within IT departments, such as application development or testing teams, according to Stephen Elliot, an analyst with IDC.

"Some of this budget is being allocated toward earlier in the lifecycle," Elliot said.

Integrien has been "thinking about this for a while," following feedback from one analyst, and is trying to engage other members of the IT shop, according to Steve Henning, Integrien's vice president of products.