Control your resources thanks to Open Source solutions
The steps taken by the experts are connected with implementing a system in your IT infrastructure that will automate the key processes related to inventorying like hardware registration. The implemented tools cover report scripts and the following applications: GLPI (Asset Management System) – for hardware registration and management; and OCS (Autodiscovery System) – a periodical scanner for environment change detection. Both applications support the Linux operating system and belong to the Open Source family, so you only have to pay for the implementation and subsequent maintenance of the system.
The system includes – in addition to the integration of GLPI, OCS and report-generating scripts – an optional installation of OCS agents in the monitored devices. They consume minimal resources (4MB RAM) and allow for detection of each and every configuration change. The other, non-agent operation mode of the application allows for periodical and automatic environment scanning in search for changes in the starting status.
IT infrastructure inventorying – implementation and maintenance
The implementation of the system is preceded by extensive preparations, which should involve all infrastructure components: this requires that you provide the documents acquired at the purchase of the infrastructure, warranty cards in particular, which define the period, extent and level of support. It is also necessary to simultaneously implement the process of configuration and change management.
The system implementation usually involves the following pattern:
- installation and configuration of the GLPI and OCS applications,
- installation of OSC agents on devices,
- initial GLPI base supply,
- installation of report scripts,
- implementation of the configuration management process.
Subsequent system maintenance involves on-going updating the information on the owned resources via inputting proper entries in the system based on the operation of the configuration and change management processes. In turn thanks to the automatic and configurable scanning, your organisation can keep abreast of the information on the environment status, provided in clear reports showing differences in the configuration.
Implementation costs of the inventorying system
The costs of building and implementation of the inventorying system which you have to cover depend first and foremost on the size of the IT environment covered by it and include two sets of activities:
- installation works – fixed lump sum fee, including installation of the operating system, GLPI and OCS applications as well as report scripts, in the amount of PLN 4 800,
- configuration works – the fee depends on the size of supervised environment and process automation level.
