]project-open[ can be integrated with various "Inventory Management" or "Asset Management" systems. These systems provide ]project-open[ with information about the hardware (PCs, servers, network equipment, ...) in the corporate network together with the software running on them. This information is important when managing incidents and [licenses].
The information about the software components running on a system frequently already includes the resolution of a problem and increases the first call incident resolution rate. It will in any way save time to the support team. Inventory and asset management systems frequently include mechanisms to "push" new software versions to the target computers and other mechanisms that can be used to fix the issue remotely.
The ]po[ staff has evaluated a number of open-source inventory management tools as candidates for an integration with ]po[:
Name
|
Support by Company
|
License
|
Inventory
|
Patch
Mgmt |
]po[
Integration |
GLPI and Fusion Inventory | -
|
GPL V2
|
x
|
x
|
|
Mandriva Pulse
|
Mandriva S.A, Paris, France
|
GPL V2
|
x
|
x
|
|
OCS Inventory NG
|
FactorFX, Paris, France
|
GPL V2
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
Open-AudIT | Opmantek, Queensland, Australia
|
Open source
|
x
|
||
Opsi | UIB GmbH, Mainz, Germany
|
AGPLv3
|
x
|
x
|
The general architecture for an inventory management system consist of:
This is the oldest of the evaluated systems and is around since about 2001. It is the base of both Fusion Inventory agent and Mandriva Pulse. A ]project-open[ interface is available since 2009.
Support for OCS Inventory NG is available from FactorFX in French and English language. Most Web pages are translated to English, but some are only in French.
Installing OCS Inventory NG, we experienced a number of quirks and issues despite the age of the product.
Fusion Inventory only consists of an client ("agent") for collecting information. GLPI is a server component that can accept data from Fusion Inventory, so the two systems only make sense together.
The Fusion Inventory Agent is a fork of the OCS Inventory client, but has broken compatibility and can not be used with OCS Inventory NG anymore.
Based on Fusion Inventory Agents, Mandriva has created a separate server back-end for collecting client data. The new server looks a lot better compared to OCS Inventory or GLPI, but does not yet support all functionality.
Opsi calls itself a "client management system" as opposed to "inventory management system", stressing the software distribution and patch management functionality of the product.
Opsi comes in the base version with a plain file based storage back-end which scales to about 200 clients. After that, the company recommends an upgrade to a MySQL database server, which is not open-source.
UBI, the company behind Opsi offers a solid support package consisting.
All Web pages are available in both English and German.
Open-AudIT focuses more on the auditing and discovery part of networks, than to the distribution of software and patches to clients.
Calle Aprestadora 19, 12o-2a
08902 Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona)
Spain
Tel Europe: +34 609 953 751
Tel US: +1 415 200 2465
Mail: info@project-open.com