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HP delivers service automation for AMD, but there’s a catch

by Angus Kidman

Tuesday, 27 November 2007

Cost savings are often promoted as a major reason for automating systems provisioning, but ensuring compliance can be just as important a goal, according to a senior IT manager at AMD.

Kyle Rhynerson, service delivery lead for global IT infrastructure services at AMD, is responsible for managing 900 servers spread between locations in Texas and California.

Last year, AMD initiated a project that required all those servers to be upgraded or patched to meet minimum specifications, a process that would have been impossibly time-consuming without automated tools, Rhynerson told journalists attending HP’s Software Universe conference in Barcelona.

“The big driver for why we needed a data centre automation tool was the minimum configuration push for all servers,” he said.

“The primary driver for us was not necessarily cost savings, but compliance.”

After evaluating various tools to help manage the process, AMD eventually settled on Opsware, shortly before the company was acquired by HP in a $US1.6 billion deal.

That buyout pleased Rhynerson, who had experienced some internal resistance to the selection of Opsware. “It validated my choice,” he said. “I was like ‘See guys, I told you so’.”

While HP was happy to parade Rhynerson as an example of its integrated approach to service management, AMD has yet to buy into the company’s entire approach.

As reported earlier on iTWire, HP is hoping that its push to integrate its various service automation tools under the Automated Operations banner will help it gain ground in the helpdesk and network management space.

However, while Rhynerson has been happy with the performance of the Opsware tools, AMD has stuck to using Remedy for its helpdesk and service management needs.

Additional development was also needed to make the Opsware tools meet AMD’s requirements, he said.

Disclosure: Angus Kidman travelled to Barcelona as a guest of HP.

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