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News In Review
June 1, 1998

Integrated Systems: Enterprise Harmony

Illustration by David Chen continued...page 3 of 4

System Level Is Next
The next step will be to attack the system-level directories, which are more complex, says Denecke. "By attacking the people problem first, we got our feet wet with a metadirectory and proved the technology," he says. As LDAP is more widely adopted, a system-level directory deployment is more likely, he says. Previously, the IT department held back from doing that because many products didn't yet support LDAP.

One o f the first system-level applications will address asset-management--tracking computers, software licenses, application versions, etc. The directory would house a description of each resource and point to the actual system where that software or hardware resides. The IT department could write a simple client application in Visual Basic or Java that would provide a view into all of these resources.

In addition to building custom applications that make use of directories, companies are finding a number of commercial applications that take advantage of technologies such as LDAP. Parsons Engineering & Constructors uses Oblix IntraPower in conjunction with its Netscape Directory Server 3.0. The directory pulls data from several sources, including E-mail directories, human-resources database, network directories, accounting applications, and materials-management systems.

"Where Oblix becomes key to us is the actual management of data," says Hayes Lattin, a Parsons' IT project manager. "We're using it first to provide up-to-the-minute corporate data, and equally important, to maintain the accuracy of that data," he says. "Second, we're using it to manage application security. All the new applications we're developing will use LDAP for security authorization."

Parsons has 500 to 1,000 system updates daily, says Lattin. Currently, the updates have to be done manually or not at all. "We're estimating that implementing IntraPower would save us about 5,000 minutes a day, or 25,000 minutes a week in updates alone," he says.

Business Processes
Software maker Synopsys is weighing an implementation of IntraPower atop an LDAP-based directory. "If we were to automate our new-employee process, the amount of person-hours saved would thrill our finance department," says Stuart Robbins, director information access services for Synopsys. "As our company grows--and it is growing--we need to find areas like these for process improvement."

Robbins points out that this technology is particularly useful during a business cycle such as the current one, marked by constant mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. "Companies that have merged from multiple entries, or have multiple sites, should be drawn to metadirectories," he says. "LDAP-based directories have the promise of providing a central podium from which one can access multiple data sources without struggling with the major problem of integrating legacy systems." Health First is streamlining end-user support with its directory. It's beta-testing Novell's Z.E.N.works, a product Novell plans to ship later this quarter. Z.E.N.works is a desktop-management application that will use Novell Directory Services to simplify PC management and software distribution.

Zen-Like
Health First has a 3,600-user NetWare network and is rolling out Windows NT Workstation throughout the organization, replacing Windows 3.1 machines. In addition to NetWare and NDS, Health First uses Novell's GroupWise groupware. Z.E.N.works is being use d to create user accounts, offer single sign-on, and provide users with a customized desktop on any workstation in the company.

NDS and Z.E.N.works simplify the administrative task of getting users up and running. "We create a user in NDS using drag-and-drop check boxes in the Novell utilities," says Dan Tesenair, a network engineer for Health First. Administrators merely click on a list of application options such as Excel, PeopleSoft, and custom clinical applications, and the management system configures each user's profile. "Through Z.E.N.works, you get all those applications automatically on your desktop when you log on," Tesenair says. "And users can log on from anywhere."

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Illustration by Da vid Chen


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