IBM on Tuesday introduced an upgrade of its "intelligent dashboard" that offers users of the company's Tivoli software a redesigned interface for managing energy consumption, virtualization, and overall computer operations.

Systems Director 6.1, which also integrates with third-party systems management tools, can reduce system administration and energy costs in a typical data center by nearly 30%, according to IBM. The software helps IT staff deploy, monitor, analyze, optimize, and update server consolidation and virtualization environments.

"With IBM Systems Director, we're providing clients a means to better understand the complexity and costs associated with managing their data center," Rich Lechner, VP of enterprise systems at IBM, said in a statement.

The combination of Systems Director and Tivoli consolidates a company's IT infrastructure into one view. The updated browser-based UI supports IBM System z, Power Systems, BladeCenter, and System x servers, as well as IBM System Storage Platform. Systems Director also supports select non-IBM hardware and storage systems. For monitoring energy consumption, Systems Director uses IBM's Active Energy Manager plug-in, which displays details, such as power distribution and cooling, from data center systems.

Systems Director 6.1 is scheduled to ship in the fourth quarter. Pricing was not disclosed.

IBM's Tivoli competes with CA's Unicenter and Hewlett-Packard's OpenView. These products are full-fledged enterprise systems with dozens of related applications. Tivoli offers asset management, security, storage software, and more. Smaller companies, such as PacketTrap and SolarWinds, offer less extensive products for systems management.

Determining what to assess in an IT measurement program can be difficult in a data-saturated environment. Download an InformationWeek report, IT Measures That Matter, for recommendations on how to optimize your organization's operations (registration required).