BMC opens professional services group

BMC Software Inc. has formally launched a new professional services business unit to help its customers, including federal agencies, optimize BMC Software products and improve the performance of critical applications.

BMC Software, a Houston-based company with several hundred enterprise management products in its portfolio, has hired J.A. (Chip) Nemesi, a former general manager at IBM Corp., to run its new services business unit, which has 150 people, including 47 based in the Washington, D.C., area.

Most of the Washington-based BMC Software professional service employees work on site, Nemesi said. The new director of federal operations for BMC Software, Harry Clarke, was appointed this month and will oversee the company's professional service contracts with federal agencies, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the FBI and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.

Several other federal agencies use BMC Software's Patrol management suite to automate and centralize the control of data, databases, servers, applications and all other critical elements in distributed environments.

The creation of the professional services business unit answers customer demand for services built around the company's product line, which has grown considerably since the purchase of New Dimensions Software Ltd. in March and Boole & Babbage Inc. in November. BMC Software previously offered services and training on a case-by-case basis when customers asked.

BMC Software's professional services business unit offers custom consulting and a number of service packages as well as an on-site training program.

Customers who want custom consulting will be offered service through BMC Software's service assurance center, just one of the ways the company offers customized service.

The service assurance center consultants will not try to manage all the applications running in an enterprise, said Jonathan Eunice, senior analyst and IT adviser at Illuminata Inc.

Instead, BMC Software will limit its work to one or two critical applications and finish the job in six weeks or a couple of months, Eunice said.

BMC Software is getting into professional services late, according to Eunice, but he said the company's service assurance center concept has managed to differentiate itself from the broader management offerings of Computer Associates International Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp.

"There are lots of companies that will implement systems management tools," Eunice said. "But I am unaware of anyone that has a similarly constructed or similarly focused type of offering."

BMC Software custom consulting has a strong set of products for customers who run Oracle Corp. or DB2 databases or a mainframe with OS/390, Eunice said.

Customers interested in the package's offerings can choose from FastTrack, which offers a pre-implementation assessment to identify problems beforehand; SureStart, which ensures rapid implementation; and HealthCheck, a regular check on key systems and applications.

"The package offerings make sure that our products get installed right and are being used correctly," Nemesi said. "The goal is to make sure customers who have invested in BMC Software products are seeing them in the best possible light."

Nemesi said BMC Software expects all the service offerings to be available soon on the company's General Services Administration schedule.

BMC Software also is working with a number of federal integrators to sell to the market on their contract vehicles, he said.