clients / case studies / businesses

Sempra Energy

Goal

Create a consistent way to distribute software across multiple locations and operating systems

Solution

Install, configure, and deploy a major new software distribution system

Results

Introduction

Sempra Energy is one of the largest energy companies in North America. Having newly acquired a number of companies throughout southern California, Sempra needed a way to distribute new software across a range of computing environments running different operating systems, including Windows 95/98, NT, UNIX, and OS/2.  Sempra planned to use Tivoli software from IBM to provide a software distribution capability for their disparate environment. This included implementing Tivoli’s Framework (FWK), Software Distribution (SWD), Inventory (INV) and Remote Control (RCL)

The acquisition of the Tivoli software was one thing; the effective implementation of the system was another. Ephibian was contracted for this major undertaking.

What did we do?

  • Installed, configured and deployed the Tivoli systems
  • Automated redistribution of failed software deployments
  • Installed and configured the Tivoli Remote Control for the Sempra Help Desk

How did we do it?

  • Tivoli architecture was divided geographically
  • Policy Regions were created and given names based on cities or regions where sites were located
  • Domain login scripts were written that would create endpoints and automatically place them into the correct Policy Region, based on the same network address scheme
  • Since creating all endpoints (approximately 10,000) at roughly the same time would saturate the TMR server, regions were added individually so that the server could handle smaller, but manageable “login storms”
  • Endpoint login scripts were written to allow endpoints into the TMR based on what region the endpoint belonged
  • Once endpoints were created, Sempra’s Asset Management Staff (AMS) provided a listing of available inventory fields that could be captured and ported to an Oracle database. When the necessary fields were determined, a new table was created and new data files generated by AMS were automatically imported into it
  • Tivoli INV Profiles were used to scan the hardware and software of each endpoint. A Visual Basic program was written to capture personal information about the user and the output stored in a MIF file. Another INV Profile was then distributed to collect the MIF files and store the information into the Oracle database, effectively linking assets to personnel.