Agent Procedures
Regardless of the size of your business, now you can experience the rewards in operational productivity and increased profitability through IT automation. By implementing a comprehensive and integrated solution with the power, flexibility and scalability to meet your needs today and expand as your business grows, IT automation enables a pro-active approach to improved operations and customer satisfaction. From Software Inventory to Remote Desktop Management, Support Tree uses Blackthorn software to provide the tools, technology and resources that make complete IT automation possible.
Automation is a key factor in the delivery of successful IT Services. Blackthorn provides unparalleled automation of the everyday services we deliver so that we can create and automate services on demand.
Agent Procedures
A procedure can be as easy as running a utility every day to determine if a disk needs to be defragmented. If it does, defrag the drive and log the results. If it does not, log the result that it is not needed. A more complex example is checking a web site to make sure it is available to the outside world and that it is serving up the correct contents. A procedure can be run from a computer other than the web server and external to the network where the server is located on a scheduled basis. The procedure will collect the contents of a page and identify if it has changed or if specific content is not as expected. Based on the test results, a log entry can be created that indicating if everything is ok or if it is not ok, an event log entry can be created on either the web server or on any other system. This log entry is then detected by that computer and a procedure to place the correct content on the web server runs, alerts an administrator, restarts the web server and logs all the actions.
These procedures are scheduled and executed by the Support Tree without end user intervention. All steps are logged and can be reported on at any time. This is a truly unique feature that is not found in other IT management products.
Not only can Support Tree create an endless number of services and schedule these services to run automated and unattended, Blackthorn allows for the creation of template agents that can be pre-configured with all the services and schedules prior to deployment. This means that once the agent is deployed, the machine is being managed by policy with no tech time required. This is the key to reducing cost of service delivery, improving scalability and increasing productivity within an organization.
Blackthorn Framework Benefits
Easy to Use
One integrated and consistent web-based interface eases the learning curve when Support Tree becomes your partner in IT. We schedule backups, software updates, antivirus updates and more using a consistent and integrated automation platform making IT service delivery simple.
Fast and Flexible Deployment
Modular deployment puts us in control. Start with Remote control, Systems Management, Backup, Anti Virus, Audit, Network Discovery, Monitoring, or Patch Management. All automated across your existing network infrastructure.
Increase Productivity
With remote IT capabilities, central management and automation of routine tasks, Support Tree reduces the need for additional resources, allowing you to do much more with less.
Conserve Time and Energy
Save on time, license fees, power consumption and on-site visits. We do it all remotely so we don't need to travel to fix a problem. Reducing the carbon footprint while improving IT service!
Increase End User Satisfaction
Implement a proactive, instead of reactive, service delivery model and systems run smoother, with less downtime, providing you more time to focus on strategic initiatives.
Increase Security
IT Automation helps ensure your systems are in compliance. They perform better and are more secure.
The core sets of functions performed by Support Tree’s Blackthorn IT Automation Framework are: deployment, configuration, execution, update, logging, reporting, monitoring and remediation. These functions are part of the core tasks an IT professional performs on a daily basis.
Blackthorn builds automation into the systems deployment and management process by mirroring best practices associated with the provisioning of services, automating repetitive work by machine-driven tasks and processes.
The benefits of this unique approach to real-time, web-based IT task and process management are:
• Provides a self-managing distributed virtual VPN without the complications of managing VPN software, enabling immediate access to all "hooked" IT assets from a single Web site that supports human tasks and machine processes.
• Provides a cost-effective solution for managing, controlling, analyzing, planning and administering transaction-oriented IT business functions such as anti-spyware deployment and maintenance.
• Exploits the best of the latest technology—including patented connection algorithms, patented Virtual System Administration "VSA" methods, MS IIS, SQL Server, TCP/UDP and other technologies.
• Allows companies to utilize technology to maximize staff productivity.
• Provides a "one-touch" approach to process management, reducing processing errors, ensuring compliance with procedures and increasing the flexibility of managing transaction intensive tasks in the IT department.
The result: machine management by policy, reducing staff time while increasing the scalability of the IT organization.
