NetIQ introduced a compelling new IT process automation tool, called Aegis (pronounced e-gis). Unlike BMC and Hewlett-Packard, which went on shopping sprees to gobble up RealOps and Opsware/iConclude, respectively, this summer, NetIQ took the novel approach of developing the software from the ground up over the past 18 months. What's unique about Aegis is was designed to be a vendor-agnostic, or perhaps NetIQ-agnostic, software platform.

Don’t get too excited yet. The greatest development need is for NetIQ to release integrations into more applications. At launch, NetIQ Aegis' architecture only supports NetIQ AppManager. In development are five more adapters for third-party products such as Remedy, HP OpenView, EMC Smarts and other NetIQ technologies. NetIQ plans to release these over the next 1.5 quarters. We can't wait!

Aegis' goal is to models, automate, and measure run books and ITIL-based processes, helping customers improve operational efficiency and reduce people costs. Like competitors HP/Opsware/PAS, BMC/RealOps, Opalis, and others, Aegis delivers process automation by communicating with and controlling existing enterprise, security, and application management tools to take action as part of a defined process. NetIQ needs to hurry to develop those non-NetIQ adapters to really make an impact.

Realizing that many organizations need help in the definition of their processes, Aegis provides the ability to model and build process based on included templates or from a blank canvas where process isn't yet defined. It then automates that process through its integration with existing tool sets. Unique to Aegis is its stated reporting metrics, which guides process improvement over time.

Also interesting is Aegis' correlation engine, which proposes to correlate process issues and report them to IT managers for resolution. With both guided and full-blown automation already in the product, the initial 1.0 release looks very impressive. The GUI is a big step up from all other competitors in this space, answering the call for an easy-to-use product that can be deployed rapidly.