1. Altiris Workflow - Overview
Duane Newman | Director, Product Management | Symantec
Heath Oderman | Developer, Architect | Transparent Logic

2. Altiris Service-Oriented Management Fabric
Request
security
audit
Tools run
audit
OK?
Key Message: Leveraging shared resources managed within a centralized CMDB, Altiris Service-Oriented Management solutions drive efficiency and reduce costs through integrated lifecycle management, automated operations, and enforceable security.
ALTIRIS SERVICE-ORIENTED MANAGEMENT FABRIC
Leveraging our rich history in IT lifecycle management, Altiris drives automation beyond the IT lifecycle helping companies better align shared resources to delivered services. Each of our solutions are built on the Extensible Management Architecture allowing Altiris to take advantage of unprecedented automation. The Altiris Extensible Management Architecture is based on SOA principles allowing you to seamlessly add solutions as your IT business needs evolve.
Centralized Configuration Management Database (CMDB)
The Altiris Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is at the core of the automated solution stack.  Each solution set leverages the same integrated CMDB data to execute change and remediation activities. Altiris implementation of the CMDB is unique in that it each Altiris Service-Oriented Management solution leverages common data to execute change and remediation activities, while providing direct connections to external sources.
Altiris collects and reconciles configuration item details from multiple repositories to populate the CMDB including Altiris solutions and 3rd party solutions. The CMDB manages configuration item relationships used to drive service mappings, change risk analysis and execution, and helps enforce security by defining and managing security configuration standards. Due to the native integration provided by the Extensible Management Architecture, each Altiris solution is able to leverage the centralized CMDB resulting in higher levels of automation, data accuracy and system reliability.
Modular Implementation
Altiris Service-Oriented Management solutions are modular by design allowing you to implement solutions to meet your current IT needs while helping you build a roadmap to achieve future IT initiatives and business goals.
Remediate
Record, report
and notify
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3. The Need for Workflow Service Desk CMDB Inventory/Asset
Systems Management
Tools
Key Message: Altiris provides a wide range of product capabilities. Individually, each product is strong, but there needs to be a way of breaking through the silos and tying all of products together in order to build powerful and efficient business processes.
In most companies today, the functions of the Asset management repository, CMDB, Service Desk and systems management tools reside in separate repositories on different platforms, with little or no information sharing or interoperability between them.
The result is that is is virtually impossible to automate a process that starts with a request and ends with fulfillment without several manual steps in between…each of which cost time and money.
The Altiris Workflow Solution is designed specifically to break through the silos and provide an organized way to tie it all together.
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4. Speaks Business Process
Align Business and IT
Business Staff
IT Staff
Communication
Barrier
Speaks Business Process
Speaks Bits & Bytes
Tools
Visio
Word
Excel
Etc.
Tools
Code Editor(s)
Database Engines
Web Page Builders
Etc.
Traditionally the business staff must provide the IT staff with very specific requirements. The business staff and IT staff do not share the same tools and often do not speak the same “language.” Communication can easily break down.
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5. Altiris Workflow –Common Tool and Paradigm
Business Staff
IT Staff
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6. Traditional Code/Scripting Language
How is Altiris Workflow different?
Traditional Code/Scripting Language
Altiris Workflow
public class GenomeComparer : IComparer {
public GenomeComparer() }
public int Compare( object x, object y)
if ( !(x is Genome) || !(y is Genome))
throw new ArgumentException("Not of type Genome");
if (((Genome) x).Fitness > ((Genome) y).Fitness)
return 1;
else if (((Genome) x).Fitness == ((Genome) y).Fitness)
return 0;
else
return -1;
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7. Enforce Accountability
Timeouts
Escalations
Delegations
Timeouts
If staff don’t complete work in a specified amount of time, the process can notify management, log that the work was not completed on time, and write the results to a report.
Escalations
If someone is not getting their work done in a timely fashion, you can send automatic escalation reminders as well as alert other users or managers regarding the delay.
Delegations
Sometimes you may need to delegate work to someone else due to various reasons (sickness, vacation, heavy workload, etc.) LogicBase allows you to quickly assign work to another person, group or organization to make sure things get done.
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8. Self-Documenting! Features The picture IS the process.
Fewer questions asking IT how the process works.
The graphical designer makes the process clear and intuitive.
You can simply print the process and hand it to whoever needs to understand it.
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9. Create Forms
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10. Automation & Workflow Highlights
Altiris toolset
Ease of creating workflows
Leverages Task server
Integrates with Altiris solutions
Native Altiris Solutions
OEM
Partner
Third-party
Process management drives the business. Altiris has the tools and the engine to deliver.
Key Message: Altiris provides a platform from which IT can provide an entirely new set of business process to the organization.
Customers have been able to mix and match different Altiris and non-Altiris products to help keep their systems operational. The platform makes managing a large number of computers much easier and allows for the development and roll out of a common set of configurations and user environments.
The Altiris Workflow builds on this platform to help tie in the human decision making aspect to further increase the productivity and efficiency of the organization. IT is not in the business of tinkering with computers. They are in business to provide services that increase the overall operational excellence of an organization. The Workflow Solution makes it easy to change or build new workflow processes in a short amount of time, leverages all of the automation capabilities that already exist such as Task Server, and allows for a wide array of interface mechanisms which allow for the inclusion of both Altiris and non-Altiris products.
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13. Key Message: Altiris Workflow allows you to design functional processes with a Drag and Drop design tool.
The workflow editor is a powerful environment from which the administrator can design and monitor workflows. The components (Icons on the screen) are stored in a library from which the Administrator can select the desired component and pull it on to the screen. Then the components can be linked together by dragging the mouse in between each of the components in the correct logical order. The product ships with over 800 pre built components for a wide range of functions such as accessing a record in a data base or gaining a managers approval for a decision or calling a web service to update a record. Each icon can be modified by right clicking the mouse over the icon. In the case of an approval, a popup screen will be displayed that allows the administrator to identify a specific template to use for the approval or one can be easily created, right on the fly.
In this example, the NS system has just completed an audit of the environment and a policy has identified that a specific computer needs to be upgraded to MS Vista. The Workflow system then determines the minimum hardware requirements needed to support Vista. If the hardware can already support Vista, then the next step is the “Create Incident” step where the workflow system creates a ticket in Helpdesk, where it will be assigned to the appropriate worker and scheduled for an upgrade, likely using Task Server as well as NS and DS to complete the process.
On the other hand, if the hardware fails to pass the Vista requirements, an is generated and sent to the employee about the situation. The employee is asked if they want to upgrade or if they would rather decline for the time being. If they decline the process stops. If they approve the upgrade to vista, then an is sent to the employees manager (see “manager approval icon”) about the request and asks them for approval to spend the money on a hardware upgrade. If the manager approves, then the upgrade hardware is ordered at the “Process Upgrade” icon on the screen and an confirmation is sent back to the employee letting them know that the upgrade has been approved and will take place on the scheduled date.
You will also see that if the manager rejects the hardware upgrade request, an will automatically be generated to the employee about the decision and the entire upgrade process for this piece of equipment will come to an end.
Although this is a very simple example, it gives you an idea about how workflows can be built and modified in this new environment.
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14. Finished Form
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15. How Can I do That? Identify the process you want to automate
Write it down, document the interactions
Design forms to capture information
Design the process in Workflow Solution
Leverage Symantec configuration management execution tools (tasks, reports, collections, Helpdesk etc.)
It’s THAT SIMPLE!
Key Message: Altiris Workflow is a supervisor function that runs above the current solution to coordinate activities across all products.
Imagine using a pen and paper or a MS Visio drawing to design a workflow. The mental steps needed to think about the order of the events, the information that is needed to make the decisions throughout the process and people needed to make approvals or informed of the results are all the same steps that you need to design and implement workflows with this new product. In fact, it really is an interactive flow charging environment where the icons on the flow chart are ‘live’ and they can be updated, modified and extended at any time. As you build the workflow or modify any of the Altiris supplied workflows.
The workflow system includes a forms designer that allows the Administrator to build data input forms in a drag and drop manner that is similar to the way the flow charts are built. The forms can be displayed by the work flow system to capture data from the user during specific steps in the process. No programming or adjusting code within ASP pages are needed.
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16. Business Process Examples
Automation of:
Service requests
Correction of configuration errors
Responses to monitoring alerts
Hardware/Software Requests
Advanced change management process/approvals
Notification of configuration drift
Complete run book automation
Complete Business Process Automation
Key Message: Altiris Workflow can be used within the IT organization to gather end user requests for service, but it can also be extended in to a wide array of business processes that aren’t necessarily tied directly to the IT department.
Some of the first workflows that Altiris will ship with the product will include a Service Catalog and common IT workflows for new employees, equipment requests, transfer employees, move requests and general facilities requests.
Its also possible to build a highly customized change management process that incorporates many of the Altiris products to identify the current configuration of the environment, identify factors that might impact the environment because of the change and also manage the voting and approval processes for the change.
Overtime, Altiris will offer a wide array of predefined workflows that can fall into both Run Book Automation processes as well as Business Processes that can cut across multiple business software applications.
Workflow
Human and machine interaction a.k.a Altiris Workflow
Wikipedia: Workflow is a reliably repeatable pattern of activity enabled by a systematic organization of resources, defined roles and mass, energy and information flows, into a work process that can be documented and learned. Workflows are always designed to achieve processing intents of some sort, such as physical transformation, service provision, or information processing. The current (Aug 2007) use of the term workflow is that of computer programming to capture and develop human to machine interaction. Software such as K2 and Microsoft's Windows Workflow Foundation aim to provide end users with an easier way to orchestrate or describe complex processing of data in a visual form, much like flow charts but without the need to understand computers or programming.
Runbook automation
Machine automation (a.k.a) Altiris Task Server
Wikipedia: Stemming from the world of computer operations, a run book is a written set of standard operating procedures for the operation of the systems or networks by an administrator or operator. Typically, a run book will contain procedures for starting, stopping, and monitoring the systems or networks and; for handling special requests; and for handling problems (exceptions) that may arise. Run Book Automation (RBA) is the ability to define, build, orchestrate, manage and report on workflows that support system and network operational processes. A run book process can cross all management disciplines and interact with all types of infrastructure elements, such as applications, databases and hardware
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17. DEMO
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18. Altiris Solutions Altiris Workflow Designer Altiris Workflow Server
Tool to design the process, forms and interactions
Build integrations
Altiris Workflow Server
Server for the built workflows and process
Altiris Workflow Packs
Out of the box workflows
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19. Contact Information
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact:
Duane Newman
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20. THANK YOU
Altiris and ManageFusion are registered trademarks of Altiris, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries. The other company names or products mentioned are or may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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