Applying operational rules

BCM introduces rules-driven administration capable of dynamically managing client systems and adapting to business change. By applying logical rules to systems management, the administrator creates dynamic scenarios that define how groups of client systems are to be managed today, and how they should automatically adapt to any changes in the future. By applying these rules to groups of end-users, BCM ensures that the users’ computers are automatically provisioned with the right tools at the right time. If an end-user changes responsibilities and is assigned to a different group, the applications necessary for the new role will be provided automatically without any manual administration.

The use of intelligent agents also means that rules created within BCM persist even when a notebook is disconnected from the network, because the agent lives on the device. Moreover, centralized business rules sometimes are not optimal to all systems. The intelligent agents can automatically adapt their behavior and rules to the local system context (network conditions, CPU conditions, etc.).

Operational Rules define which and how an BCM function is to be performed. These rules are made up of a series of commands called "steps" executed by the agent. A step is a Chilli script. The behavior of BCM client agents is fully flexible and configurable. For this the administrator uses a GUI to define tasks to be performed by the client (inventory, file handling, configuration, etc.), provides parameters to these tasks, and distributes the rules.

Managing operational rules include the following topics:

• Getting started with operational rules
• Adding packages to operational rules
• Adding dependencies to operational rules
• Advertising an Operational Rule
• Assigning Targets to Operational Rules
• Leveraging operational rule steps
• Operational Rules Wizards
• Managing peripheral devices
• Examples of Operational Rules
• Available steps for operational rule
• Managing operational rules via web console