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BMC Software Inc became the latest high-end vendor to put its software online, with the launch today of a unit that will deliver its systems management solutions to service providers on a subscription basis.

Service providers will now have the option of either purchasing products to install on their own servers, or of subscribing to the online services from BMC's new Service Provider Solutions (SPS) business unit. The new services are targetted primarily at management service providers (MSPs) and value added resellers (VARs) serving medium-sized and small businesses.

"The outsourcing trend has really exploded in the last year due to a scarcity of IT resources," said Mary Nugent, VP and general manager of the SPS unit. "By delivering our solutions on a subscription basis, we can level the playing field to give small and medium businesses the same advantages that a large corporation has — by providing them industry-leading systems management with a rapid time to value and lower risk."

BMC also announced a new product for monitoring and managing service levels. Called Patrol for Service Level Management (SLM), the product lets providers set criteria according to availability and performance objectives for individual business processes, while allowing for variations according to the time of day and type of user.

The first three partners announced today by BMC for the SPS-delivered solutions represent a broad spread of provider types. 2ndWave is a mainstream MSP serving the mid-sized and small business market; dbaDirect specialises in remote database management; and SkyDesk is a leading online backup and storage provider.

The decision to offer the solutions as online services was a response to partner demand, SPS product marketing manager Mark Levy told ASPnews today. "Several service providers have come to us and said they need our help in building this kind of support," he said.

Four SPS services have been introduced today. They range from simple monitoring of the quality of website service being delivered to end users, up to full service level management of an e-business site, taking advantage of the capabilities of Patrol for SLM.

Providers who supply the higher service types will be eligible for certification under BMC's OnSite scheme. BMC said that its remote monitoring and management of the services in real time will allow it to guarantee consistent quality of service from its service partners. Its new programmes also include extensive training to bring providers and resellers up to speed with the offering.