IBM has announced at its Software Symposium in Vienna that is to extend its systems management software to Linux environments.

Linux support will initially be offered on key components of the Tivoli range, according to Tivoli European vice president, Milko van Duijl.

These will be Tivoli Access Manager, Risk Manager and Identity Manager, but the goal is to make the entire range available.

Despite being a firm proponent of Linux, Big Blue has been slow to include support in its Tivoli systems management software.

With firms looking at consolidating administrative workload on larger servers and mainframes "there has been a strong demand for Linux", said van Duijl.

He explained that, by adding Linux support to its systems management software, IBM is enabling companies to provide the same enterprise-class security they would expect from other operating systems.

Sandy Carter, worldwide vice president of marketing at the Tivoli group, maintained that lower administration costs would remain a key focus for IBM.

"With the increasing complexity of IT environments, this can only be achieved through the increased automation of system management," she said.