1. A method for operating a management system having a manager and an agent, comprising: providing encrypted information items from an external unit to the manager, the information items comprising a plurality of triggering information items; interrogating a quantity, which identifies the manager and cannot be modified by the manager, for decryption of the information items before storage of the information items; storing the triggering information items in a memory of the manager; sending an active triggering information item from the manager to the agent, the agent comprising at least one hardware unit in a deactivated state in which the hardware unit cannot be used by the agent; using the active triggering information item to trigger the at least one hardware unit at the agent to change its deactivated state to an activated state in which the hardware unit can be used by the agent; and erasing the active triggering information item from the memory of the manager or marking the active triggering information item in the memory of the manager, wherein each triggering information item is specific to a particular type of hardware unit, but is not specific to a particular agent so that each triggering information item is capable of activating a hardware unit in any one of a plurality of agents having a triggerable hardware unit of the particular type.