Monitoring The Service Level Delivered

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Monitoring The Service Level Delivered

• Simon Stevens
• Director Amdahl Software Division

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Amdahl Software The power behind e-systems
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Everyday Reality ...
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New Architectures, New Challenges
10 Elements 99.85 Availability 130Hr 30Min
Lost / Year 5.5 Full Days Downtime
1 Element 99.85 Availability 13Hr 8Min Lost /
Year
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e-business puts you on the front page
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How do service issues cost you money?
Do you really know?
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Measurement Approaches
Component Based
End-User Based
End-User Based
Component Based
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Measurement Approaches
Component Based
End-User Based
End-User Based
Component Based
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A Matter Of Language
Component Based
End-User Based

• CPU Utilisation
• I/Os per second
• Network Latency
• Paging Ops. / Sec.
• Transaction Turn-Around Time
• Packet Collision Rate
• Bandwidth Utilisation
• TX / Sec.
• Automatic Failover

• Available
• Responsive

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Measurement Approaches Compared

• Component-based Measurement Gives Detailed
  Information For IT Technicians
• End User-based Measurement Gives IT Managers
  Information To Share With Users
• Provide a Foundation for Informed Discussion
• Help Overcome Distrust
• Develop Support For Investment Dialogue
• And
• Can Detect Failures In Unmeasured Components

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Operational Approaches
Continuous
Continuous Operation
Invoked Operation
Invoked
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Operational Approaches
Continuous
Continuous Operation
Invoked Operation
Invoked
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Operational Approaches - The Human Factor

• 1005 The System Is Slow
• 1006 Ill Do Some Paperwork, Maybe Itll Be
  Better Later
• 1050 Its Still Slow
• 1051 Hello, Helpdesk? This System Has Been Slow
  For The Last 45 Minutes!
• OR
• Its Always Slow In The Late Afternoon
• Ill Do Something Else

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Case Study
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Bell Atlantic Service Delivery Issues

• Application Availability Problems
• Erratic and Slow End User Response-times
• Diminished Credibility With End Users
• Increasing End User Dissatisfaction
• Financial Penalties Public Service Commission

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Availability Trends
Top Mission Critical Applications Hours
Unavailable/Incidents
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Availability Trends - Recovery Time
Top Applications Average Minutes Per Outage
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I/T had more time to be Proactive for improving
Response Time from an End User Perspective
Response Time - Top Systems
Actual
1.2
Objective
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
Seconds
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
2-96
4-96
6-96
8-96
2-97
4-97
6-97
8-97
10-96
12-96
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Focus on Tall Trees
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Focus on Tall Trees
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Focus on Tall Trees
What Is Causing This?
?
?
?
?
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EnView The Amdahl Solution
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EnView - example output
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Technical Overviewof response time monitoring
solution
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EnView Data Flow

• Dedicated NT Workstation
• Installed at User Locations
• Simulates Activities of Users at that Location
• Accesses the Same Applications via the Same
  Network
• Reports End-user Response Time, Error Messages or
  Timeout

• Dedicated NT Workstation
• Strategically located (war room, help desk,
  network control, operations, etc.)
• Real-time Status Display
• Red, Yellow, Green

• Dedicated NT Workstation
• Receives/Consolidates Response Time and Error
  Messages from all EnView Robots
• Compares Response Times with Pre-Defined
  Objectives

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Who uses this approach ?
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Some EnView Customers

• Bell Atlantic
• US West
• ATT
• First Union Bank
• Bear Sterns
• Grumann Northrop
• Blue Cross Blue Shield

• Co-operative Bank - SMILE
• Deutsche Telekom
• New York Housing Authority
• SkyChief
• Merrill Lynch
• Marks Spencer plc
• British Airways

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Implementation of EnView at Bell Atlantic

• 25 applications monitored incl. Billing,
  Inventory, Customer Service, Work-Force
  Administration, Facilities Management, Service
  Order Processing, Switch Equipment Configuration
• Over 175 transactions monitored
  (5 to 15 transactions per
  application)
• Several different network protocols
  (VTAM, Telnet, TN3270)
• Hardware installed 90 robots (at 50 locations),
  50 monitors and 4 collectors

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What Do Customers Say About EnView?
EnView allows us to keep in touch with our
end-users. Because of EnView, the end-to-end
availability of our business applications has
been dramatically improved.

• Gerry HigginsVice PresidentBell Atlantic
  Corporation

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What Do Customers Say About EnView?
EnView continuously monitors key application
availability and response, often identifying
performance issues before they impact our
end-users.

• Tom FogartySenior Vice PresidentFirst Union
  Bank

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What does industry say about EnView?
IS organizations seeking to measure and improve
service quality should evaluate EnView.

• Donna ScottVice PresidentGartner Group

EnView checks the response times and warns the
IT manager about any delays. It helps the
manager know which areas of the network need
attention.

• Abigail WarakerIT WeekJune 24, 1998

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Summary
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EnView Characteristics

• Real-time
• End-to-end
• Visible
• Non-intrusive
• Realistic
• Proactive

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EnView Benefits

• Improves End User and Data Centre Productivity
• Allows the Right Resources to Be Quickly Deployed
  in Response to Problems
• Improves MIS Credibility With End Users
• Improves End User Satisfaction
• Points Out Where IT Management Can Get Quick
  Results If They Make Changes
• Determines Impact of Changes
• Provides the Data Needed to Accurately Set and
  Verify Service Level Agreements

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Collateral Benefits

• Displays the Impact of Change
• New Application, Data or Environment,
  Infrastructure, Acquisition, Merger
• Ensures That All Applications Are Available Prior
  to Start of Day or After Disaster Recovery
• Allows for Stress Testing New Applications and
  Disaster Recovery Plans

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Questions?