This document discusses eight key challenges to effective infrastructure management: 1) detecting and handling incidents and problems, 2) handling changes with minimal impact on availability, 3) preventing security problems, 4) using emerging technologies effectively, 5) maintaining software and firmware, 6) having indicators of status and trends, 7) having the right tools, and 8) deploying infrastructure rapidly. It provides tactics to address each challenge, with the goals of improving efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing business value through better infrastructure management. Outsourcing and managed services are presented as strategic options.
PowerVM is IBM's virtualization technology for its Power Systems servers. It allows consolidating multiple workloads onto a single physical server through logical partitioning. A comparison of PowerVM and x86 virtualization shows that PowerVM achieves higher performance and resource utilization. Industry-standard benchmarks like TPC-C and SAP SD 2-tier show PowerVM maintaining or exceeding native performance levels, while x86 systems see performance decreases with virtualization. PowerVM's tight integration with the Power hardware and firmware delivers benefits like stronger isolation, scalability, and availability compared to software-based x86 virtualization.
This document discusses eight key challenges to effective infrastructure management: 1) detecting and handling incidents and problems, 2) handling changes with minimal impact on availability, 3) preventing security problems, 4) using emerging technologies effectively, 5) maintaining software and firmware, 6) having indicators of status and trends, 7) having the right tools, and 8) deploying infrastructure rapidly. It provides tactics to address each challenge, with the goals of improving efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing business value through better infrastructure management. Outsourcing and managed services are presented as strategic options.
Here are some suggestions to help maintain service levels with limited resources:
- Automate routine tasks to reduce manual effort and errors. Tools like IBM Systems Director can automate tasks like patching, backups, etc.
- Optimize resource utilization through virtualization. Consolidate workloads to use servers more efficiently and reduce hardware costs.
- Monitor systems health and performance proactively. Tools like Systems Director provide a single view of infrastructure status.
- Rapidly provision new capacity when needed. Pre-configured templates and automated deployment in Systems Director speeds up scaling.
- Establish clear service level agreements and monitor them closely. Prioritize critical services and resources to focus on maintaining uptime.
- Maintain
Executive summary outlining the benefits of ARMnet Financial Product Management Solution for origination and servicing in the lending, mortgage and wealth management space.
This document compares IBM PureSystems and Cisco UCS integrated systems. It summarizes that IBM PureSystems are pre-integrated with servers, storage, networking and software. Cisco UCS only manages Cisco components. The document finds that IBM PureSystems offer more integration, flexibility and out-of-the-box capabilities for private clouds compared to Cisco UCS.
1) The document describes IBM's Enterprise virtual machine infrastructure on the IBM Cloud, which provides virtual server instances that customers can use to help reduce costs, increase business agility, and improve security.
2) It allows customers to quickly provision virtual servers on demand and only pay for resources when needed, helping reduce capital and operational expenses compared to owning physical infrastructure.
3) Customers can choose from various operating system and software images and have tools to automate server provisioning, helping speed application development and deployment cycles.
The IBM PureFlex System is an expert integrated infrastructure system that combines compute, storage, networking, virtualization and management capabilities. It is designed to simplify IT management, optimize resource utilization through built-in expertise, and provide agility to quickly adapt to changing business needs. A PureFlex System ships with preconfigured yet open computing blocks and uses patterns of expertise to automate tasks and optimize workloads. This enables organizations to consolidate infrastructure, reduce costs, and focus on innovation rather than operations.
Expert integrated systems are more than a static stack of well tuned
components—a server, some storage, networking and
database software, serving a fixed application at the top. Instead,
these systems are based on “patterns of expertise” which can
dramatically improve the responsiveness of the business.
PowerVM is IBM's virtualization technology for its Power Systems servers. It allows consolidating multiple workloads onto a single physical server through logical partitioning. A comparison of PowerVM and x86 virtualization shows that PowerVM achieves higher performance and resource utilization. Industry-standard benchmarks like TPC-C and SAP SD 2-tier show PowerVM maintaining or exceeding native performance levels, while x86 systems see performance decreases with virtualization. PowerVM's tight integration with the Power hardware and firmware delivers benefits like stronger isolation, scalability, and availability compared to software-based x86 virtualization.
This document discusses eight key challenges to effective infrastructure management: 1) detecting and handling incidents and problems, 2) handling changes with minimal impact on availability, 3) preventing security problems, 4) using emerging technologies effectively, 5) maintaining software and firmware, 6) having indicators of status and trends, 7) having the right tools, and 8) deploying infrastructure rapidly. It provides tactics to address each challenge, with the goals of improving efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing business value through better infrastructure management. Outsourcing and managed services are presented as strategic options.
Here are some suggestions to help maintain service levels with limited resources:
- Automate routine tasks to reduce manual effort and errors. Tools like IBM Systems Director can automate tasks like patching, backups, etc.
- Optimize resource utilization through virtualization. Consolidate workloads to use servers more efficiently and reduce hardware costs.
- Monitor systems health and performance proactively. Tools like Systems Director provide a single view of infrastructure status.
- Rapidly provision new capacity when needed. Pre-configured templates and automated deployment in Systems Director speeds up scaling.
- Establish clear service level agreements and monitor them closely. Prioritize critical services and resources to focus on maintaining uptime.
- Maintain
Executive summary outlining the benefits of ARMnet Financial Product Management Solution for origination and servicing in the lending, mortgage and wealth management space.
This document compares IBM PureSystems and Cisco UCS integrated systems. It summarizes that IBM PureSystems are pre-integrated with servers, storage, networking and software. Cisco UCS only manages Cisco components. The document finds that IBM PureSystems offer more integration, flexibility and out-of-the-box capabilities for private clouds compared to Cisco UCS.
1) The document describes IBM's Enterprise virtual machine infrastructure on the IBM Cloud, which provides virtual server instances that customers can use to help reduce costs, increase business agility, and improve security.
2) It allows customers to quickly provision virtual servers on demand and only pay for resources when needed, helping reduce capital and operational expenses compared to owning physical infrastructure.
3) Customers can choose from various operating system and software images and have tools to automate server provisioning, helping speed application development and deployment cycles.
The IBM PureFlex System is an expert integrated infrastructure system that combines compute, storage, networking, virtualization and management capabilities. It is designed to simplify IT management, optimize resource utilization through built-in expertise, and provide agility to quickly adapt to changing business needs. A PureFlex System ships with preconfigured yet open computing blocks and uses patterns of expertise to automate tasks and optimize workloads. This enables organizations to consolidate infrastructure, reduce costs, and focus on innovation rather than operations.
Expert integrated systems are more than a static stack of well tuned
components—a server, some storage, networking and
database software, serving a fixed application at the top. Instead,
these systems are based on “patterns of expertise” which can
dramatically improve the responsiveness of the business.
Organizations are looking to cloud computing solutions to improve the flexibility of their IT. But in today’s marketplace you still need to control operating expense, improve performance and maintain reliability. You need a cloud infrastructure solution that can help you manage costs and risk.
As information technology evolves, your data center faces a range of pressures from growing complexity. Energy usage and costs are rising; keeping your systems reliable is becoming more difficult; managing the whole system is time-consuming and expensive. You need your IT environment to be simple to manage, responsive to changing needs and cost effective.
"Enterprise applications support the daily operations of a business, which means that
they are vital to its ability to generate revenue and profit growth — and to account for
it. Whether those applications support a supply chain, general accounting, personnel
management, or customer relationship management, they must be available to end
users and must be accessible enough to create ""snapshots"" of the business on a
daily, hourly, or, in some cases, near-real-time basis."
1) IBM offers remote managed infrastructure services to help efficiently and cost-effectively monitor and manage server environments through automation and a global delivery model.
2) The services are offered flexibly in modular packages at different service levels to select the needed capabilities from monitoring to full management.
3) Leveraging IBM's global resources network allows combining local service with lower costs through process automation and a large pool of global resources.
Recent economic conditions have changed the way that business operates. To adapt demands innovative ideas and solutions. At the same time, the world is becoming smarter—more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent. Businesses have to manage increasingly large data pools and a customer base with higher expectations, without spending more on IT...
IBM SmartCloud™ Entry is a robust cloud software offering that takes your virtualized environment from cloud-ready to cloud. Users can request and provision an environment quickly through an easy-to-use web-based interface. IT managers can monitor and manage this environment for improved efficiency and utilization of the data center.
IBM zEnterprise System and IBM zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager deliver the gold standard of enterprise computing and extends mainframe-like governance and qualities of service to special purpose workload optimizers and general purpose IBM POWER7 and System x Application Server Blades
Learn about IBM PureFlex System: The Future of Data center Management.The ‘Expert Integrated System’ delivers a combination of hardware, software and built-in expertise that makes implementing and applying the power of computing simpler, easier, faster and more effective than ever before.For more information, visit http://ibm.co/J7Zb1v.
This document summarizes the findings of an IDC study on large enterprises that deployed IBM Power Systems servers to consolidate workloads. The study found that these organizations achieved significant cost savings and efficiency gains through consolidation. Key results included reducing system downtime by 60-94%, lowering IT staff maintenance time by up to 50%, and saving over $235,000 annually per 1,000 users on average. Consolidating workloads onto these highly virtualized servers also reduced power and cooling costs substantially. The document concludes that these benefits will be amplified by new Power7-based servers that provide faster performance and greater energy efficiency.
The document summarizes the IBM zEnterprise EC12 (zEC12) mainframe system. It has up to 50% more capacity than previous models and features new 5.5GHz processors. It can manage workloads across multiple platforms through its hybrid computing design. The zEC12 supports large-scale consolidation and growth through unprecedented performance and scale. It utilizes specialty engines like zIIPs and zAAPs to optimize workloads and lower costs. The zEC12 is designed to handle data-intensive workloads and analytics through solutions like DB2 and the IBM Smart Analytics System.
Data Center Operational Efficiency RoundtableHerb Hernandez
Presentation from April 19 webinar: Data Center Operational Efficiency Best Practices Video Roundtable. Featuring speakers from IBM, IDC and The NFL. http://bit.ly/LjNaHL
Organizations that deployed VMware View as their centralized virtual desktop platform saved on average over $610 per supported end user per year compared to organizations using unmanaged PCs. Savings came from lower device and IT staff support costs as well as improved productivity from reduced downtime. Organizations that leveraged VMware View Premier capabilities like ThinApp and View Composer saved an additional $122 per user annually. However, to maximize value, organizations must be aware of limitations like performance, mobile access, and datacenter capacity requirements.
IBM unveils the new zEnterprise system, the most powerful and energy efficient mainframe ever. It extends mainframe qualities like governance and manageability to select Power and System x servers. This allows workloads on mainframe, Power, and System x servers to share resources and be managed as a single system. It can drive lower costs and reduce complexity for customers managing diverse technologies in their data centers.
The document provides information on PureShare SingleView IT, an operational metrics solution that consolidates and monitors IT service management metrics. It allows users to automate data collection, visualize current performance status, and monitor key metrics with an early warning system. The solution presents operational metrics in one centralized view, enables proactive management through trend analysis, and automates reports and key performance indicators.
Konsolider, optimer og automatiser dit servermiljø med IBM PureApplications S...IBM Danmark
The document discusses IBM's new PureSystems family of expert integrated systems. It introduces the first two members, the Infrastructure System which optimizes infrastructure resources, and the Platform System which optimally deploys and runs applications. It outlines benefits like reduced costs, improved business velocity, and better user experience. A case study shows a European financial institution projected $1.7M savings over 3 years from labor reduction using PureSystems in their test/dev environment. The PureApplication System provides a simple, efficient and flexible virtualized application platform built for the cloud.
Whitepaper Server Virtualisation And Storage ManagementAlan McSweeney
This document discusses how optimizing storage management can provide greater benefits from server virtualization. It describes how implementing server virtualization using technologies like VMware can improve server utilization, provisioning times, resilience, and costs. However, additional planning and investment in storage is needed to fully realize benefits like faster backup and recovery, application protection, and business continuity. Features of the IBM N Series storage system like FlexVol, FlexClone, snapshots, SnapMirror, and RAID Double Parity make it well-suited for virtualized server environments by providing high performance, instant backups, thin provisioning, disaster recovery, flexibility and efficient virtual machine cloning.
Ctrls delineates how organizations are moving towards Virtualization and Cloud Computing to optimize their IT Infrastructure needs. Benefits such as cost effectiveness, scalability on demand, moving from a CAPEX to OPEX model and increased returns on investments have made virtualization a lucrative datacenter option.
This document discusses optimizing IT infrastructure through consolidation and virtualization. It provides three key points:
1) An integrated system of multiple architectures can optimize workload deployment and reduce operational overhead through centralized management and administration. This can lower costs by up to 80% for areas like power, facilities, labor, and software licenses.
2) The zEnterprise platform lowers acquisition costs by up to 56% and reduces ownership costs by up to 55% by helping to simplify the data center and establish an efficient foundation.
3) Virtualization technologies like z/VM allow workloads to efficiently utilize system resources and improve productivity by dynamically allocating CPUs, memory, and other hardware as needed.
The document discusses IBM's XIV storage system as a solution for tier 1 enterprise applications. It provides an overview of the challenges facing tier 1 storage, including supporting mixed virtualized workloads, high performance I/O, simplicity, scalability, and evolving to private cloud. The IBM XIV is designed to address these challenges through its architecture, performance, ease of use, scalability, and data efficiency. Case studies show how large financial, wholesale, and consumer firms have deployed the XIV successfully for mission critical applications. The future outlook is that IBM is well positioned but will face challenges from competitors improving their scale-out block storage solutions.
This document discusses the value of integrating availability and performance management (A&PM) tools with service desk tools. The integration promises to increase IT operations efficiencies by reducing downtime, improving service quality and support. Few organizations have successfully automated the integration due to lack of planning, expectations and process maturity. With the right integration approach and tools, organizations can reduce manual intervention, improve response times and gain better visibility into the fault resolution process.
This document provides an overview of a fastrack distribution management system (DMS) pilot implementation approach for utilities. The approach involves four phases: Build, where a subset of the utility's network is modeled; Learn, where the model is evaluated; Plan, where future goals and strategies are identified; and Execute, where the DMS software is deployed. The pilot helps utilities demonstrate DMS benefits, better understand their data needs, and build support for further smart grid projects.
- The document proposes a new paradigm called Optumis Concerto for integrated IT systems management.
- Current IT systems management tools are siloed and fail to deliver promised value due to lack of integration between tools.
- Optumis Concerto applies techniques like abstraction and declarative frameworks to provide a coherent, integrated approach for managing complex IT infrastructure and applications.
- By abstracting management data and using a common framework, Optumis Concerto aims to improve coordination between management functions and tools.
Organizations are looking to cloud computing solutions to improve the flexibility of their IT. But in today’s marketplace you still need to control operating expense, improve performance and maintain reliability. You need a cloud infrastructure solution that can help you manage costs and risk.
As information technology evolves, your data center faces a range of pressures from growing complexity. Energy usage and costs are rising; keeping your systems reliable is becoming more difficult; managing the whole system is time-consuming and expensive. You need your IT environment to be simple to manage, responsive to changing needs and cost effective.
"Enterprise applications support the daily operations of a business, which means that
they are vital to its ability to generate revenue and profit growth — and to account for
it. Whether those applications support a supply chain, general accounting, personnel
management, or customer relationship management, they must be available to end
users and must be accessible enough to create ""snapshots"" of the business on a
daily, hourly, or, in some cases, near-real-time basis."
1) IBM offers remote managed infrastructure services to help efficiently and cost-effectively monitor and manage server environments through automation and a global delivery model.
2) The services are offered flexibly in modular packages at different service levels to select the needed capabilities from monitoring to full management.
3) Leveraging IBM's global resources network allows combining local service with lower costs through process automation and a large pool of global resources.
Recent economic conditions have changed the way that business operates. To adapt demands innovative ideas and solutions. At the same time, the world is becoming smarter—more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent. Businesses have to manage increasingly large data pools and a customer base with higher expectations, without spending more on IT...
IBM SmartCloud™ Entry is a robust cloud software offering that takes your virtualized environment from cloud-ready to cloud. Users can request and provision an environment quickly through an easy-to-use web-based interface. IT managers can monitor and manage this environment for improved efficiency and utilization of the data center.
IBM zEnterprise System and IBM zEnterprise Unified Resource Manager deliver the gold standard of enterprise computing and extends mainframe-like governance and qualities of service to special purpose workload optimizers and general purpose IBM POWER7 and System x Application Server Blades
Learn about IBM PureFlex System: The Future of Data center Management.The ‘Expert Integrated System’ delivers a combination of hardware, software and built-in expertise that makes implementing and applying the power of computing simpler, easier, faster and more effective than ever before.For more information, visit http://ibm.co/J7Zb1v.
This document summarizes the findings of an IDC study on large enterprises that deployed IBM Power Systems servers to consolidate workloads. The study found that these organizations achieved significant cost savings and efficiency gains through consolidation. Key results included reducing system downtime by 60-94%, lowering IT staff maintenance time by up to 50%, and saving over $235,000 annually per 1,000 users on average. Consolidating workloads onto these highly virtualized servers also reduced power and cooling costs substantially. The document concludes that these benefits will be amplified by new Power7-based servers that provide faster performance and greater energy efficiency.
The document summarizes the IBM zEnterprise EC12 (zEC12) mainframe system. It has up to 50% more capacity than previous models and features new 5.5GHz processors. It can manage workloads across multiple platforms through its hybrid computing design. The zEC12 supports large-scale consolidation and growth through unprecedented performance and scale. It utilizes specialty engines like zIIPs and zAAPs to optimize workloads and lower costs. The zEC12 is designed to handle data-intensive workloads and analytics through solutions like DB2 and the IBM Smart Analytics System.
Data Center Operational Efficiency RoundtableHerb Hernandez
Presentation from April 19 webinar: Data Center Operational Efficiency Best Practices Video Roundtable. Featuring speakers from IBM, IDC and The NFL. http://bit.ly/LjNaHL
Organizations that deployed VMware View as their centralized virtual desktop platform saved on average over $610 per supported end user per year compared to organizations using unmanaged PCs. Savings came from lower device and IT staff support costs as well as improved productivity from reduced downtime. Organizations that leveraged VMware View Premier capabilities like ThinApp and View Composer saved an additional $122 per user annually. However, to maximize value, organizations must be aware of limitations like performance, mobile access, and datacenter capacity requirements.
IBM unveils the new zEnterprise system, the most powerful and energy efficient mainframe ever. It extends mainframe qualities like governance and manageability to select Power and System x servers. This allows workloads on mainframe, Power, and System x servers to share resources and be managed as a single system. It can drive lower costs and reduce complexity for customers managing diverse technologies in their data centers.
The document provides information on PureShare SingleView IT, an operational metrics solution that consolidates and monitors IT service management metrics. It allows users to automate data collection, visualize current performance status, and monitor key metrics with an early warning system. The solution presents operational metrics in one centralized view, enables proactive management through trend analysis, and automates reports and key performance indicators.
Konsolider, optimer og automatiser dit servermiljø med IBM PureApplications S...IBM Danmark
The document discusses IBM's new PureSystems family of expert integrated systems. It introduces the first two members, the Infrastructure System which optimizes infrastructure resources, and the Platform System which optimally deploys and runs applications. It outlines benefits like reduced costs, improved business velocity, and better user experience. A case study shows a European financial institution projected $1.7M savings over 3 years from labor reduction using PureSystems in their test/dev environment. The PureApplication System provides a simple, efficient and flexible virtualized application platform built for the cloud.
Whitepaper Server Virtualisation And Storage ManagementAlan McSweeney
This document discusses how optimizing storage management can provide greater benefits from server virtualization. It describes how implementing server virtualization using technologies like VMware can improve server utilization, provisioning times, resilience, and costs. However, additional planning and investment in storage is needed to fully realize benefits like faster backup and recovery, application protection, and business continuity. Features of the IBM N Series storage system like FlexVol, FlexClone, snapshots, SnapMirror, and RAID Double Parity make it well-suited for virtualized server environments by providing high performance, instant backups, thin provisioning, disaster recovery, flexibility and efficient virtual machine cloning.
Ctrls delineates how organizations are moving towards Virtualization and Cloud Computing to optimize their IT Infrastructure needs. Benefits such as cost effectiveness, scalability on demand, moving from a CAPEX to OPEX model and increased returns on investments have made virtualization a lucrative datacenter option.
This document discusses optimizing IT infrastructure through consolidation and virtualization. It provides three key points:
1) An integrated system of multiple architectures can optimize workload deployment and reduce operational overhead through centralized management and administration. This can lower costs by up to 80% for areas like power, facilities, labor, and software licenses.
2) The zEnterprise platform lowers acquisition costs by up to 56% and reduces ownership costs by up to 55% by helping to simplify the data center and establish an efficient foundation.
3) Virtualization technologies like z/VM allow workloads to efficiently utilize system resources and improve productivity by dynamically allocating CPUs, memory, and other hardware as needed.
The document discusses IBM's XIV storage system as a solution for tier 1 enterprise applications. It provides an overview of the challenges facing tier 1 storage, including supporting mixed virtualized workloads, high performance I/O, simplicity, scalability, and evolving to private cloud. The IBM XIV is designed to address these challenges through its architecture, performance, ease of use, scalability, and data efficiency. Case studies show how large financial, wholesale, and consumer firms have deployed the XIV successfully for mission critical applications. The future outlook is that IBM is well positioned but will face challenges from competitors improving their scale-out block storage solutions.
This document discusses the value of integrating availability and performance management (A&PM) tools with service desk tools. The integration promises to increase IT operations efficiencies by reducing downtime, improving service quality and support. Few organizations have successfully automated the integration due to lack of planning, expectations and process maturity. With the right integration approach and tools, organizations can reduce manual intervention, improve response times and gain better visibility into the fault resolution process.
This document provides an overview of a fastrack distribution management system (DMS) pilot implementation approach for utilities. The approach involves four phases: Build, where a subset of the utility's network is modeled; Learn, where the model is evaluated; Plan, where future goals and strategies are identified; and Execute, where the DMS software is deployed. The pilot helps utilities demonstrate DMS benefits, better understand their data needs, and build support for further smart grid projects.
- The document proposes a new paradigm called Optumis Concerto for integrated IT systems management.
- Current IT systems management tools are siloed and fail to deliver promised value due to lack of integration between tools.
- Optumis Concerto applies techniques like abstraction and declarative frameworks to provide a coherent, integrated approach for managing complex IT infrastructure and applications.
- By abstracting management data and using a common framework, Optumis Concerto aims to improve coordination between management functions and tools.
This document discusses implementing successful IT service management (ITSM) systems. It begins with basic definitions of ITSM, ITIL, and ISO 20000. It then covers the ITSM hierarchy and various ITSM certifications for organizations and professionals. The document outlines the implementation process in three phases and emphasizes focusing on people, processes, and technology. It provides an overview of various ITSM tools and technologies and concludes with factors that can lead to ITSM resistance and tips for successful change management when implementing ITSM.
The document discusses Dell's converged infrastructure solutions and strategy. It highlights key benefits such as improved efficiency, agility, and simplified management through convergence. Dell aims to deliver convergence on the customer's terms by supporting both holistic and siloed approaches. The company also discussed its converged blade data center solution, vStart pre-configured solutions, and plans to release a new converged infrastructure manager called Skyhawk to further automate infrastructure configuration and management.
1) The document discusses IBM's PureSystems family of expert integrated systems, which are designed to simplify IT infrastructure and applications through built-in expertise and integration.
2) Key PureSystems products introduced are the PureFlex System for integrated flexible infrastructure and the PureApplication System for a simplified application platform.
3) These systems are said to accelerate time to value through faster setup, deployment and management of virtual machines, applications and infrastructure compared to general purpose components.
This document discusses defining a blueprint for a smarter data center through flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and active monitoring and management. It outlines four ways to achieve this: 1) extending the life of existing infrastructure, 2) rationalizing infrastructure across the company through consolidation, 3) implementing flexible modular design, and 4) providing integrated IT and data center operations management. Analytics-based services can help assess infrastructure needs, model outcomes, automate processes, and manage operations to unlock greater value from data center investments. Case studies demonstrate benefits like reduced costs, deferred capital expenditures, and improved efficiency.
The risk management plan identifies 11 key risks for the organization across 4 areas:
1) Risk identification
2) Risk probability
3) Risk impact
4) Mitigation and corrective actions
The risks include distributed systems being open to attack, lack of proper data backup facilities, no disaster recovery plan, non-standard software licensing, each company procuring own IT equipment, no asset management system, different data storage practices, varying levels of IT training, all employees having access to customer data, infrastructure breakdowns taking long to resolve. [END SUMMARY]
This document discusses the growing adoption of cloud computing from different perspectives. It notes that Gartner research predicts 20% of businesses will eliminate all their own IT assets by moving fully to the cloud by 2012. It also discusses how application developers, IT administrators and operators, and business advocates view and are influencing the cloud. Finally, it introduces VMware's vCloud initiatives to provide cloud solutions that can be deployed privately or publicly and integrate internal and external clouds.
Tideway Foundation is an automated application dependency mapping solution that provides a complete topology and single source of truth about business applications, infrastructure, and dependencies. It uses agent-free discovery and pattern matching to map relationships between all levels of the IT environment from individual components to complex applications. Regular knowledge updates ensure it can recognize new technologies.
Virtualization Management With Quest V FoglightChris Roberts
Whether the need is for Physical, Virtual or Cloud solutions your IT infrastructure is changing to support the needs of the business – and you’ve got to squeeze every drop of value from your investments. When it comes to delivering efficiency and optimizing computing capacity, no IT management software company does that better than Quest. Our integrated portfolio of solutions simplifies the management of your physical, virtual and cloud infrastructures to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
This document discusses Unisys' mobility solutions and services. It outlines the challenges of enterprise mobility including IT planning, management, and demonstrating business value. Unisys' approach includes helping clients manage personal devices used by employees and integrating them securely into business processes. The company offers comprehensive mobility solutions tailored to each client's needs, with global reach and advisory, transformation, and managed services.
Cross Docking IT is a three-stage framework with five phases that helps align IT applications with business functions. It covers the entire spectrum of an organization's IT systems. The framework includes: [1] Discover - mapping existing business processes, applications, and infrastructure; [2] Rationalize - suggesting options to reduce costs and create a unified environment; [3] Build - transforming processes and architecture to align with business goals. This framework enhances efficiency, visibility, stability, and reduces costs.
This document discusses the evolving nature of application and service management in cloud and shared IT infrastructures. It outlines how IT is transforming to shared infrastructure models and the need to intelligently manage this transformation through visibility, control, and automation. Specifically, it discusses how IBM provides:
1. Infrastructure monitoring across compute, storage, network resources to track cloud service levels and optimize workloads.
2. Event management to proactively identify and resolve issues impacting applications and end users.
3. Application performance management to ensure strong user experiences across hybrid environments.
The document argues this approach helps customers attain the economic and service benefits of cloud while addressing challenges around availability, composition, performance, utilization and capacity in dynamic
This white paper discusses building the next-generation data center through virtualization maturity. It outlines a 4-stage model of virtualization maturity: server consolidation, infrastructure optimization, automation and orchestration, and dynamic data center. For each stage, it discusses the challenges and provides a sample implementation plan. The target audience is IT directors and infrastructure leaders looking to advance their organizations along the virtualization maturity lifecycle with guidance on overcoming roadblocks at each stage through the right combination of people, processes, and technologies.
Ar Accelerating Converged Infrastructure With FlexpodMichael Hudak
IDC investigates the transformation of IT delivery in the datacenter and the emerging role of pretested solutions that focus on unified, shared infrastructure. The paper focuses on the advent of converged infrastructure solutions that simplify the deployment and management of virtualized environments spanning server, storage, and networking components. The paper then takes a closer look at the FlexPod datacenter solution offered by NetApp and Cisco, with a focus on the VMware vSphere design configuration. IDC examines the importance of professional services to delivering the solution and the key role of a collaborative support model aimed at streamlining the support process for customers and channel partners.
Rethink IT. Reinvent Business. - Dharanibalan GurunathanJyothi Satyanathan
The document is an agenda for an IBM event taking place from November 22-24, 2012 in Jaipur, India. It discusses increasing pressures on businesses to deliver value with limited resources, and how forward-thinking CIOs are forging strategic partnerships to help IT deliver true business value. The event will focus on how IBM can help organizations improve employee mobility, manage data and infrastructure, ensure business continuity, and leverage the right mix of traditional IT, managed services, and cloud solutions.
18 ottobre 2011 VMware presenta al Virtualization day,evento patrocinato dalla Provincia di Roma e organizzato da S&Q a Palazzo Valentini, l'ultimo software,denominato Vsphere 5.
This IBM Redpaper provides a brief overview of OpenStack and a basic familiarity of its usage with the IBM XIV Storage System Gen3. The illustration scenario that is presented uses the OpenStack Folsom release implementation IaaS with Ubuntu Linux servers and the IBM Storage Driver for OpenStack. For more information on IBM Storage Systems, visit http://ibm.co/LIg7gk.
Visit http://bit.ly/KWh5Dx to 'Follow' the official Twitter handle of IBM India Smarter Computing.
Learn how all flash needs end to end Storage efficiency. For more information on IBM FlashSystem, visit http://ibm.co/10KodHl.
Visit http://bit.ly/KWh5Dx to 'Follow' the official Twitter handle of IBM India Smarter Computing.
Learn about vSphere Storage API for Array Integration on the IBM Storwize family. IBM Storwize V7000 Unified combines the block storage capabilities of Storwize V7000 with file storage capabilities into a single system for greater ease of management and efficiency. For more information on IBM Storage Systems, visit http://ibm.co/LIg7gk.
Visit http://bit.ly/KWh5Dx to 'Follow' the official Twitter handle of IBM India Smarter Computing.
Learn about IBM FlashSystem 840 and its complete product specification in this Redbook. FlashSystem 840 provides scalable performance for the most demanding enterprise class applications. IBM FlashSystem 840 accelerates response times with IBM MicroLatency to enable faster decision making. For more information on IBM FlashSystem, visit http://ibm.co/10KodHl.
Visit http://on.fb.me/LT4gdu to 'Like' the official Facebook page of IBM India Smarter Computing.
Learn about the IBM System x3250 M5,.The x3250 M5 offers the following energy-efficiency features to save energy, reduce operational costs, increase energy availability, and contribute to a green environment, energy-efficient planar components help lower operational costs. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210746104/IBM-System-x3250-M5
This Redbook talks about the product specification of IBM NeXtScale nx360 M4. The NeXtScale nx360 M4 server provides a dense, flexible solution with a low total cost of ownership (TCO). The half-wide, dual-socket NeXtScale nx360 M4 server is designed for data centers that require high performance but are constrained by floor space. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210745680/IBM-NeXtScale-nx360-M4
The IBM System x3650 M4 HD is a (1) 2-socket 2U rack-optimized server that supports up to 32 internal drives and features an innovative design for optimal performance, uptime, and dense storage. It offers (2) excellent reliability, availability, and serviceability for improved business environments. The server is (3) designed for easy deployment, integration, service, and management.
Here are the product specification for IBM System x3300 M4. This product can be managed remotely.The x3300 M4 server contains IBM IMM2, which provides advanced service-processor control, monitoring, and an alerting function. The IMM2 lights LEDs to help you diagnose the problem, records the error in the event log, and alerts you to the problem. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
Visit http://on.fb.me/LT4gdu to 'Like' the official Facebook page of IBM India Smarter Computing.
Learn about IBM System x iDataPlex dx360 M4. IBM System x iDataPlex is an innovative data center solution that maximizes performance and optimizes energy and space efficiency. The iDataPlex solution provides customers with outstanding energy and cooling efficiency, multi-rack level manageability, complete flexibility in configuration, and minimal deployment effort. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210744055/IBM-System-x-iDataPlex-dx360-M4
The IBM System x3500 M4 server provides powerful and scalable performance for business applications in an energy efficient tower or rack design. It features the latest Intel Xeon E5-2600 v2 or E5-2600 processors with up to 24 cores, 768GB RAM, 32 hard drives, and 8 PCIe slots. Comprehensive systems management tools and redundant components help ensure high availability, while its small footprint and 80 Plus Platinum power supplies reduce data center costs.
Learn about system specification for IBM System x3550 M4. The x3550 M4 offers numerous features to boost performance, improve scalability, and reduce costs. Improves productivity by offering superior system performance with up to 12-core processors, up to 30 MB of L3 cache, and up to two 8 GT/s QPI interconnect links. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
Learn about IBM System x3650 M4. The x3650 M4 is an outstanding 2U two-socket business-critical server, offering improved performance and pay-as-you grow flexibility along with new features that improve server management capability. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210741926/IBM-System-x3650-M4
Learn about the product specification of IBM System x3500 M3. System x3500 M3 has an energy-efficient design which works in conjunction with the IMM to govern fan rotation based on the readings that it delivers. This saves money under normal conditions because the fans do not have to spin at high speed. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210741626/IBM-System-x3500-M3
Learn about IBM System x3400 M3. The x3400 M3 offers numerous features to boost performance and reduce costs, x3400 M3 has the ability to grow with your application requirements with these features. Powerful systems management features simplify local and remote management of the x3400 M3. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
Visit http://on.fb.me/LT4gdu to 'Like' the official Facebook page of IBM India Smarter Computing.
Learn about IBM System 3250 M3 which is a single-socket server that offers new levels of performance and flexibility
to help you respond quickly to changing business demands. Cost-effective and compact, it is well suited to small to mid-sized businesses, as well as large enterprises. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210740347/IBM-System-x3250-M3
Learn about IBM System x3200 M3 and its specifications. The System x3200 M3 features easy installation and management with a rich set of options for hard disk drives and memory. The efficient design helps to save energy and provide a better work environment with less heat and noise. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210739508/IBM-System-x3200-M3
Learn about the configuration of IBM PowerVC. IBM PowerVC is built on OpenStack that controls large pools of server, storage, and networking resources throughout a data center. IBM Power Virtualization Center provides security services that support a secure environment. Installation requires just 20 minutes to get a virtual machine up and running. For more information on Power Systems, visit http://ibm.co/Lx6hfc.
Visit http://on.fb.me/LT4gdu to 'Like' the official Facebook page of IBM India Smarter Computing.
Learn about Ibm POWER7 Virtualization Performance. PowerVM Lx86 is a cross-platform virtualization solution that enables the running of a wide range of x86 Linux applications on Power Systems platforms within a Linux on Power partition without modifications or recompilation of the workloads. For more information on Power Systems, visit http://ibm.co/Lx6hfc.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210734237/A-Comparison-of-PowerVM-and-Vmware-Virtualization-Performance
This reference architecture document describes deploying the VMware vCloud Enterprise Suite on the IBM PureFlex System hardware platform. Key points:
- The vCloud Suite software provides components for managing and delivering cloud services, while the IBM PureFlex System provides an integrated hardware platform in a single chassis.
- The reference architecture focuses on installing the vCloud Suite management components as virtual machines on an ESXi host to manage consumer resources.
- The IBM PureFlex System provides servers, networking, and storage in a single chassis that can then be easily scaled out. This standardized deployment accelerates provisioning of cloud infrastructure.
- Deployment considerations cover systems management using IBM Flex System Manager, server, networking, storage configurations
Learn how x6: The sixth generation of EXA Technology is fast, agile and Resilient for Emerging Workloads from Alex Yost. Vice President, IBM PureSystems and System x
IBM Systems and Technology Group. x6 drives cloud and big data for enterprises by achieving insight faster thereby outperforming competitors. For more information on System x, visit http://ibm.co/Q7m3iQ.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210715795/X6-The-sixth-generation-of-EXA-Technology
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
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Presented at the CAiSE 2024 Forum, Intelligent Information Systems, June 6th, Limassol, Cyprus.
Synopsis: Cooperative information systems typically involve various entities in a collaborative process within a distributed environment. Blockchain technology offers a mechanism for automating such processes, even when only partial trust exists among participants. The data stored on the blockchain is replicated across all nodes in the network, ensuring accessibility to all participants. While this aspect facilitates traceability, integrity, and persistence, it poses challenges for adopting public blockchains in enterprise settings due to confidentiality issues. In this paper, we present a software tool named Control Access via Key Encryption (CAKE), designed to ensure data confidentiality in scenarios involving public blockchains. After outlining its core components and functionalities, we showcase the application of CAKE in the context of a real-world cyber-security project within the logistics domain.
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HCL Notes and Domino License Cost Reduction in the World of DLAUpanagenda
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We’ll show you how to fix common misconfigurations that cause higher-than-expected user counts, and how to identify accounts which you can deactivate to save money. There are also frequent patterns that can cause unnecessary cost, like using a person document instead of a mail-in for shared mailboxes. We’ll provide examples and solutions for those as well. And naturally we’ll explain the new licensing model.
Join HCL Ambassador Marc Thomas in this webinar with a special guest appearance from Franz Walder. It will give you the tools and know-how to stay on top of what is going on with Domino licensing. You will be able lower your cost through an optimized configuration and keep it low going forward.
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- How do CCB and CCX licenses really work?
- Understanding the DLAU tool and how to best utilize it
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- Practical examples and best practices to implement right away
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Taking AI to the Next Level in Manufacturing.pdfssuserfac0301
Read Taking AI to the Next Level in Manufacturing to gain insights on AI adoption in the manufacturing industry, such as:
1. How quickly AI is being implemented in manufacturing.
2. Which barriers stand in the way of AI adoption.
3. How data quality and governance form the backbone of AI.
4. Organizational processes and structures that may inhibit effective AI adoption.
6. Ideas and approaches to help build your organization's AI strategy.
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Throughout the session, participants will discover how this synergy empowers testers to automate repetitive tasks, enhance testing accuracy, and expedite the software testing life cycle. Topics covered include the seamless integration process, practical use cases, and the benefits of harnessing AI-driven automation for UiPath testing initiatives. By attending this webinar, testers, and automation professionals can gain valuable insights into harnessing the power of AI to optimize their test automation workflows within the UiPath ecosystem, ultimately driving efficiency and quality in software development processes.
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1. Insights into integrating generative AI.
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3. Practical demonstrations
4. Exploration of real-world use cases illustrating the benefits of AI-driven test automation for UiPath
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What is generative AI
Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath integration with generative AI
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See how organizational priorities and strategic approaches to data security and privacy are evolving around the globe.
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My slides at Nordic Testing Days 6.6.2024
Climate impact / sustainability of software testing discussed on the talk. ICT and testing must carry their part of global responsibility to help with the climat warming. We can minimize the carbon footprint but we can also have a carbon handprint, a positive impact on the climate. Quality characteristics can be added with sustainability, and then measured continuously. Test environments can be used less, and in smaller scale and on demand. Test techniques can be used in optimizing or minimizing number of tests. Test automation can be used to speed up testing.
Climate Impact of Software Testing at Nordic Testing Days
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1. IBM Global Technology Services August 2011
Thought Leadership White Paper
Gaining efficiency and business value
through better management of your
IT infrastructure
Eight challenges to overcome for effective service delivery and cost savings
2. 2 Gaining efficiency and business value through better management of your IT infrastructure
Table of Contents Introduction
Managing today’s complex server environments, networks and
2 Introduction
IT infrastructures is challenging. Most organizations have tools
2 Understand key challenges of infrastructure and disciplines in place to provide basic availability management,
management including hardware and software monitoring capabilities.
However, your staff may not have the skills or time to support
4 Plan for effective infrastructure management and implement notification handling, performance and capacity
management, security management, configuration management
4 Detecting and handling incidents and problems
and automation. With the pressure to do more with less, how
5 Handling changes with minimal impact on availability can you balance the need to drive down costs and also improve
delivery of system administration, information access, remote
5 Preventing security problems access and problem and change management?
6 Using emerging or challenging technologies effectively
This paper surveys the challenges and solutions for effective
6 Maintaining server software and firmware management of your server infrastructures and network devices.
It discusses important disciplines, such as availability manage-
7 Having indicators of status and trends for specific
ment, and the tools you need to support a complex IT environ-
infrastructure activities
ment. Use of outsourcing, managed and cloud services are
7 Having the right tools for the job discussed as strategic ways to drive efficiency and create business
value. You may choose to use this paper as a tool or checklist to
12 Deploying infrastructure and tools rapidly with a evaluate and improve your in-house handling of infrastructure
proper level of ongoing management management or to evaluate potential services providers.
12 Focus on service areas of growing importance
Note: Throughout this paper you will encounter special “call to
12 Batch processing and cross-platform workloads action” sections. These sections are inserted where most relevant
to the main content, and are intended to further your under-
12 Backup and restore standing of the topic with information about efforts and research
12 Middleware and database support services
undertaken by IBM to apply technology solutions to that field.
13 Consider outsourcing and managed services Understand key challenges of
13 Summary infrastructure management
An infrastructure typically consists of a broadly heterogeneous
14 Infrastructure management checklist collection of elements such as servers, virtual machines, logical
partitions, routers, switches, wireless appliances, disks, proces-
sors, operating systems, middleware and database instances and
batch jobs. All of these elements can be mapped, more or less,
into a simple framework as shown in Figure 1.
3. IBM Global Technology Services 3
4. Using emerging or challenging technologies
effectively. New technologies hold great promise for
Applications and services
businesses by enabling cost reductions and flexibility. Even
so, the benefits from these technologies can be elusive,
Middleware
because of the learning curve that users face in understand-
ing them and effectively dealing with their complexity.
Operating system 5. Maintaining server software and firmware. Applying
emergency security fixes or even routine software changes
Platform can be a daunting task for your staff. To avoid negative
Computer and network hardware
impacts on your application availability and performance
requires planning and careful execution, including provi-
sions for restoring to a previous software or firmware level.
Figure 1: Software and hardware service layers in distributed systems.
6. Having indicators of status and trends for specific
infrastructure and activities. Information on the status of
The management of your distributed and complex IT infrastruc- systems and applications is important in infrastructure
ture is often a significant portion of your total cost of ownership management, especially in problem situations. This infor-
(TCO). Getting costs under control while also meeting your mation is also needed for capacity planning. However,
service-level commitments requires a focus on the following obtaining and analyzing operational and trend information
eight infrastructure management challenges: is time consuming and complex.
1. Detecting and handling incidents and problems. 7. Having the right tools for the job. There are many tools,
Incidents and problems are a way of life for systems that from commercial products to home-grown tools, which
involve hardware, software and people. Detecting and can be used to manage IT infrastructures. Having just the
handling problems effectively is simply not easy. Handling right toolset for your environment requires balancing
problems requires discipline, imagination and experience. human aspects, types of tools, number of tools, level of
integration and secure use. A lack of such balance is
2. Handling changes with minimal impact on availability. reflected in ineffective support for business goals or unduly
Change is frequently required in today’s highly complex high software or staff operations costs.
systems. Dealing with change while striving for minimum
downtime requires a variety of skills. 8. Deploying infrastructure and tools rapidly with the
proper level of ongoing management. The fast pace of
3. Preventing security problems. Security challenges change in today’s business environment requires the need
are ongoing and constantly changing. Your management to rapidly deploy systems and the tools to provide ongoing
solution should incorporate plans to address the threats to support, especially for the mission-critical components of
your systems and information in the form of web-based your IT infrastructure. These activities can be routine, but
attacks and hackers. are important for meeting service-level commitments and
supporting new business initiatives.
4. 4 Gaining efficiency and business value through better management of your IT infrastructure
Plan for effective infrastructure Detecting and handling incidents and problems
management In addressing this challenge, the goal should be to provide
As you evaluate your current infrastructure management robust incident and problem handling, resulting in the
capabilities and consider outsourcing and managed services smoothest possible operation. If possible, this solution should
providers, focus on solutions that address the key challenges use preemptive actions to prevent failures.
presented earlier. A focus on value should shape your goals, with
cost and complexity playing a major factor in your evaluation The proven tactics that can help achieve this goal include
and consideration. With this focus, you can then determine the proactive and passive monitoring to detect incidents and
best approach to achieving your goals in the context of specific problems. Using technology to automatically handle incidents,
tactics, as shown in Figure 2. open problem records and assign priority is also important to
reduce labor costs. The use of innovative tools and methods to
anticipate and correct problems before they occur is another
labor-saving approach (see sidebar on Parity that follows). It is
also useful to provide automated software support that makes it
Cost and complexity
easier for a system administrator to resolve incidents and prob-
lems. Assigning support personnel based on the severity of the
incident or problem to improve response time is a proven way to
prioritize work in conjunction with using a service level agree-
Context
Goals Tactics ment (SLA). An example SLA pertaining to Severity 1 problems
would have the goal of resolving 90 percent of the problems in
What are we What can less than four hours. Following rigorous problem handling and
trying to we do to
Value
management steps to ensure effective problem resolution is also
achieve? achieve it?
important. So is involving a specialized service manager and a
multidisciplinary team.
The business value of effective detection and handling of
Business alignment incidents and problems is reflected in higher availability of
IT resources, which can result in infrastructure and applications
that function better for the company.
Figure 2: Strategy framework for an effective IT management solution.
Based on this framework, consider the recommendations
that follow for solutions to address the eight key challenges
previously identified
5. IBM Global Technology Services 5
To help achieve this goal, one proven tactic is to have the team
Call to action: Use innovative tools to anticipate and participate at least weekly in change-management planning.
correct problems. Prepare for change by planning activities and estimating the
time required. Test changes prior to their implementation and
Up to 80 percent of system outage time is consumed by
prepare remediation activities in the event of a failed change to
efforts to determine the nature or cause of the problem.
Once the source of the problem is determined, the recovery restore the system to its previous condition. Using a skilled
actions take relatively little time to execute. This represents change manager is a proven way to improve the quality of
an opportunity for continuous improvement, and Parity was change success, because you can benefit from their accumulated
created as a response. As it pertains to the support of dis- experience.
tributed server environments, Parity is a combination of
elements—code, logic, known environmental relationships As shown in the previous example, the business value of
and administration paradigm change—that can enable handling changes with minimal impact on availability is
support teams to eliminate the problem-discovery process reflected in higher availability of IT resources, which can result
and proceed directly to recovery. in better-functioning systems and applications.
IBM Global Services, in partnership with IBM Research Labs,
created Parity. Parity is a tool designed for and used Preventing security problems
exclusively by IBM personnel delivering managed services In addressing this challenge, the goal should be to deliver serv-
that uses patented technology to help improve the stability ices and support that effectively manage security risk while main-
and efficiency of support, and provides support personnel taining the necessary business agility.
with a tool kit to better equip them for day-to-day manage-
ment of their environments. The tool kit can handle common To help achieve this goal, one proven tactic is to use information
problems automatically. For example, it can be used to
security controls based on an industry standard and explain them
perform automatic log-file management for system and
in a living document. Implement key security variables, such as
application logs, including pruning, rotating and rolling. Parity
password length and update frequency, early in the process and
also can be used to gather data so system administration
personnel can be more productive using a real-time graphi- perform security remediation as required for servers and other
cal representation of the entire environment—dynamically devices to help refresh and update your security posture. Look
generated. This is useful in situations in which Parity cannot for security exposures during the ongoing support period. For a
automatically handle the incident. closed-end process, specify the frequency of these analyses with
monthly reporting on key security attributes and activities
related to servers and other devices.
Handling changes with minimal impact on availability The business value you can achieve by preventing security
In addressing this challenge, the goal should be to manage problems is the reduced financial risk associated with security
change in a manner that results in highly predictable outcomes. breaches.
6. 6 Gaining efficiency and business value through better management of your IT infrastructure
To help achieve this goal, one of the proven tactics is to focus on
Call to action: Complement day-to-day security operations skills support for virtual machines and logical partitions, using
with end-to-end risk management solutions. change windows to make dynamic changes to production
servers—like adding processor or memory resources to an
As a complement to day-to-day security activities, end-to-
image. Develop the skills of your staff in a variety of HA
end risk management solutions help to protect against the
latest threats while reducing the costs and complexity of software, including HP Multi-Computer/ServiceGuard
security. An example of this is from the IBM X-Force (MC/ServiceGuard), IBM HACMP™, Linux HA or Red
research and development teams that study and monitor Hat Cluster Suite, Microsoft Cluster Services, Sun Cluster or
the latest threat trends, including vulnerability, exploits and Veritas Cluster Services and VMware HA.
active attacks, viruses, malware, spam, phishing and mali-
cious web content. The X-Force team also publishes several The business value of using these technologies includes lower
publicly available reports each year, among them the Trend costs, higher application availability and improved business
and Risk Report and the Threat Insight Report. The Trend flexibility as compared to obsolete technology approaches.
and Risk Report is intended to help clients, researchers and
the public at large understand the changing nature of the Maintaining server software and firmware
threat landscape and what might be done to mitigate it. In addressing this challenge, the goal should be a balanced col-
IBM has developed several technologies and solutions to lection of proactive and reactive activities supported by effective
help clients protect their critical assets from security threats. software products and tools.
An example is IBM® Proventia® Management SiteProtector
System, which is designed to provide central management of To help achieve this goal, one of the proven tactics is to monitor
security devices, policies and events to help evaluate and servers proactively and use monitoring software. Startup tasks
communicate your overall risk posture. Another example is
may involve refreshing operating system processes, establishing
IBM Proventia Desktop Endpoint Security, which helps
startup sequences and changing priorities, as appropriate. Other
secure your desktops and laptops against known and
server support activities include patching, configuring and main-
unknown attacks, providing multilayered security functional-
ity in a single agent. taining log files, using remote tools to perform operational pro-
cedures, providing server security activities for identification and
access, and supporting virtualization software.
The business value you can achieve through server monitoring
Using emerging or challenging technologies effectively
and management is a more reliable server operation that proac-
In addressing this challenge, the goal should be a focus on
tively monitors systems, resulting in higher availability through
emerging and challenging technologies such as virtualization and
early detection of incidents and problems. In addition, compre-
high-availability configurations, resulting in sustained benefits
hensive management can result in fewer software compatibility
from the use of these technologies. Virtualization can provide
issues. Finally, remaining current with software patches and
flexibility to achieve rapid change and high utilization of your
levels helps ensure support is available, when necessary, for the
existing IT resources. High availability (HA) technology helps
software supplier.
support business resiliency and your requirements for continu-
ous application availability.
7. IBM Global Technology Services 7
The business value you can achieve by way of useful reporting
Call to action: Innovate system patching and maintenance is to provide feedback on the effectiveness of the service being
approaches. provided and to report on elements that may have been missed
during the daily operation. An example is servers with outdated
Patching is an important ongoing system maintenance
signature or antivirus files. Dynamic reporting can also be useful
activity. It is a delicate maneuver: to “keep up” with
recommended, scheduled maintenance while working in supporting functional disciplines, such as performance and
to reduce risk by not implementing the system patch too capacity management.
near the release date of a given patch or patch set. It is also
necessary, from time to time, to apply specific patches to fix Having the right tools for the job
or resolve immediate problems. Most patching approaches In addressing this challenge, the goal should be to use mature
require that the system be running; however, many environ- tools and processes that deliver optimal service and support
ments have dormant VM images that require periodic your SLAs.
updates.
Researchers from IBM and North Carolina State University To help achieve this goal, proven tactics include the use of tools
recently published a paper on a tool called Nüwa that per- that can support disciplines or activities that need to be carried
forms offline patching of images.1 The tool examines the out, such as those listed and defined forthwith.
required patches and converts patch instructions so they
can be executed in batch, which is often a more scalable and
Availability management
efficient manner.
The focus of basic availability management is to determine
the operational status of a device or resource. An example of a
tool that is designed to support this capability is IBM Tivoli®
Having indicators of status and trends for specific NetView®, which can provide basic availability monitoring and
infrastructure and activities smart logic to minimize the occurrence of false alerts. The logic
In addressing this challenge, the goal should be a dynamic performs multiple checks to determine whether a device is truly
reporting capability that can yield monthly reports that provide a unavailable.
good way to understand the activities and performance of the
service. An operational or business dashboard is also useful, if Hardware monitoring
you can justify the high cost of information integration. The purpose of hardware monitoring is to pay special attention
to system events that affect hardware. These events may include
To help achieve this goal, one of the proven tactics is to post power failure, tampering, temperature changes and voltage
reports on a portal for easy access. Also, make use of tools that irregularities. IBM Systems Director can be an effective tool
focus on server resource management and generate performance for hardware and software monitoring of server resources.
and capacity reports to help you analyze trends. It is also impor-
Software monitoring
tant to generate and post reports that focus on security manage-
Software monitoring of server resources is aimed at periodically
ment. A portal can also be used to enter problem records and
querying key system elements to determine if any irregularities
change notifications, while providing links to other needed tools,
exist. The presence of these irregularities, even if intermittent,
portlets and services that support ongoing activities.
usually indicates a loss of IT service quality. Monitored system
8. 8 Gaining efficiency and business value through better management of your IT infrastructure
elements include processor workload, processor status, processor Security management
consumption and system thrashing. IBM Tivoli Monitoring soft- The focus of security management is internal and external.
ware can make such monitoring possible. Three important areas for security are within a local system,
among distributed processes, in data and over networks and
Notification handling communications.
Notification handling aims to inform systems administrator
personnel that an event has occurred or a threshold has been Examples of security management tools are Fusion, a security
exceeded. The notification can take a number of forms—email, compliance tool designed for and used exclusively by IBM per-
short message or page text. TelAlert from Network System sonnel delivering managed services, and hosted vulnerability
Architects, Inc. (NSAi) is an example of a tool that can be used management, a comprehensive cloud-based program designed
in this manner to notify teams or individuals of problems. to help organizations implement the tools, methodologies and
best practices required to address today’s dynamic vulnerability
Performance and capacity management landscape. Fusion helps improve efficiency through centralized
Performance and capacity management involves the gathering server management. Fusion functions include operating system
of and reporting on data that is specifically focused on the per- security patch management, antivirus status checking, security
formance characteristics of devices and their capacity over time. log management, compliance checking and workflow remedia-
An IBM Global Services web application and service offering tion, systematic attack detection and server information.
called Server Resource Management (SRM), for instance, can be IBM’s delivery compliance administration support team
a valuable tool to assist with server performance and capacity uses Fusion and other tools to help manage efficient server
trend analysis. Figure 3 shows a sample performance report from security-audit compliance, based on the contracted security
SRM on virtualized partitions. policy and Authorized Program Analysis Reports (APARs) for
operating systems.
Figure 3: Performance report on virtualized partitions.
9. IBM Global Technology Services 9
Configuration management as necessary—in short, they perform most activities associated
The focus of configuration management is to identify, capture, with keeping servers up and running. An example of a system
organize and maintain configuration information for use by administrator tool is IBM Service Delivery Portal, a web-based
other processes. A key challenge associated with configuration information integration platform for server system administra-
management is supporting the dynamic nature of systems, tors that can be used to consolidate operational data from client
networks and applications. environments. IBM Service Delivery Portal is a single dashboard
that can standardize and simplify the user interface, helping to
Configuration tools vary greatly in scope—from keeping a basic achieve centralized and consistent execution of tasks.
inventory of the items to using a complete data model that
employs dynamic discovery capabilities. One such tool is the Information access
Global Asset and Configuration Data Warehouse, which uses a The aim of information access is to provide easy access to
configuration management database to help maintain configura- reports, an operational dashboard and tools and related subsys-
tion information about supported features and devices. tems. Information access is important, because it can provide
visibility of the infrastructure management service.
System administration
The focus of system administration is to perform tasks that sup- Typically, access to information is provided by way of a portal.
port devices, especially servers. System administration personnel IBM Services Connection, shown in Figure 4, is a primary
install and maintain software products and tools, patch software interface that organizations can use to access reports and tools. It
and perform problem determination, participate in change- can also support information access for IBM Remote Managed
management activities and support application programmers, Infrastructure Services.
Figure 4: IBM’s Services Connection web portal for IBM Remote Managed Infrastructure Services.
10. 10 Gaining efficiency and business value through better management of your IT infrastructure
Automation
The automation functional perspective, or discipline, is complex Call to action: Use autonomic solutions where they can be
to describe, because it is both a stand-alone function and one found.
that is embedded in other functional perspectives, such as opera-
At the same time that databases are growing rapidly in scale
tions and problem management. For example, Parity can be used
and complexity, skilled database administrators (DBAs) are
to proactively and automatically solve problems. Parity checks
becoming more rare and costly, thus inspiring innovative
when a process or communication of a software client is not efforts to automate many of those functions currently
working properly. If the process is not working because of a performed by people. One result of these efforts is
dependent component on a different client, Parity uses known “autonomic databases,” the goal of which is to make
recovery methods to help restore the functionality of the databases self-configuring, self-healing, self-optimizing and
dependent client. self-protecting—in short, completely self-managing.
This is part of a wider “autonomic computing” initiative by
EnVision, another automation tool designed for and used IBM to provide technology designed to increase the effec-
exclusively by IBM personnel delivering managed services, can tiveness of human intervention in computer systems by
automatically open problem records for access and handling. reducing the number and complexity of those interventions
Developed by an IBM team responsible for enterprise service through the use of automation, intelligent advice and learn-
management infrastructure tools integration, the EnVision ing. These efforts can result in a reduction in the total cost
tool is a single sign-on, front-end web portal designed to of ownership (TCO) and increased business productivity.
access and manage multiple problem management systems. Recently, IBM has extended its research in self-healing
Near-real-time information from disparate systems can be systems to the challenges of problem determination, such
as detecting, isolating and determining the root cause of
organized and consolidated into a centralized web portal for
unknown problems, after first determining whether the
easier access and management. The EnVision integration tool
problem is known by matching the symptoms to a database
helps collectively organize problem tickets, details, priorities
of known symptoms. To learn more about the latest auto-
and statuses from multiple problem management systems into a nomic features of DB2, visit: ibm.com/software/data/db2/
single-access web portal. linux-unix-windows/features.html
11. IBM Global Technology Services 11
Remote access the stability of your systems environment. An important consid-
Remote access tools such as RemotelyAnywhere by LogMeIn, eration for change management is the need for written backout
Inc. and OpenSSH, an open source tool for secure access, can procedures and a process to reduce the risks of failed changes.
assist with reaching infrastructure elements, such as servers, in a
secure and productive manner. OpenSSH is integrated into base ManageNow, another internal web-based tool for use exclusively
systems such as OpenBSD, FreeBSD, BSDi BSD/OS, NetBSD, by IBM personnel delivering managed services, can support
Computone, Stallion, Cygwin, e-smith server and gateway, problem and change management, using enterprise systems
Mac OS X Version 10.1, HP Procurve Switch 4108GL management infrastructure to store and manage problem and
2524/2512, IBM AIX® and SunSSH in Sun Solaris 9. change information.
Problem and change management The business value of having the right tools is measured in
Managing problems is important because users expect timely terms of the effectiveness of the service at a manageable and
correction and resolution. Change management is closely linked sustainable cost. Table 1 summarizes all the tools listed in this
to problem management because change can introduce risk to section, organized by activity or discipline.
Table 1. Tools in context.
Activity or discipline Tool example
Basic availability management NetView with software logic to eliminate false alerts
Hardware monitoring IBM Systems Director
Software monitoring of resources IBM Tivoli Monitoring Windows OS Agent
Notification handling TelAlert
Performance and capacity management Server Resource Management (SRM)
Security management Fusion
Configuration management Global Asset and Configuration Data Warehouse
System administration Service Delivery Portal and Knowledge Base
Information access IBM Services Connection
Automation Parity and EnVision
Remote access RemotelyAnywhere and OpenSSH
Problem and change management ManageNow
12. 12 Gaining efficiency and business value through better management of your IT infrastructure
Deploying infrastructure and tools rapidly with a proper level Batch processing and cross-platform workloads
of ongoing management Planned, batch workloads are growing in significance in
In addressing this challenge, the goal should be rapid deploy- midrange systems. It is important to handle this workload in a
ment through pre-engineered and solid ongoing support using a planned fashion using an automated tool. This way, as batch
service manager. windows decrease in duration, you can plan for and automate
your batch and cross-platform workloads.
The proven tactics for deployment to achieve this goal include
using a model project plan based on prebuilt components, with a Backup and restore
project manager to ensure that your deployment goes smoothly. Backup and restore, like batch processing, is an example of
A delivery architect—a specialized role—helps to serve as a a time-critical service that is subject to a shrinking or nearly
technical complement to the project manager. nonexistent time window. Make the best use of the backup
window by using technology to leverage automated approaches.
The proven tactics for achieving ongoing support are to use Also, use backup-while-active when possible. For rapid restora-
well-defined ongoing support activities, using desk procedures tion of the operating system and environment following a disk
to help provide your enterprise with an optimum degree of failure, backups should be independent of incremental copies.
ongoing management. While a specialized service delivery
manager can help ensure the ongoing support goes smoothly, Middleware and database support services
you could also consider using other specialized roles, such as With the dominance of databases and middleware, managed
security specialists, change managers and duty managers. services providers have begun offering support for products in
this category. Middleware and database services are not new, but
The business value you can achieve by deploying infrastructure extensive adoption by companies worldwide is making them
with a proper level of ongoing management is more rapid more relevant. Middleware that supports mobility devices is
deployment (time value of money) and more reliable and growing in importance, and support services in this domain are
predictable outcomes. important to help companies realize the productivity benefits
that come from effective employee mobility.
Focus on service areas of growing
The business value you can achieve from middleware and
importance
database support services is assistance with the daily activities
Three areas of growing importance include batch processing,
of software management and the skill of experienced personnel
backup and restore, and middleware and database support
who accompany the service. This can result in the ability to
services.
better deploy existing support personnel, improve handling of
problems and changes and more rapidly deploy new systems and
applications.
13. IBM Global Technology Services 13
● Experience with processes and tools. This experience is
Call to action: Extend your support for collaboration particularly deep because these providers serve many clients,
beyond the four walls. all of whom look for cost-efficient services.
● Lower cost for a higher level of service. Economies of scale
Advances in mobility technology are helping organizations
can make significant process improvements more affordable.
extend their capabilities beyond the four walls of the office—
enabling employees to collaborate in real time and be pro-
ductive wherever they happen to be. The more mobility This is not a comprehensive list of reasons, but a compelling list,
devices supported by the collaboration software, the better, all the same for you to seriously consider using an outsourcing
as it allows employees to own and use the device of their or managed services provider.
choosing.
Mobility features in IBM Lotus® Sametime® software can
help you collaborate in real time—virtually anywhere you are Call to action: Use managed cloud services.
working. The Sametime mobile client can extend many of the
capabilities available from the desktop Sametime client to IBM is developing the next-generation enterprise cloud
the Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry, Nokia, Samsung, service delivery platform, called IBM Smart Business Cloud,
Sony Ericsson and Microsoft Windows mobile devices. And, offered in two tiers—IBM Smart Business Cloud-Enterprise
Sametime 8.5 is designed to support a browser-based Apple and IBM Smart Business Cloud-Enterprise+. Currently,
iPhone chat client. IBM Smart Business Cloud-Enterprise cloud is up and
running around the world and IBM is piloting IBM Smart
Business Cloud-Enterprise+ with key clients. IBM Smart
Business Cloud-Enterprise+ will be available later in 2011.
IBM’s Smart Business is a common IBM architecture and
Consider outsourcing and managed platform for private, public and hybrid clouds and is based
services on IBM hardware, software, services and best practices.
Using outsourcing and managed services are strategic ways to IBM is committed to deliver, as a complementary service to
help drive efficiency and create business value. These services the Smart Business platform, a robust set of services,
can offer: including desktop, compute, storage, backup, SAP, security
and unified communications.
● Broad and deep skills needed to support a heterogeneous
computing environment. It is obviously more difficult for
you to employ these skills within your organization at an
affordable cost. Summary
● Redeployment of your key human resources to more Supporting a dynamic business and resilient IT environment
strategic activities, rather than maintaining existing requires effective management of your server infrastructure and
systems. Even as you use services providers to manage your network devices. By focusing on the activities or disciplines and
infrastructure, your employees can build the future of your tools necessary to carry efficient support and delivery services,
company. you can improve your own management capabilities and evaluate
the capabilities of potential outsourcing and managed services
providers.
14. 14 Gaining efficiency and business value through better management of your IT infrastructure
Infrastructure management checklist
Use the following table as a checklist to help you evaluate your infrastructure management effectiveness.
Table 2. Infrastructure management effectiveness checklist.
Detecting and handling incidents and problems Maintaining server software and firmware
✓ Monitoring to detect incidents and problems? ✓ Proactively administering servers and using monitoring software?
✓ Using technology to automatically handle incidents, open problem ✓ Managing server platform support activities like patching and log file
records and assign priority? maintenance?
✓ Using tools to anticipate and correct problems before they occur? ✓ Performing server security administration for identity and access?
✓ Providing automated support for system administrator to resolve inci- ✓ Providing specific focus and support for virtualization?
dents and problems? ✓ Providing high-availability software support, including periodic
✓ Assigning support personnel, based on the severity of the incident or testing?
problem?
✓ Using service level agreements (SLAs)?
✓ Following rigorous problem handling and management steps to
ensure effective problem resolution?
✓ Using a specialized service manager and a multidisciplinary team as
needed?
Handling changes with minimal impact on availability Having indicators of status and trends for specific infrastructure
and activities
✓ Implementing team participation in change-management planning? ✓ Posting reports on a portal for easy access?
✓ Preparing for change by planning activities and estimating time ✓ Providing tools that focus on server resource management and gener-
required? ate performance and capacity reports to analyze trends and manage
✓ Testing changes prior to their implementation and preparing back-out security?
activities in the event of a failed change? ✓ Setting up a portal to enter problem records and change
✓ Using a skilled change manager to benefit from experience of previ- notifications?
ous changes? ✓ Providing links to other needed tools, portlets and services that
support ongoing activities?
15. IBM Global Technology Services 15
Table 2. (continued) Infrastructure management effectiveness checklist.
Preventing security problems Having the right tools for the job
✓ Using information security controls, based on an industry standard? ✓ Support for availability management?
✓ Implementing key security variables, such as password length and ✓ Hardware monitoring?
update frequency, early in the process? ✓ Software monitoring of key computer resources?
✓ Performing security remediation as required for servers and other ✓ Flexible notification handling?
devices? ✓ Support for performance and capacity management?
✓ Looking for security exposures during the ongoing support period ✓ Support for security management?
and specifying the frequency of these analyses? ✓ Support for configuration management?
✓ Reporting monthly on key security attributes and activities related to ✓ Support for system administration?
servers and other devices? ✓ Easy access to information?
✓ Automation of routine processes?
✓ Standardized remote access?
✓ Support for problem and change management?
Using emerging or challenging technologies effectively Deploying infrastructure and tools rapidly
✓ Focusing on skills support for virtual machines and logical partitions? ✓ Use of a model project plan that is based on prebuilt components?
✓ Using change windows to make dynamic changes to production ✓ Use of a project manager to ensure that your deployment goes
servers? smoothly?
✓ Developing skills in a variety of high-availability software like ✓ Use of a delivery architect?
IBM HACMP and VMware HA?
Proper level of ongoing management
✓ Well-defined ongoing support activities, using desk procedures?
✓ Use of a service delivery manager?
✓ Use of security specialists, change managers and duty managers?
Focusing on service areas of growing importance
✓ Use of planned batch processing and cross-platform workloads?
✓ Use of technology to make the best use of backup windows?
✓ Specialized support for middleware and database?