Enterprise IT Management, Network performance management, IT Servicedesk, Desktop Management, Datacenter Management, Server Management, Log Analysis and Security Management, Network Tools, ManageEngine Blogs http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:54:25 -0800 Three Different Operations You Can Perform in Dashboard View http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/11/10/three-different-operations-you-can-perform-in-dashboard-view karthi  At ManageEngine IT360, we always strive to ensure that the user must be able to perform complex tasks with little or minimal effort. In this post, I am going to talk about the three different operations you can perform in Dashboard page.

  1. Generate different views of your IT business services
  2. Create new business service
  3. Create customized dashboards for various stakeholders
Now lets get into it one-by-one...

1. Generate Different Views of Your IT Business Services

ManageEngine IT360 offers four distinct views to view your IT business service(s). They are:

   1. Your traditional List View
   2. Tree View
   3. Plasma View and
   4. Global Business View

In your List View mode, you will be able to see the a bit more in-depth about the various business services that you have created. You will view the Availability, Health, Monitor Status, and Today's Availability (in % of uptime) of each business service created within IT360. By clicking on the health or availability icon, you can view the complete Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of the business service.



In Tree View mode, you can view entire list of business service sub-groups and its monitors. In this view, you can view the  availability and health of those monitors. It also displays the list of 'Uncategorized Monitors' which are being monitored through IT360 but not associated with any of the business services. 



With Plasma View mode, as the name suggests, you can display the entire list of monitors in a huge plasma screen. This view will contain the monitor's current status, major alarms created so far along with its business services health & availability.



And Global Business View displays the entire business services combined under a single business view. As before, you can host them in a large plasma screen for display.



2. Create New Business Services

'Add Business Service' is probably the most critical link in this page. This invokes the business service wizard. With the help of this wizard, you can create a new business service and associate critical monitors (network devices, apps, servers, etc) which are crucial for the business service operation. (I will be blogging about this later).



3. Create Different Dashboards for various stakeholders

This is probably one of the most important tasks of all. This operation allows you to create different dashboards for various stakeholders. You can create Network Dashboard for your Network Administrator, Server & Application Dashboard for your IT Administrator and Traffic Dashboard for your System and Network Administrators. In addition, you can also view existing dashboards and business views of various business.


To create a new dashboard click on any of the 'Add' link to create a Network,Server & Applications or Traffic dashboards.

  


So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and try these options :-)

]]> http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/11/10/three-different-operations-you-can-perform-in-dashboard-view Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:50:17 -0800 Assign and Automate Ticketing for your Business Service http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/11/06/assign-and-automate-ticketing-for-your-business-service karthi When a server goes down or when the response time of a database query exceeds the normal query execution time, any monitoring system in place should perform two actions. One to generate an alarm with relevant information (preferably the RCA - Root Cause Analysis) and secondly to log a ticket into a Service Desk solution. It may additionally execute an SMS action to notify the right technician.

With IT360, you can do that without any external interference. IT360 allows you to automate these actions thereby reducing time taken to troubleshoot the issue. In today's post, we will see how to create threshold, assign action and configure alarms so that the action is properly executed.

Creating Thresholds

Thresholds are values on based on which the alarm is generated. For example, lets say the response time of an Apache server which acts as the web server for a website optimal response time is 1ms. When this value is breached or when the response time value goes higher, the website takes longer to load. Hence, it is critical to ensure that there is a threshold assigned to this web server and is carefully monitored.

In order to assign a threshold for this web server, follow the steps given below:

1. Click on 'Admin' -> 'Servers & Apps' -> 'Configure Alarms'.

2. Select the appropriate web server from the pull down menu 'Alarm Configuration by Monitors'. This will display the list of attributes for which you can assign thresholds for the particular web server. 

3. Click on 'Associate' opposite to 'Response Time'. This will open a pop-up configuration window, wherein you can select the correct threshold corresponding to response time. 



4. Click on 'Save' and 'Close' button to save and close the configuration window. You will now find that the response time for the Apache server is now configured and ready for associating an action.

Create Ticket Action

Now once the threshold is configured, click on 'Action' under 'Servers & Apps'. Click on 'Add New' under 'Log a Ticket' option.

1. Provide a proper name for the ticket.

2. Select the correct Category, Sub Category, Item, Priority, Group and Technician who will be responsible for this web server.

3. IT360 also allows you to insert relevant details into the Ticket content. This enables the technician to view relevant information. This allows the technician to troubleshoot the performance issue quickly.

4. Click on 'Log a Ticket' button to complete the process.

Additionally, you can also execute this action manually by clicking on thisicon. You can also update ticket's content, change category, sub category, etc by clicking on the edit  icon.

Assign Ticket Action

Once the ticket action is created, click on 'Configure Alarms'. Click on the attribute for which you would like the ticket action to be associated with (in our case, the Apache Server's response time). Click on the 'Response Time - Cr > 1500ms'. In the configuration pop-up window, select the check box labeled 'Configure actions at Attribute level'.


Select the appropriate action that needs to be associated with this threshold value. You can create actions and enable them in such a way that you can get alerted when there is an issue, or when the issue clears or when the issue is going to get critical. Once you have chosen the action and clicked the 'Save' & 'Close' button, the configuration is done. The next time when the response time threshold value is breached, the technician is automatically notified. A ticket is logged into the Service Desk solution. In addition to this, you can also associate an SMS action to this threshold thus ensuring the technician receives the information as soon as the incident occurs.

Similarly, you can create an ad-hoc action by clicking on 'New Action' link inside the configuration pop-up window. It will allow you to create the following actions as displayed in the screenshot below.



]]> http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/11/06/assign-and-automate-ticketing-for-your-business-service Fri, 6 Nov 2009 01:47:55 -0800 Enable, Schedule and Generate Reports in ManageEngine IT360 http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/10/30/enable-schedule-and-generate-reports-in-manageengine-it360 karthi In continuation to my previous post about report generation in IT360, I will be talking about how to enable, schedule and generate reports for various IT resources/business services in this post.

Enabling Reports

IT360 provides a multitude of metrics for each IT resource that is being monitored. It also allows you to select a specific metric for each individual IT resource and generate report only for that metric. In this manner, IT360 eliminates the possibility of having the only data that you need, thereby reducing clutter in your report.

In order to generate such reports, click on 'Reports' tab and then click on 'Enable Reports' link. Under 'Custom Reports' you will find a list of metrics for various IT resource (monitor). Some of which are already selected by default. You can either choose these default metrics or select metrics which only you need.


In addition, you can also generate downtime summary report of these monitors by clicking on 'Downtime Summary Report' tab. Select the 'Time' at which the report should be generated along with proper email action.


Schedule Reports

To schedule reports for a business service or for a particular monitor, click on 'Schedule Reports' link under 'Reports' tab. Select a proper name and description for the report. Now select the appropriate report type from the pull-down menu (Availability, Health, Attribute, Alarm, Downtime, etc). Then select the 'Report Period' which allows you to select the period of data would you like to view in your report (Today's, Yesterday's, Last 7 days, Last 30 days etc).


Next we come to the crucial part of the process. You have two options: one to select 'Business Service' or two to select 'Monitor'. If you select Business Service, IT360 will provide you the list of various business services created, along with its sub-group. You can either select the entire business service as it is or select the business service sub-group alone.




Similarly, when you select the 'Monitor' option, IT360 provides the entire list of applications/servers/databases that are supported. You can select the monitor types for which you would like the reports to be generated.


Once you that is done, you can select whether this report should be generated daily/weekly/monthly. You can also select the specific time and month(s) should it be generated. These reports are available in PDF format.

The same applies for networks as well. Just click on 'Networks' tab under 'Reports' module. Select any report for which you want to schedule. Click on 'Schedule This'. Provide correct details for the scheduling the report and click 'OK' to schedule the report. 


Now you have the reports with critical data, generated automatically and regularly without any intervention. You can also create multiple reports for various business services or monitor types as well. You can disable them at any time in case you want these reports to be generated.

]]> http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/10/30/enable-schedule-and-generate-reports-in-manageengine-it360 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:59:35 -0700 Generate Reports Using ManageEngine IT360 http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/10/27/generate-reports-using-manageengine-it360 karthi Report generation is the one of the important task of all management tasks. This allows the IT Administrator analyze the trend of every IT resource over time and evaluate its performance. This analysis is useful for making calculated predictions and help take corrective actions.

Generating reports in ManageEngine IT360 is one of the easiest tasks. You have a centralized location from where you can generate a number of different types of reports. You can generate trend analysis report, availability report for the entire business service or for a particular monitor (IT resource). For example, this also allows you to generate Trend Analysis Report which enables you to track various trends of response times of WebLogic Server, view active JDBC connections, JVM Heap Current Size etc. You can also generate reports for ERP system metrics such as SAP or Oracle E-business suite such as Page In/Page Out rate, Spool Utilization, number of Enqueue Requests etc.



To generate these reports in ManageEngine IT360, log in to IT360 console and click on the 'Reports' module tab. In this tab ManageEngine IT360 allows you to generate report for either the business services (applications & servers) or for the network devices which are being monitored.

For business services, you can generate Availability reports, Health reports, Alarm Summary reports, Response time reports, Downtime reports, Trend Analysis report and much more. For more information on Reports in IT360, click here.

ManageEngine IT360 also allows you to generate report for any specific monitor (IT resource) or any specific attribute for that monitor. For example, you can generate the Response time (in ms) for a WebLogic server. You can also generate availability report of an entire business service for any particular period during which it is monitored. You can also select a specific attribute within the business service and generate report.



Similarly to generate reports for various network devices monitored using ManageEngine IT360, click on 'Network' tab. Here you will find a multitude of options to choose from. You can generate reports for various network events, downtimes, alerts etc.



You can also create new reports types such as performance reports, availability reports, response time & packet loss reports, inventory reports and custom reports. Simply provide the name for the new report, select the type of report you need to generate for a device and select the device for which the report needs to be generated. IT360 will automatically select the various attributes available for the device and lets you choose the attributes for which the report is generated.



In the next post, we will discuss about how to schedule reports, enable reports and talk more in-depth about reporting.
]]> http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/10/27/generate-reports-using-manageengine-it360 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:55:18 -0700 ManageEngine IT360 Version 8.0 is ready for Download http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/09/22/manageengine-it360-version-8-0-is-ready-for-download karthi  Today (Press Release) marks the general availability of ManageEngine IT360 (version 8.0), an integrated business service management which allows users to monitor their IT infrastructure with a business context. Since the Beta release in March, we have been receiving overwhelming response from our users and a great number of feedbacks. These feedbacks helped us design this BSM solution which caters to various end users needs.

ManageEngine IT360’s Business Dashboard interface displays the components that make up an organization’s network and the various business services those components support.  Business Dashboards can be customized for specific job functions - from IT administrator up to CIO – with the level of detail displayed tailored for each role. Similarly network, application and traffic dashboards allow each user view information that are specific to their job functions enabling them to do their task effortlessly in addition to creating awareness of the impact it has on each business service. 

Business Service Performance Dashboard
Integrated with ITIL ready Service Desk which features automated trouble ticketing, complete with incident management, problem management, change management, a knowledge base, and more, ManageEngine IT360 reduces the complexity of workflows in production and making it easier for IT administrators to run effective operations.

In addition, support for Oracle E-business suite, VMWare device support, VoIP monitor support is also added. I will be also providing some in-depth details about each feature mentioned here. Feel free to check out some of the new screenshots of these features mentioned here.

So what are you waiting for still? Go ahead and download ManageEngine IT360 now. The pricing of ManageEngine IT360 starts at $4,995 per Year. For more information on various pricing packs, click here.

]]> http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/09/22/manageengine-it360-version-8-0-is-ready-for-download Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:19:17 -0700 Why ManageEngine? http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/06/19/why-manageengine karthi

A Question can save your IT ... forever! 

]]> http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/06/19/why-manageengine Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:44:07 -0700 How do you make Joe the (Server) Plumber understand the Business impact of IT ? http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/04/02/how-do-you-make-joe-the-server-plumber-understand-the-business-impact-of-it girish outage earlier this year, Paul Rubens at ServerWatch wrote that the response from the community was ridiculous and that just about all enterprise applications are unavailable occasionally. He also adds that the moment things do go wrong, CEO Marc Benioff cracks the whip and unleashes a truck-load of techies to scurry around and fix things as quickly as they can. I don't know if Paul is an IT guy but his post reminded me of a friend - a typical technology focused IT operations guy. Let's call him "Joe the (Server) Plumber"! Almost every IT organization today has their own equivalent of Joe the (Server) Plumber who is usually an expert on technology. However Joe never understands why the CEO gets worked up and angry whenever an enterprise application fails. Meanwhile the CEO hopes that someday people like Joe understand that the business is losing money and the trust of customers and that it's not just a Hard-disk read error or a MS-SQL cache problem that was promptly fixed in 6 hours! This is exactly what Business Service Management (BSM) is all about and it is pretty easy to see the benefits if BSM can indeed solve the problem. But how ? The first step in addressing this problem is visibility. Joe needs to see the problem the way the CEO sees it. See the two charts below The chart above shows what Joe is seeing today. CRM Server availability is around 30% in a week. The chart below tells Joe that the company is losing $242K per week because of the failure of CRM. At ManageEngine we believe that if we empower Joe by giving him visibility into the Business Impact of an IT failure, Joe will be able to do different things to improve the efficiency of IT Operations. (Update : Thanks to Doug McClure who was the first person I came across with a clear understanding of the goal of BSM. ) And with ManageEngine IT360 you can get started with what is now known as "Common Sense BSM". If you have a Joe in your organization you can empower them by downloading ManageEngine IT360. You can also see a live demo here. Even after all this, Joe still needs to understand that when everything is working fine, nobody is going to call him and thank him. Welcome to IT, Joe :) ]]> http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/04/02/how-do-you-make-joe-the-server-plumber-understand-the-business-impact-of-it Thu, 2 Apr 2009 15:31:32 -0700 Evolving from Network Management to BSM http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/04/01/evolving-from-network-management-to-bsm girish In recent times there has been a lot of discussion on Business Service Management and the need to Align IT operations to Business Goals. The increasing popularity of ITIL indicates that CIOs and IT managers realize the importance of Aligning IT to the Business. While ITIL has been a big hit in the Service Support area, the progress has not been so great in the IT Operations side. The ground reality today is that most IT organizations are still focused on monitoring the Network and Server infrastructure for availability and performance. One of the main challenges in implementing BSM today is the number of tools that you need to buy and integrate (think of the big Professional Services bill with the army of "consultants") and in today's economy who do you think has the courage to take a proposal for a $1,000,000 BSM project (or even $100,000K  for that matter)? With ManageEngine IT360 we hope to enable an easy and evolutionary approach to BSM. What does IT360 offer ? Traditional IT Management Features - The Foundation Network Monitoring with WAN Traffic Analysis - Everything a Network Manager needs today from up-down availability monitoring to snmp based bandwidth monitoring and Netflow based WAN Traffic Analysis. Server Monitoring - Complete Server Availability and Performance monitoring across Windows, Linux, Unix and IBM AS 400 Servers Application & Middleware Monitoring - including SAP, all kinds of web-servers(IIS, Apache etc.), Middleware(weblogic, websphere, JBoss, MQ Series etc.) and Databases(Oracle, MS-SQL, DB2, MySQL etc.) End-User Transaction monitoring for measuring response time of Business processes like Order Processing etc. BSM Features Business Service Container - The ability to map all of the infrastructure components above into the underlying Business Service Application Dependency Mapping - IT360 allows you to visualize the relationships between the Business Service and the underlying IT Infrastructure Business Level Metrics - IT360 offers the ability to extract IT specific metrics like Server downtime or Response time of an ecommerce application and translate it into Business level metrics like "$ of revenue lost" or "# of Orders processed per hour". This is the fundamental goal of BSM. ie. Enabling  IT operation staff to see how a failure in IT affects the Business. With this visibility IT operations staff will be able to hopefully make different (and better) decisions regarding how they handle these IT failures. IT360 can fetch Business metrics from a variety of data sources. With Support for "database query monitors", "custom script monitors", "JMX adaptors" and a variety of other monitors, information can be pulled from any data source as long as it is out there. IT360 also includes an ITIL ServiceDesk to automate Incident, Problem and Change Management processes - again within the context of a Business Service. There is nothing in the market today that packages all this functionality into one affordable, easy-to-use package. And IT360 allows you to evolve from managing the network to managing the business without requiring any major investments in software purchase or implementation times. And for once your IT operations team will not see it as management pushing some new jargon from the top. Don't take my word for it. View the online demo or download the Beta]]> http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/04/01/evolving-from-network-management-to-bsm Wed, 1 Apr 2009 11:36:02 -0700 Business Services Management Made Easy – ManageEngine IT360 (Beta) is Launched! http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/03/31/business-services-management-made-easy-%25e2%2580%2593-manageengine-it360-beta-is-launched karthi business service management solution which allows them to monitor and manage the IT infrastructure which is critical to the functioning of their business. Their search has resulted with business service management solutions which is either too expensive or it does not deliver what they require. [caption id="attachment_51" align="alignnone" width="475" caption="Business Servie Management Made Easy"]Business Servie Management Made Easy[/caption] With the introduction of ManageEngine IT360, now every organization can afford business service management solution which caters to their needs and to the needs of their organization. ManageEngine IT360 IT Management Solution that helps IT Managers ensure high uptime for their mission critical Business Services. ManageEngine IT360 adds a business perspective to monitoring IT Resources, helping users to understand the impact of downtimes on the business.  The user gets to monitor the availability and performance of mission critical business applications, servers, monitor WAN and Traffic usage, and with in-built ITIL-ready service desk, ManageEngine IT360 allows the technology, processes and people to work smarter for businesses. [caption id="attachment_111" align="aligncenter" width="269" caption="Business Service Management"]Business Service Management[/caption] With agentless methodology employed, monitoring of critical business applications becomes easier and painless. User can monitor end user experience of various applications, understand what is causing performance issues and take corrective actions quickly. This improves end user experience which in turn raises customer satisfaction which in turn increases ROI. Key Business Benefits of using ManageEngine IT360: Line of Business Managers:
  • Understand Performance of Business Applications
  • Monitor End User Experience
  • Track KPIs and Business Metrics
  • Custom Dashboards for various users
For IT Operations:
  • Prioritize Issues in Production
  • Identify Root Cause of Performance Issues Quickly
  • Better Capacity Planning and Higher Return on Investment (ROI)
  • Reduce People Cost by Simplifying Workflows
Go ahead and download the product now! Official announcement of ManageEngine IT360 (Beta)]]> http://blogs.manageengine.com/it360/2009/03/31/business-services-management-made-easy-%25e2%2580%2593-manageengine-it360-beta-is-launched Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:23:32 -0700