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Bringing System Management to
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Copyright Quocirca 2013
BerntOstergaard
QuocircaLtd
Tel:+4522115591
Email:[email protected]
CliveLongbottom
QuocircaLtd
Tel:+441189483360
Email:[email protected]
BringingSystemManagementto
Messaging&Collaboration
Multiplefixedandmobilemessagingandcollaborationsolutionsincreasethe
needforconsolidatedmanagement
October2013
The fast growing interaction between email, collaborative environments
and social media usage on both fixed and mobile devices is putting
pressure on the corporate management of these activities. Inability to
managethissurgemayresultininefficiencies,securityissuesanddamage
to corporate credibility. General system management tools lack the
detailed ability to seamlessly monitor, manage, plan and update core
business messaging and collaboration environments, notably Microsoft
ExchangeandSharePointenvironments.
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BringingSystemManagementtoMessaging
&Collaboration
MeetinguserexpectationsNewmeansofindividualsandgroupsinteractingareconstantlychallengingthewaythatanorganisationcommunicatesand
collaborates.Socialnetworkinghasgrowninimportance,andtheconsumerisationofIThasdrivenuptheuseofexternalfile-
sharingservicesandcloudinformationstoreson topofthebedrockof corporateemail.Usersentercorporatesiteswiththeir
own wireless devices expecting to access email and collaboration services immediately to get their work done. Corporate
businesscontinuitypoliciesallowlittledowntimeoncorporatecommunicationsystem.
Onepaneofglassto
managemessaging
andcollaboration
apps
Corporate users are extremely sensitive to delays ormessage loss, and increasingmobility
requirementsmakes trackingSLAcompliance tricky.Gainingcontrolof performancemetrics
acrossthecompanysfixedandmobilecollaborationenvironmentsiskeytosuccessfulsupport
ofcorporatecommunications.
Real-timeviewof
enduserapps
performance
The end user is the final arbitrator of applicationperformance, and so the businessneeds
visibility intohowendusers experience their lineof business (LOB) applications. Interested
partiesincludemanagers,applicationownersandITprofessionalsperformancemetricsneed
tobereportedtoeachinameaningfulmanner.
Ease-of-useand
automation
ITadminsmustfreeupworkcyclestoaddressthestreamofnewapplications,supporttheir
businessusersinnovativeworkmodesbyautomatingallmaintenanceofon-goingday-to-day
chores,andabstractthemessagingandcollaborationcontrolplanefromwhateverphysicalor
virtualenvironmenttheappsresidein.
Transparent
implementation&upgrading
Time is money, and fast deployment, maintenance, upgrading and testing should never
degradecorporateeffectivenessandusersatisfaction.Therefore,implementationandupgrade
proceduresshouldalsorunthroughabatteryofreal-useractionstoensuresatisfactoryenduserperformance.Theessentialpointistransparencyoftheupgradeandmaintenanceinorder
toensurebusinesscontinuity.
Proactiveanalytics
andreporting
Scalability these days is anything but linear: escalating traffic volumes and shifting usage
patterns,changingservicepricing structures anduserperceptions allchallengethe adopted
service delivery strategy. Performance degradations are generally noticed immediately.Resourceplanninginmessagingandcollaborationenvironmentsisthereforeaveryvisibleface
ofITtothebusinessusercommunityitserves.Themostimportantthinginanalysisistohave
targeted reports for each of the IT services. Each report targets specific usages and user
environments.Ondemandreportsmustbesimpletoaccessanduse.
ConclusionsSystem and applicationmanagement vendors are attempting to create simpler network and apps management solutions by
increasingthebreadthofhardwareandappstheycanmanage.Insodoingtheyincreasecomplexity,andtheeffortrequiredto
maintainoptimalmessagingandcollaborationcapabilities.LargeMicrosoftExchangeandSharePointshops(typicallywith10,000
usersandupwards)are,bydefault,usingMicrosoftsOperationMonitoringtoolSCOM.However,optimisedmanagementrequires
fullyintegratedthirdpartyvalueacceleratorsontopofSCOMthatfocusonautomatingroutines,aswellashandlingconfiguration
andplanningissues.
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Introduction
Organisations are layering new forms of interaction on the bedrock of their corporate email (dominated byMicrosoft Exchange, IBM Domino, and Google Apps for Business), alongside the internal file sharing systems
(notablybasedaroundMicrosoftSharePoint).Teams,departmentsandindividualsstilldependonemailforkeeping
eachotherappraisedofwhatishappeninginprojectsandtasks;andinteractionswithsuppliersandcustomersare
stillpredominantlythroughthesemechanisms,evenwiththegrowthofsocialmedia.TheExchangeandSharePoint
duohaveemergedasthepointsofreferenceformanycorporateinformationsources.
Themessagingandcollaborationenvironmentstieintomanyotherapplicationsandbusinessprocessesandcome
withaconsiderabledegreeofvendorlock-in,makingplatformchangesadauntingtask.Ifanoutrightproductswitch
is prohibitively costly, users will look to improve overall process performance with better monitoring and
management tools in order to avoid expensive and time consuming one-off investments inmore services, and
technicalexpertstofinetunethetools.
BothbusinessandITmanagersneedtoknowhowemployeesandteamsareusingthemessagingandcollaboration
services,aswellaswhattheenduserexperienceislike;usagemonitoringmustberelatedtospecificprojects;and
similarlyGRC(Governance,RiskandCompliance)activitiesneedbettertoolsthanemailvaultingandarchivingwhen
seekingtoidentifyandassessinformationflows.
However,amoreuser-friendlyandbusiness-outcomerelatedapproachisneededtomanagetheinformationheld
withinemail andcollaborationstores andput theorganisationback in controlof itsmessaging and intellectual
propertyassets.Also,ofcourse,inordertodomorewithless,thereisadrivingneedtoautomateroutinetasksso
astofreeupmoredevelopmentresources.
ThetypicalITmanagerdescribingtheITchallenge:
Our organisation is geographically dispersed and we use many
commonweb-basedapplicationstoruncriticalaspectsofourbusiness.
Theconstantavailabilityandperformanceof theseapplicationshas a
directimpactonourbottomline.Wewanttobeproactiveinsecuring
theperformanceandavailabilityoftheseapplicationsandnotwaituntil
helpdeskgetsacallfromanenduser.
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Businessaspectsofcomms&collaboration
Itiswidelyreportedthat70%ormoreofanorganisationsITbudgetisspentonkeepingthelightson.Notonlytheeverydaymaintenanceofback-ups,patchesandupgrades,alongwithhelpdeskissues,butalsorectifyingerrors
andre-establishingdegradedservicestakeupalargeproportionoftheITbudget.Toolsthatcanautomateeveryday
tasksandreduceerrorscanhaveamassiveimpactonthis.
Byusingsuitabletools:
Heavyusersofemailcanbe identified,andITcanoptimisetheir communicationroutines (e.g.switchingtraffictoIMandVoIPcommunication),andprovidebetteroverallcapacityplanning.Thisreducescallsto
thehelpdeskwhencapacityisconstrained,andreducesthetrafficontheemailarchitecture.
Manyperformanceissuescanbeidentifiedanddealtwithautomaticallybeforeusersbecomeawareofthem.Bestpracticecanbeidentifiedandautomaticallyappliedtouserswhomayaccidentlystrayoutside
acceptedpolicy.
Activitycanbereported,sothatafullaudittrailcanbeprovidedforinternalandexternalGRCrelatingto:newemployees,changes to role or responsibility,and businessleavers,allofwhich canbemoreeasily
dealtwiththroughgreaterprocessautomation.
Integration into other enterprise systems can be carried out faster and with less need tomaintain aconsistentplatform.Similarly,newapplicationversionscanbeinstalledmoreeasily.
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ManagingwithIToperationssolutions
An option close at hand is to rely on the existing IT operations process software in the APM (Applications
PerformanceMonitoring)category.WithAPMglobalrevenuessurpassing$2billionin2012,representingcloseto
10%growthover2011,thisisafastgrowthmarket.
Themainplayersin that fieldareMicrosoftsSystemCenterOperationsManager(SCOM),CATechnologies,BMC
Patrol,HPOpenViewandIBMTivoli.Intheenterprise,APMishandledbythenetworkteam,andisusedtomanage
theperformanceand availability of theentire corporate infrastructure.However, this forces themessaging and
collaborationadminstobedangerouslydependantonnetworkteamsthatarenot focusedonthemessagingand
collaborationperformancegoals.
Evenbasicissuessuchaspendingmailmaynotshowup,andadaptinggeneralnetworkmanagementtoolstoshow
theimportantmessagingandcollaborationperformancedata,andatthesametimefilteringoutthenoise,requires
morescriptingandupdating.Besidesbeingatimesink,adminsriskbeingblindtotheactualenduserexperienceas
itisonlylooselycorrelatedwithnetworkmanagersperformanceassessments.
RatherthanrelyingsolelyonageneralAPMapproach,mostlargeITshopsdeployMicrosoftsSCOM(orSystems
Center2012)fortheirExchangeandSharePointappsbutthisraisesotherchallengesfortheITadministrators.
ManagingwithSCOMMicrosoftprovidesapowerfulsetofSystemCentertoolsformanagingvariousaspectsofadatacentre.SCOM,the
MicrosoftSystemCenterOperationsManagertool,collectsandaggregatesdataonapplicationconfigurationand
performancebutleavesmuchtobedesiredinthegranularityandusefulnessoftheinformationitprovidesrelating
toExchangeandSharePointperformance.
Quocirca discussionswith end users indicate that corporate IT is finding SCOM somewhat over-complex when
managingtheirExchangeandSharePointenvironments.Thechallengesmainlyrelateto:
Alerts Reporting Highlevelofexpertise Maintenanceandfinetuningthesystem
Typically,SCOMgenerates,bydefault,numerousalertsacrossmanysystemsandapplicationsandrequiresmuch
scriptwritingandrewritingtowork,especiallywhensoftwareupgradesareintroduced.Usingthetoolto itsbest
advantageusuallyalsoinvolvesalongandsteeplearningcurvefortheresponsibleITstaff.
TheMicrosoftstrategyistopositionSCOMasthecentralmanagementlayerofthemessagingplatforms.ITcan
leverage SCOM with additional Management Pack add-ons, either developed byMicrosoft or by third party
vendors.MicrosoftbelievesthatbyincreasingthecapabilitiesoftheSCOMtoolboxtoencompassallitsplatforms,
Microsoft will eventually create amoreunifiedand simplifiedmanagement environment.Seen from inside the
Microsoft universe, thismakes a lot of sense. Viewed froma corporate user perspective with otheroperating
systemsandmessagingandcollaborationapps,thecomplexitybecomesaburden.
Within-depthknowledgeofSQL,adminscangeneratemultipleperformancereportsusingReportBuilder,butmost
usersfinditisanightmaretocreatethereportstheyspecificallyneed.AdminsmustuseReportBuilderasitis,in
order toextractthedatatheyneedandgenerate reports.Creatingacustomisedreportormakingchangestoan
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existingonetakesmuchtimeandeffort,withmanyusersavoidingsuchtasksalltogetherpreferringtocontinueto
workwithlittlerealvisibilityofwhatistrulyhappeningwithintheircommunicationandcollaborationenvironment.
Once scriptshavebeen developed,theymust bemaintained,adding furtherexpenseand requiringexpert skills.
Typically,iftheSQLdatabasechangesinonewayoranother,scriptshavetoberewrittenaswell.LackingSCOMand
theManagementPackexpertise,emailadminsorthenetworkandoperatingsystemteamseithermakedowithless
or,whenhard pressed,hire inexpensiveMicrosoft consultants.In bothcases, it isvery challengingfor themto
reallyunderstandanduseSCOMtomonitorandreportonapplicationsafterwards.Similarly,maintainingthescripts
andtheconfigurationoftheproductiscomplicatedwheneveranythingintheenvironmentchanges(versionofthe
ManagementPack,versionofExchange,versionofSCOM,etc.).
Atamoredetailedlevel,testviewsintheOperationsConsolearepopulatedonlyifadministratorsenabletheevent
collection rules for each specific test, and admins also have to customise each management pack. This time-
consumingcomplexfine-tunecaneasilycausesdelays.
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ExchangeandSharePointManagementchallengesOnepaneofglasstomanagemessagingandcollaborationapps
Theterm quickand easy isnot what comes first tomindwhen talkingto ITcollaboration administratorsusing
SCOM. Managing a variety of diverse and shifting corporate messaging environments is a complex and time
consuming IT task. Corporate users are extremely sensitive to delays ormessage loss, and increasing mobility
requirements makes tracking service level agreement (SLA) compliance tricky. Gaining control of performance
metrics across the companys fixed and mobile collaboration environments is, however, key to the successful
supportofcorporatecommunications.
SharePointandExchangeteamsneedtomergemoreandmore,becauseMicrosoftisintegratingitsmessagingand
collaborationsuites.Similarly,othermajormessagingandcollaborationsolutionvendorsarealsomovingtounify
theirapplicationenvironments.However,manycorporateITdepartmentsstillretainseparateadministrativeand
managementteamsfor eachapplication, andrealignmentis takinga longtime.Managementsoftware therefore
needs tobe role-basedto providetherelevantinformation toeachteam,andto supportthemon thetransition
pathtotheintegrationoftoolsandtheExchangeandSharePointenvironments.
Real-timeviewofenduserappsperformanceTheenduseristhe finaljudgeofapplicationperformance,and theenterpriseneedsvisibilityintohowendusers
experience their LOBapplications.Interestedpartiesincludemanagers, applicationowners,and ITprofessionals.
Theyallneedtomonitortheavailabilityandperformanceofbusiness-criticalapplicationsandtoviewthereported
dataona singleweb-basedinterface.Automatedroutinesmustidentifyanyshortfallsbetweenservicegoalsand
actualperformance,allowingITtoquicklybecomeawareofproblems.
WithSCOM,timeisneededtomakeagoodconversionoftheSLAstotheSLOs(ServiceLevelObjectives)inSCOMs
ServiceLevelDashboard.Typically,thiscanbeavailabilityandperformanceforanapplication,agrouporotherclass
ofobjectsinSCOM.
Contractedmessagingandstoragecapabilitiesneedtobedocumentedandalignedwithuserneeds,soanytest
procedureshouldalsorunthroughabatteryofreal-useractions,notably:
TestingdeliveryqueuesinhubsanddatacentrestoensurethattheLargestDeliveryQueueLengthtoagivenMicrosoft Exchange HubTransport serveror Edge Transport serverdoesnot impede theservers
ability to establish an simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) session to other Hub Transport or Edge
Transportservers
Testingalertescalationservicestomonitorsystemhealthwithanescalationticketsystemtodealwithandresolvecriticalsystemstates
Checkingdiskspaceandmaintenancewindow(makingsurethisisnotincludedintheSLAmeasure).
Ease-of-useandautomationAdaptingtonewapps,updatingandshiftingmessagingandcollaborationplatformsisanon-goingprocess.Atthe
corporate level,however, changing thecompanys core communications platform is no lightmatter andentails
muchpreplanning,vendorinvolvement,controlledtestingandrollouts.Thisisfollowedbyaperiodofheightened
customersupportactivitiesputtingadditionalstrainonalreadystrainedskilledresources.
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Being able to easilymigrate themessaging and collaborationmanagement platform is a significantplus in this
process.ItgivestheITdepartmentmoretimetoworkcloselywiththeusersinthetransitionprocess,andshareon-
goingperformancemetricswiththeminwaystheyareusedtoseeingsuchdata.Italsoensuresthatexistingskills
arenotlost:theskillsthattheadminsandothertechnicalstaffhavebuiltupononeplatformcanbemoreeasily
migratedandtransferredtodealwiththenewplatform.
ITdepartmentsknowthattheiruserswillnotreadthemanualandwillexpectaseamlesstransitiontosomething
betteror,atmost,attendashorttrainingcoursetogetintothenewenvironment.Inthisshorttransitionwindow,
theabilitytodemonstrateperformancetotheusersinwaystheyarecomfortableandwellacquaintedwithisa
hugeplus.
Similarly,ontheITstaffside,ashifttoanewmessagingandcollaborationplatformwilloftenrequirenewskillsand
possiblyaroundofnewhiresanddepartures,whichtemporarilydisruptsbusinessprocessesintheITdepartment.
Theabilitytominimisesuchdisruptionsandprimarilyhirenewstafftoenhanceservicedeliveryisabigbenefitas
isofcoursethemoneysaved.
Transparentimplementationandupgrading
Inanysoftwarechangesituation,thehighestpriorityistoensuretransparencyandaseamlesstransitionprocess.In
messagingand collaboration environments, the server-side upgrades should be fast and avoid new code being
added.Upgradesshouldbe invisibleto theuserpopulationbyavoidingtheneedtoinstallnewagentsoftwareor
require the user to change any configurations manually. Changing legacy messaging and collaboration
implementationsofteninvolvescomplexinteroperabilityandconfigurationtesting(POP3,IMAP4,VPN,ActiveSync,
etc.).Innewersystems,wherethefocusisonRPC/HTTPandOWA(OutlookWebAccess,whichprovidesbrowser-
based connectivity to any Exchange or SharePoint account), upgrades should be automated to specified
performancethresholdssetbytheITadmin.Theprocedureshouldalsorunthroughabatteryofreal-useractions,
focusingonthetimeittakestocompletedifferenttasks,toensureasatisfactoryenduserexperience.
Organisationsthatdecidetomigratefromonemessagingandcollaborationplatformtoanothermayalsolookfor
management andmonitoring solutions that span both their existing and future platforms. Greater flexibility is
providedbymanagementsolutionsthatarenotboundtoaspecificmessagingandcollaborationenvironment.
Proactiveanalyticswithon-demandandtargetedreporting
Withfast-pacedtechnologydevelopmentsandchanginguserbehaviour,theabilitytoserviceanincreasinglymobile
workforce,conductefficientresource planningandrespondquickly to changingmarketconditions arepremium
qualitiesforanyITdepartment.
Resourceplanning inmessaging andcollaborationenvironmentsaffects thewholeorganisation,as performance
glitchesaregenerallynoticedimmediately.ThisisthereforeaveryvisiblefaceofITtothebusinessusercommunity
itserves.Changemanagementandday-to-daycoordinationoftheinvolveddeliveryteamsisanon-goingtaskforIT
managers.Togetthejobdone,theyneedplanningtoolsthatcanmapouttheconsequencesofchangingusage
volumesandshiftsbetweendifferentmessagingandcollaborationplatforms.Theyalsoneedthecapabilitytomap
outtheconsequencesofobservedtrendsintheuserbaseandalignthemwithoverarchingcompanygoals.
Before implementation,the ITadminmayalsowant togeneratedifferentscenariosbased on trendingstatistics
overdifferenttimeperiodswithend-to-endservice.TheseperformancescenariosmayinvolvedifferentSLAlevels
basedonspecificmailroutingconfigurationsandhighavailabilityrequirements.Theendusertestsshouldfocuson
thetimeittakestocompletedifferenttasks.Ifthemessagingandcollaborationenvironmentsalsoserviceexternal
usersandpartners,itmayalsobenecessarytosharerelevantaspectsofthesescenarioswiththem.
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Scalabilitythesedaysisanythingbutlinear:trafficvolumesandusagepatterns,servicepricingstructuresanduser
perceptionsallcontributetothepreferredservicescalingstrategy.ITneedstorunseveraldifferentscenariosand
theninvolvemanagementinchoosingtherightone.
StepstoimproveExchangeandSharePointmanagement
Aswehavenoted,changingcorporatemailandcollaborationplatformsrepresentsasignificanttimeandresource
investment.For resource-constrainedadmins,improving themanagementof existing appsmay presenta faster
routetoimprovedperformanceandgreaterusersatisfaction.Tofacilitatesuchaninvestment,ITadminsmust:
Understand what the business requires: Can it meet its GRC requirements? Does the existingcommunicationandcollaborationplatformsupportitsinternalandexternalprocessneeds?Whatislackof
visibility of performance and usage costing the business in hard terms? Is information being sharedeffectivelywhereitneedstobeshared?
Listentoyourusers:Whataretheirpainpoints?Whataretheylookingforinfuture?AretheygettingthesupporttheyexpectfromIT?IsITmeetingitsmanagementperformanceexpectationswiththeresources
available?
Maptheexistingmessagingandcollaborationenvironment:DoesitaddressusersdemandsformobilityandsocialnetworkingandC-levelsecurityandcomplianceconcerns?
Analyse the time used by the messaging and collaboration teams: How much time is taken up inmaintenanceandperformancemanagement?Howmanycallsisthecustomersupportdeskhandling?How
muchtimeareITadminsspendingonday-to-daymaintenancechores?
LookattheITorganisation:Isitoptimalforhandlingcorporatemessagingandcollaborationneeds?Candisparate teams be integrated to ensure common goals and maximise productivity? How hard is it to
updatetheplatform;howmuchtimeandeffortisspentontasksthatcouldbesimplyautomated?Doesit
alignwiththedirectionthattheapps(e.g.ExchangeandSharePoint)areevolvingin?
Analysingbudgetallocations:CanITmakeacaseforbettermanagementtoolswithareturnoninvestmentwithinthepresentbudgetthatwillallowa shiftof effortsfromroutinemaintenancetodevelopingnew
solutions?
On this basis, IT can draw up a prioritised list ofmanagement platform requirements for an RFI (Request for
Information)process,andengagewithpotentialproviders.Focusonthevendorswithcustomersandcasestudiesresemblingonesownorganisation,andvendorswhoarewillingtomodelspecificneedswiththeirtools.
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Conclusions
Powerful generalist systemmanagement tools like HPOpenView, and packaged Microsoft applications such asSCOM, enable companies to improveavailability andperformanceof mission-critical applicationswhile reducing
overallcostofownership.However,thesetoolsrepresentsimplificationthroughcomplicationthebeliefthatby
creating a singlemanagement toolfor awide range ofsoftware andhardware,they canultimatelysimplify the
managementenvironment.
Thedownsidetothisstrategyisthattheintermediatestagerequireshighlevelsofexpertiseandcustomisation.It
forcesusers toundertake complexdevelopments andacquirecomplementary tools in order to accelerate their
systemmanagementprojects.Microsofts grandunificationdrivealsohas significant organisational implications
forthe different teams involvedin servicedelivery.SCOMevolutionis forcingcustomers to integrate Exchange,
SharePointandnetworkteams,butadditionalmanagementsoftwareisneededtosupportthemigrationprocess.
Alternatively,ITdepartmentsmayadoptamulti-vendorstrategytoimprovetheirROIforApplicationPerformance
Monitoring. A varietyof technologiesexist for the instrumentation of customdeveloped applications, but their
capabilitiesdonotextendveryfarintoproprietarymessagingandcollaborationplatforms.
ForlargeExchangeandSharePointenvironments,ITdepartmentsneeddedicatedmanagementtoolsthatintegrate
fullywith,andlayerontopof,SCOMasvalueaccelerators,toprovidetheautomationandseamlessmanagementof
theirfixedandmobilemessagingandcollaborationenvironments,aswellasextendingandacceleratingtheoverall
performanceoftheirsystemmanagementinvestments.
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RaiffeisenInformatikis partof theRaiffeisen BankingGroup,the largestIT providerin Austria. Its
servicesincludeIToperations,outsourcing,clientmanagement,security,andlicensemanagement.It
hasannualrevenuesofaround1.3 billioneuros,and2,800employees inover120 locations in29
countries.
BusinessissueThecompanyneededaproactivemonitoringsoftwaresolutiontomanageaninfrastructurewithup
to70servershostingcollaborationandmessagingapplications.Selectioncriteriaincluded:ease-of-
use,highlevelofautomation,fastdeploymentandupgrading,andscalability.
SolutionchosenRaiffeisenInformatikexaminedthreemarket-leadingmonitoringalternatives.Afterextensivetesting,
theychoseGSXSolutionstoolsforthefollowingreasons:
Rapiddeployment: GSXMonitordeploysinonly5minutes,vs.2daystoconfiguretheold
solution.
Increased security: GSX Monitors agentless installation without the need for additional
codemitigatestheriskofintrusionandsystemdowntime.
Lower total cost of qwnership (TCO): GSX Monitors out-of-the-box solution with
preconfiguredsetupboostsITdepartmentproductivityandcutsinstallation,maintenance,
andupgradecosts.
Easytocustomise:Itissimpletocustomisetaskconfiguration.
Scalability: Only a small team is required to deploy GSX Monitor over a complex
infrastructure, thanks to the pre-configured setup panel. System infrastructure can beseamlesslyexpandedthroughremote,non-intrusivecommunication.Thelegacymonitoring
tool required manual intervention to both install and configure each newly targeted
machine.
Flexibility:ThankstotheJavaConsole,theITteamcanaccessserversandserviceavailability
fromhomeoveraVPNconnection.
Mobile access: Mobile workers can stay connected to IT resources and control server
availabilityfromaBlackBerryorothermobiledevice.
BusinessbenefitsGSXMonitor&Analyzerstreamlines communications servermonitoring,lowers TCO,and resolves
securityconcernsatRaiffeisenInformatik:
GSX Monitor is an impressive and powerful tool which enabled us to drastically reduce our
monitoringsetupandconfigurationtime.Wenowhavereadyaccesstoallthekeymetricsofour
servers,andtheservicesdeliveredtoendusers.--Anthony-GeorgHeijkoop,RaiffeisenInformatik.
RaiffeisenInformatikCaseStudy
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AtosSE(SocietasEuropaea)isaninternationalinformationtechnologyservicescompanywithannual
revenues of 8.8 billion euros and 76,400 employees in 47 countries. Atos provides hi-tech
transactional, consulting and technology services to clients in a diversity of industries, including
manufacturing, retail, government, health, transportation, financial services, telecommunications,
media,energyandutilities. ThechallengeofmigratingforamajorEuropeanbankAtos faced the challenge ofmigrating the old messaging system for a major bank the central
institutionformorethan900cooperativebanksand12,000branchofficestoanewonecreatedby
Atos.Atoshoststhebanks12messagingsevers,andprovidesremoteservicesfor5,200users.Since
the banks financial information is tightly integratedwith its messaging system, it was crucial tomonitorthemessagingsystemsduringthemigrationtoensurethattherewasnodataloss.
Highavailabilitywascentralto thedecision-makingprocess, soAtoshadtohaveatoolin place to
check server and mailbox replication and make sure that the service was delivered without
interruption.Sincethebuilt-intoolsofferedonlypartialmonitoringtoassureasmoothmigration,it
wascriticaltohaveathird-partytooltocloselymonitordatareplicationandassurecompliancewitha
strongServiceLevelAgreement(SLA).
Atos andthebankhadtomonitorbothmailrouting flows(thedirectionroutingtakesthroughthe
environment), server up time and accessibility.Theadministrators had tohave advancenoticeof
emergingmailissuessothattheycouldberesolvedbeforetheygotacallfromauseror,worse,a
companyexecutive.
ValuepropositionofthechosensolutionAfterreviewingvariousoptions,AtoschoseGSXMonitor&Analyzertohelpmanagethemessaging
migration. The signed contract includes a strong SLA that defines various expectations includingserveruptime,serverdowntime,andmailroutingqueues.ThesestrictSLAswereessentialforthe
bank,asrealtimeinformationiscriticaltomakingstrategicmarketdecisions.
AnotherkeyreasonforselectingGSXwasitsabilitytocomparetheperformancemetricsgivenbythe
serviceproviderstoensurehighapplicationavailabilityandservicelevels.
BusinessbenefitsGSXMonitor addressedmigration issues forboth Atos and thebank. Theyfound that they could
easilyconfigureprobestoflowthroughtheirmailsystemtomonitorSLAtimesandretryintervals.
GSXwasalsoabletomeettherequirementsofanydepartment,team,ormailserverwithgranular
SLA configurations.The alerts from theprobeswere sentto variousaddresses andgroups,whichwere able to immediatelysee probe statistics based on SLAsand generate mail flow and routing
reports.
Today,GSXMonitor& Analyzersatisfies all ofthemail flow reportingneedsin asinglemonitoring
toolwithflexibilityacrossalltheservers.Inadditiontothedailyreportsonmailroutingandservers,
Atosisimplementingtrendreportsandforecasting.
WearepleasedwithourchoiceofGSXMonitor&Analyzerforthiscriticalmigrationproject, said
UweWarwel, System Engineer at theAtosCollaboration Competence Center. It proved to bea
powerfultoolthatfullymetourstringentperformancerequirements.
AtosSECaseStudy
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AboutGSXSolutions
GSXSolutionsis theglobal leaderin proactive,consolidatedmonitoring,analysis,andmanagementof enterprise
collaborationandmessagingenvironments.GSXSolutionsdevelopsandmarketsenterpriseInformationTechnology
(IT)infrastructuremanagementsoftwaretoITprofessionalsatorganisationsofallsizes.ThecompanyprovidesIT
departments with agentless monitoring and analytic solutions. These tools simplify work processes and solveproblems faced every day by professionals who manage messaging and collaboration infrastructures such as
Microsoft ExchangeTM, Microsoft SharePoint
TM, IBM Notes
TM, Sametime
TM, Quickr
TM, Traveler
TM, and BlackBerry
EnterpriseServersTM.
GSXSolutions is thepioneerin providing ITprofessionalswith agentlessmonitoring solutionsusingonly a small
workload on theserveritself.Their productline-up includesmonitoringand analytics capabilities formessaging,
collaboration and mobile environments. These tools are designed specifically for email administrators and IT
managerstomanagetheirmissioncriticalcollaborativeapplications.Thissolutionis,aswell,designedforSystem
Integrators,managedservice providersandhosters inorder to supportmajorIT projects forcustomers,suchas
migration,remoteassistanceandcollaboration.
GSXSolutionsisaMicrosoftSystemsCenterAlliancePartner,aMicrosoftSilverPartner,aBlackBerryAllianceElitePartner,andprovidesautomatedservermaintenanceforDominoandWindows-basedservers.
Monitoringmillionsofmailboxesforover600globalenterprises,GSXisheadquarteredinGeneva,withR&DinNice,
France,andofficesintheUS,UKandChina.
Formoreproductinformationandpartneropportunities,pleasevisithttp://www.gsx.com
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AboutQuocirca
Quocircaisaprimaryresearchandanalysiscompanyspecialisinginthe
business impact of information technology and communications (ITC).With worldwide, native language reach, Quocirca provides in-depth
insights into theviewsofbuyersand influencersin large,mid-sizedand
small organisations. Its analyst team is made up of real-world
practitionerswithfirst-handexperienceofITCdeliverywhocontinuously
researchandtracktheindustryanditsrealusageinthemarkets.
Throughresearchingperceptions,Quocircauncovers therealhurdlesto
technology adoption the personal and political aspects of an
organisations environment and the pressures of the need for
demonstrable business value in any implementation. This capability to
uncover and report back on the end user perceptions in the market
enables Quocirca to provide advice on the realities of technologyadoption,notthepromises.
Quocirca research is always pragmatic, business orientated and
conductedin thecontextofthebiggerpicture.ITChastheabilitytotransformbusinessesandtheprocessesthat
drivethem,butoftenfailstodoso.Quocircasmissionistohelporganisationsimprovetheirsuccessrateinprocess
enablement through better levelsofunderstandingand theadoptionof thecorrect technologiesat thecorrect
time.
Quocircahasapro-activeprimaryresearchprogramme,regularlysurveyingusers,purchasersandresellersofITC
productsandservicesonemerging,evolvingandmaturingtechnologies.Overtime,Quocircahasbuiltapictureof
longterminvestmenttrends,providinginvaluableinformationforthewholeoftheITCcommunity.
QuocircaworkswithglobalandlocalprovidersofITCproductsandservicestohelpthemdeliveronthepromisethat
ITCholdsfor business.Quocircas clientsincludeOracle, IBM, CA,O2,T-Mobile,HP, Xerox,Ricohand Symantec,
alongwithotherlargeandmediumsizedvendors,serviceprovidersandmorespecialistfirms.
DetailsofQuocircasworkandtheservicesitofferscanbefoundat http://www.quocirca.com
Disclaimer:
ThisreporthasbeenwrittenindependentlybyQuocircaLtd.Duringthepreparationofthisreport,Quocircamay
haveusedanumberofsourcesfortheinformationandviewsprovided.AlthoughQuocircahasattemptedwherever
possibletovalidatetheinformationreceivedfromeachvendor,Quocircacannotbeheldresponsibleforanyerrors
ininformationreceivedinthismanner.
AlthoughQuocircahastakenwhatstepsitcantoensurethattheinformationprovidedinthisreportistrueand
reflects realmarket conditions,Quocirca cannot take anyresponsibility forthe ultimate reliabilityof thedetails
presented.Therefore,Quocircaexpresslydisclaimsallwarrantiesandclaimsastothevalidityofthedatapresented
here,includinganyandallconsequentiallossesincurredbyanyorganisationorindividualtakinganyactionbased
onsuchdataandadvice.
Allbrandandproductnamesarerecognisedandacknowledgedastrademarksorservicemarksoftheirrespective
holders.
REPORT NOTE:This report has been writtenindependently by Quocirca Ltd
to provide an overview of theissues facing organisationsseeking to maximise theeffectiveness of todaysdynamic workforce.
The report draws on Quocircasextensive knowledge of thetechnology and businessarenas, and provides advice onthe approach that organisationsshould take to create a moreeffective and efficient
environment for future growth.