Software AG introduces Optimise for Infrastructure: Mainframe Edition

Software AG, a global leader in business infrastructure software, today announced the availability of Optimise for Infrastructure: Mainframe Edition.

This new tool enables Software AG customers to monitor the performance of multiple products - including Adabas, Natural, EntireX and ApplinX - from a single graphical viewpoint. In addition, Optimise analyses historical performance data to help customers predict future problems as well as more efficiently fine-tune current system performance.

“Today's IT managers cannot wait for business impact to occur before addressing system issues - they must be pre-emptive and proactive,” said Dr Peter Kuerpick, Chief Product Officer and Member of the Executive Board at Software AG. “Optimise for Infrastructure: Mainframe Edition enables IT managers to identify system-wide problems in the early stages and take action before the business is impacted or System Level Agreements are put in jeopardy.”

“Managing the costs associated with system downtime, maintenance and poor performance is a key KPI for the IT organisation. By enforcing proactive measures such as rules-based event management and notification, SLA management and predictive and analytical capabilities, IT organisations will drive down ownership costs and improve the quality of service they offer to business-critical processes,“ says Software AG South Africa's Ezra Kahimbaara.

Optimise for Infrastructure: Mainframe Edition enables customers to more effectively monitor and manage the behaviour of multiple Software AG products by consolidating input from numerous monitoring products into a Web-based tool. Not only does Optimise consolidate “green screen” information using colour-coded graphs, it also incorporates “learning” capabilities that analyse past behaviour and allow IT managers to take pre-emptive action on out-of-range conditions before the business is impacted. In addition, Optimise enables the IT manager to create rules to manage alerts and escalations in a way that matches his/her personal work style and the unique IT environment being monitored.

Optimise allows customers to choose from a long list of pre-set monitor points or key performance indicators (KPIs) for each of the monitored Software AG products they own. Once KPIs are selected, the customer can easily create rules about when and how to be alerted when a particular parameter goes out of range.

One of the most unique features of Optimise is its support of predictive analysis. Once Optimise tracks a particular KPI for a period of time, it “learns” normal system behaviour.

This learning capability enables an IT manager to receive an alert not only when a fixed measure-point is detected, but when a measurement deviates from normal. Using early-alerts, Optimise can thereby predict and warn of a potentially serious system problem before it happens.

The ability to set rules within Optimise is particularly powerful for alert and escalation management. Not all rule violations across KPIs (or within a single KPI) are of the same importance. Therefore, rules can be set within Optimise, such as: “Send an alert to my e-mail after the second violation,” or “Send an alert to my pager after the third violation.” Optimise can also send an alert, for example, when a particular KPI returns to the normal range.

Optimise is able to receive input from numerous monitoring tools for Software AG products, including tools that monitor Adabas, Event Replicator, Natural, Entire System Server, EntireX and ApplinX. Optimise can also work with third-party tools based on Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). In addition to mainframe-based products, Optimise also supports Software AG products that run on Open System platforms (UNIX, Linux and Windows). Optimise for Infrastructure: Mainframe Edition is shipping now. Visit the Web site for details.