CCSS,developers of systems management solutions for IBM i and Power Systems, today releases a new user guide for event monitoring. The guide addresses some of the most demanding challenges in maintaining optimal performance and availability of systems when dealing with planned or unplanned events.

The importance of event management has never been more apparent. Global media coverage of the preparations for the imminent Summer Olympics in London includes reports of IT Managers working on-site, on-demand (and even sleeping in shifts at their data centers,) to ensure continuous availability for the infrastructure powering the games. For companies with no less urgent availability requirements but a distinct lack of manpower to compete with such measures, the approach to event management becomes all-important.

The new CCSS guide looks at anticipated events that are external to the system, such as a critical accounting period, and those within the system – often linked to a process or specific time of day. Unplanned events also take two forms; those that are generated outside the system, for example as a result of a natural disaster, and those from within the system that left unresolved, could ultimately cause a system failure in the worst case scenario. The guide includes real-world insights as to the consequences of missing a seemingly small system event for a large retail organization. 

“Whether events are putting additional external pressure on an environment’s resources or if they are simply part of a daily routine at the system level, a pro-active approach to managing them is an essential part of any overall systems management strategy,” says Ray Wright, CEO of CCSS, “IT Managers can substantially reduce the potential threat to availability that stem from these events by utilizing their knowledge of the business, assessing their ability to respond and investigate any issues in real-time and mapping a suitable escalation path that takes account of other considerations such as shift patterns, devices and team locations.”

IBM i or Power System users looking to achieve ‘gold standard’ preparation for events that could impact their system availability and performance levels can use the guide to identify the most significant issues and areas for review before building their monitoring strategy accordingly. The guide features five top tips for IT Managers who are tackling their event monitoring demands. These tips accompany a review of the most pertinent areas for examination including: any idiosyncratic system requirements – from resources and time management through to security protocol; analysis of message queues to help identify events on the system; disk related events that could threaten availability; HA related events and procedures and finally, the ability to manage system events remotely.

This latest guide supports an earlier CCSS Event Management White Paper which gives users a practical strategy to building event management into their systems management approach. Both documents can be downloaded from the resources section of the CCSS website.  

Download the new Event Monitoring Guide:

http://www.ccssltd.com/artifacts/best-practice/system_managment_guide_for_unplanned_events.pdf

Download the Event Management White Paper:

http://www.ccssltd.com/artifacts/whitepapers/whitepaper-event-management.pdf

For more information on CCSS systems management solutions visit:

http://www.ccssltd.com/products/

CCSS develops, supports and markets IBM i (on Power Systems and System i servers) performance monitoring and reporting, message management and remote management solutions. An Advanced IBM Business Partner, CCSS develops powerful solutions to support some of the world’s most demanding IBM i environments across many industries including insurance, banking, pharmaceutical and manufacturing. Existing customers that rely on CCSS’s feature-rich solutions include leading organizations such as Volvo, Mattel, Newell-Rubbermaid, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Siemens Healthcare. 

CCSS is headquartered in Gillingham, Kent, UK with key regional headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA and Bonn, Germany together with a global agent network spanning Austria, Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.