bringing system management to messaging & collaboration

7/27/2019 Bringing System Management to Messaging & Collaboration

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Bringing System Management to

Messaging & Collaboration

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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Quocirca 2013 - 3 -

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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Quocirca 2013 - 4 -

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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Quocirca 2013 - 7 -

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.

bringing system management to messaging & collaboration

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