IBM Netcool network management solutions for enterprise The big picture view that focuses on optimizing complex enterprise environments Highlights Enhance network functions in support of business goals Provide end-to-end network visibility to improve management operations Support the entire management lifecycle with an integrated portfolio of solutions There s no question that in today s highly instrumented, interconnected and intelligent world, the technology infrastructures that support and connect the enterprise grow more complex daily. The question lies in how to handle that complexity. How to discover the components of the enterprise network. How to understand the network topology. And how to optimize the network so the business can build a competitive advantage from its investments. Enterprise network management may begin with the pieces the routers, switches, hubs and other devices that tie the network together. But increasingly network administrators need the big picture. They need ways to meet complex challenges posed by the introduction of new technologies, mergers and acquisitions, compliance requirements and rising customer expectations. They need sophisticated tools and meaningful insights that allow the enterprise to better use its network to grow services, enhance the customer experience, become more agile and flexible, boost operational efficiency and reduce costs. IBM Netcool network management solutions provide automation capabilities that enable businesses to better control, manage and grow their networks. Scalable to the tens of thousands of devices that a large, multisite, multivendor enterprise network can have, these solutions provide a critical view into the real-time state of devices. They support configuration and change management across the complete network lifecycle. They help ensure compliance, security and effective resource provisioning as the network evolves to support today s dynamic business.
Enterprise challenges: Giving the network needed support Enterprise network management does not always receive the importance it deserves. Approaches that focus on piecemeal addition of technologies result in hard-to-manage silos of networking equipment, servers, storage devices and applications. On-the-fly configuration activities that address only the immediate needs for functionality can lead to errors and problems. The constant pressures to fix those problems stretch the IT staff until there is no time to take a proactive approach to network improvement. And if network management is outsourced as it often is the result can be that even less attention is paid to this critical business resource. Meanwhile, the business needs to get the most out of its network if it is to achieve goals for growth. Whether rolling out new products and services or improving its existing offerings, the enterprise needs to tap the insights its network can provide for understanding the customer s buying behavior, improving customer service and increasing customer satisfaction. It needs to use the network to improve and streamline operations. An effective network management solution can help the enterprise identify both opportunities and roadblocks. How does a purchase or other event impact the business? Are certain events or activities consuming network resources to the exclusion of others? When a network outage occurs and business operations slow, what was the root cause of the problem? Is it possible to save money or boost the network s performance by removing services or technologies that are still in place but are no longer required? A solution that provides a common format for seeing and understanding the network s inner workings and more importantly, how the network affects business can be crucial to enterprise success. Netcool solutions: Designed to help ensure network performance As part of an integrated IBM portfolio, Netcool network management solutions provide both the details and the big picture view that network administrators need. The industry-leading capabilities of solutions support and manage infrastructure operations, while network configuration solutions provide the tools to ensure that network components are deployed for optimum performance. Netcool network management solutions work together to provide end-to-end visibility of the enterprise network. They consolidate configuration, performance and fault management systems so that administrators can better assess physical and logical components, understand the linkage between connected components, and collect and analyze information about operations, management and customers. Scalable solutions help meet the challenges of an expanding and evolving network. Performance management solutions help identify and fix bottlenecks before they affect network service. Configuration management solutions automate tasks to free IT staff to focus on proactive, strategic activities. Real-time monitoring and reporting solutions discover and analyze the causes of quality issues. s platform-agnostic, cross-vendor solutions integrate easily across existing devices, breaking down silos across domains. They provide a unified approach with no rip and replace required that spans hardware, software and services to manage and troubleshoot a wide range of issues. The result is enhanced management of service quality and the customer experience. 2
Managing the Impact of Change Business service management Real time service status monitoring SLA and service performance Customer experience management Service configuration database Service definitions Business service impact Consolidated operations management and domain-specific management Performance Fault Configuration and compliance Data discovery and proactive monitoring Configuration and remediation Fixed/mobile networks Applications and servers Netcool network management solutions add capabilities for monitoring and controlling changes that affect configuration and compliance. They enhance the ability to manage the impact of change on business services. 3
Enhancing network management today and tomorrow The highly complex enterprise networks of today need comprehensive management throughout the lifecycle if they are to meet business demands for reliability and performance. Management tools must provide a unified system that makes full use of visibility across network assets, scalability for constantly changing needs, and integration with other tools. This tool system must enable a broad scope of functions across the network, provide the flexibility required to adapt to change and convergence, and deliver data and capabilities for analysis to pinpoint network problems and speed repairs. The Network Management Lifecycle From establishing governance policies to managing day-today changes to preparing for a regulatory audit, Netcool solutions can help ensure that devices are configured correctly and that the network delivers the performance the enterprise requires. To improve the accuracy and reliability of configurations, Netcool solutions help ensure that changes are executed in accordance with established policies reflecting industry standards, security controls, regulatory requirements, and other guidance that is unique to the organization. From configuration to customers, addressing key operational areas Throughout the network lifecycle, Netcool network management solutions address key areas of enterprise operations, including event management, performance management, business service management and configuration management. These operational functions include: Monitoring and management Discovery IBM Netcool network management solutions Security and control Event management Collection and consolidation of events and alarms from operations and devices, with presentation in an intuitive, graphical console Automatic network discovery to improve network visibility and drive reliability and performance with an enhanced understanding of the complex network and root-cause events Provisioning Configuration and change management Compliance and audit Across the entire network management lifecycle, Netcool solutions can help ensure network configuration, compliance and performance. 4
The ability to quickly support advanced service offerings based on an extensive off-the-shelf technology pack library and upgrades, along with the ability to meet network equipment providers release cycles Help in reducing the likelihood and duration of service degradation, disruptions and time-consuming troubleshooting using performance, usage and network health information that can be shared with appropriate personnel across the organization The Integrated Portal presents an event list and a performance view of resources causing events. The upper half displays performance management threshold alarms. From each alarm, the user can contextually update the performance view on the lower half of the screen. Performance management Network-wide analysis of infrastructure performance, based on capturing and analyzing vital network metrics from legacy and next-generation networks and services Tools for proactively monitoring and predicting important trends to help improve network utilization and increase productivity Business service management Targeted service visibility and intelligence for use in gauging how the business is delivering against defined revenue, growth, service level and other operational objectives; realtime dashboards display key performance indicators (KPIs), balanced scorecards, reports, charts and graphs Predictive analytics that help prioritize problem response by automatically identifying the root cause of service problems developing across operational silos, as well as the impact of problems on service health and SLAs Out-of-the-box integrations with existing IBM and thirdparty dependency, data and event sources that automatically maintain the service model and update KPIs and balance scorecards in real time Configuration management Software distribution capability that supports the rapid and efficient deployment of applications to multiple locations from a central point Inventory capabilities that enable automatic network scans and collection of information on hardware and software configurations Automated capabilities for configuration and change management, security control, provisioning, policy-based compliance, resource reconciliation and software upgrades The ability to make non-disruptive changes to an operating system configuration without the need to reboot the device. 5
Meeting a full range of technical and functional needs The ever-increasing importance of the network in supporting and enabling business processes demands solutions that ensure optimum network operation. Netcool solutions can be a key element in meeting enterprise network challenges from the growing complexity of heterogeneous environments to increased requirements for compliance, the need for enhanced security, and customer demands for improved service. These solutions meet a variety of technical and functional needs, including: Network configuration and change management: Dynamic and highly competitive business environments often require an organization to alter or add direction quickly. Automating management can help changes run smoothly by speeding IT operations and ensuring continued regulatory compliance. Automated Netcool solutions simplify time-consuming, individual management tasks and help make possible major business initiatives such as the move to cloud computing in complex, heterogeneous environments. Regulatory compliance: A reusable policy framework provides the visibility the organization needs in order to understand its network compliance readiness at any time. Netcool solutions automate the network compliance lifecycle to define policies, validate devices against policies, resolve violations and report results in a continuous and closed-loop manner providing IT staff with greater control of network resources and facilitating audit-readiness. Discovery, visualization and modeling: A reliable view into the network infrastructure s configuration and health is critical to maximizing asset utilization. Automated discovery at the device level provides visibility into the configuration of all devices and reveals underutilized assets to help reduce costs due to overbuilding and unnecessary duplication. Patented modeling capabilities simplify the complexities of disparate configuration languages by translating device information regardless of vendor, type, model or operating system into an XML-based representation containing configuration demands, allowed parameter ranges, inter-relationships and intelligence necessary to configure devices. These Netcool tools help the administrator better understand the network, the impact of problems on services, and priorities for policies on availability and performance requirements. The knowledge that discovery, visualization and modeling provide is key in optimizing operational efficiency. Operating system upgrades: Moving to the latest version of an operating system running on a network device can be labor intensive and fraught with error. But Netcool solutions, with their capability for non-disruptive change, can help reduce the chance of mistakes. The software conducts a test run before the actual upgrade, checking to ensure that the device has sufficient hardware and storage space and can accept the new version of the operating system. Even after the upgrade, Netcool solutions enable the administrator to roll back the operating system to its previous configuration if such a change becomes necessary. Dynamic provisioning: Netcool solutions support the complete network provisioning process from initial element and path configuration through resource availability checks, ongoing dynamic allocation of resources and exception handling. 6
Conclusion IBM Netcool network management solutions work together with the Integrated Service Management portfolio to deliver comprehensive solutions for automating and simplifying configuration and change management, demonstrating regulatory compliance, speeding deployments, and reducing operational costs. Real-time visibility and monitoring help ensure network availability and quality across the network management lifecycle. The IT department can both increase productivity for routine functions and take proactive steps to building a strategic network that will help the business move forward. The ability to confidently respond to changing business needs can give today s enterprises a competitive edge, helping to ensure that the network infrastructure is configured to support business goals. For more information To learn more about IBM Netcool network management solutions and how they can help manage complex, multi-technology, multivendor environments, automate manual operations and improve productivity, contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit ibm.com/tivoli/solutions/network Netcool Products Netcool/OMNIbus Netcool/Impact Netcool Configuration Manager Netcool Performance Manager Netcool Service Quality Management Center Network Manager About software from IBM software offers a service management platform for organizations to deliver quality service by providing visibility, control and automation visibility to see and understand the workings of their business; control to effectively manage their business, help minimize risk and protect their brand; and automation to help optimize their business, reduce the cost of operations and deliver new services more rapidly. Unlike ITcentric service management, software delivers a common foundation for managing, integrating and aligning both business and technology requirements. software is designed to quickly address an organization s most pressing service management needs and help proactively respond to changing business demands. The portfolio is backed by world-class IBM Services, IBM Support and an active ecosystem of IBM Business Partners. clients and Business Partners can also leverage each other s best practices by participating in independently run IBM User Groups around the world visit: www.tivoli-ug.org Additionally, financing solutions from IBM Global Financing can enable effective cash management, protection from technology obsolescence, improved total cost of ownership and return on investment. Also, our Global Asset Recovery Services help address environmental concerns with new, more energy-efficient solutions. For more information on IBM Global Financing, visit: ibm.com/financing 7
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