Tips and Techniques on how to better Monitor, Manage and Optimize your MicroStrategy System InfoCepts 'LJLWDOO\ VLJQHG E\,QIR&HSWV '1 FQ,QIR&HSWV JQ,QIR&HSWV F 8QLWHG 6WDWHV O 86 R,QIR&HSWV RX,QIR&HSWV H LQIR#LQIRFHSWV FRP 5HDVRQ, DP WKH DXWKRU RI WKLV GRFXPHQW /RFDWLRQ 'DWH By: InfoCepts Jan 2013
Brief Overview of InfoCepts
Helping Our Customers Derive Value from Their Data since 2004 High quality global delivery model with savings of up to 40% Founded and led by ex-microstrategists 350+ people devoted to delivering BI, DW and Integration Solutions 355 We have one of the largest Global pools of MicroStrategy Consultants 167 250 8 years of growth driven largely by referrals and increasing levels of responsibility 71 111 Focus on culture and excellence 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Our Services Data Management BI Strategic Services BI Application Development & Management Data Governance & Stewardship Data Quality Data Integration Unstructured Data Integration Metadata Management Master Data Management Data Analysis Data Design Enterprise Information Strategy and Planning BI Metrics Management BI Centers of Excellence Program Business Analytics Text Analytics Predictive Analytics BI Application Customization Administration and Technology Managed Services Program/Project Management
Our Capabilities Span across Industries and Technologies Technologies BI Data Integration Databases Custom Big Data Specialized MicroStrategy, IBM Cognos, Microsoft BI, Pentaho, TIBCO Spotfire, Tableau, OBIEE Informatica, SQL Scripts, Microsoft SSIS, Oracle Data Integrator, Talend Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM Netezza, Teradata, DB2, Greenplum, AsterData, Vertica, Par Accel, My SQL, PostgreSQL, Essbase MicroStrategy SDK, Cognos SDK, Java,.NET, Flex, Objective C, Yahoo YUI, Ext JS Hadoop, Hive, Map-Reduce, Cloudera, Riak, Apache Flume, Cassandra TIBCO ActiveMatrix BusinessWorks, SPSS, Clarabridge Text Mining Platform, Rapid Miner, Rapid Analytics, CEP Platform Drool Industries Retail, Banking and Financial Services, Online Media, Telecom, Pharmaceuticals, Hospitality, Healthcare, Education
Our Solution Programs BI Application Support & Optimization Mobile Application Design and Development Dashboard and Data Visualization Custom BI Development Big Data Data Quality BI Testing BI Application Migration to Cloud
Mobile App Snapshot
Mobile App Snapshot
Mobile App Snapshot
Our MicroStrategy Mobile App Development Program Mobile App Requirements Questionnaire App Storyboarding Guidelines Mobile App Design Templates Mobile App Design Guide App Development Checklist Test Case Document Mobile Configuration and Deployment Guide
Our Application Management and Optimization (AMnO) Program
Tips and Techniques on how to better Monitor, Manage and Optimize your MicroStrategy System
What are the important issues faced in managing MicroStrategy environment? Why do my reports get delayed? Are my MicroStrategy reports secure? Why has my report performance gone down? Object Migration takes away a lot of my time! How are my licenses being used? Has Testing Automation helped me enough?
My Critical Reports are Often Late!!
# 1 Intelligence Sever or Narrowcast Server running out of memory at the time of report execution Reports Getting Delayed Avg. memory required to execute critical reports Required Memory > Current Memory? Pro-active alert to Administrator for freeing up memory Performance Counter Notification e-mail
# 1 Intelligence Sever or Narrowcast Server running out of memory at the time of report execution Reports Getting Delayed
# 2 Delay in ETL Batch Load Reports Getting Delayed Avg. ETL Batch execution time using ETL tool statistics DB Current Execution Time > Avg. Execution Time? Pro-active alert to Administrator on the possible delay Free form SQL report Notification e-mail
# 2 Delay in ETL Batch Load Reports Getting Delayed
Report Performance Degradation Over Time
#1 Unwanted Cross Joins in a report Report Performance Degradation Enable Report Job SQL Statistics DB Are there reports with cross joins? Send the list to developers to review the necessity of cross joins e-mail notification Remove unwanted cross joins
#2 Fact table is referred more than once in a SQL Pass Report Performance Degradation Enable Report Job SQL Statistics DB Are there reports with Fact Table count in a SQL pass >1? Identify and share the reports with Developers e-mail notification Modify wherever possible
#3 Too much processing on Intelligence Server to execute a report Report Performance Degradation Total Report Execution Time Total Report Execution Time Database Analytical Engine Database AE Can also be done using Enterprise Manager For Expensive Reports Identify reports for which % Analytical Engine Time > Defined Threshold Notify Developers to optimize, wherever possible
Inefficient Object Migration
Manual Object migrations across environments Inefficient Object Migration Developers/Leads create Object Migration Package using MicroStrategy Object Manager Create a folder where all the migration packages will be uploaded Create a File Watcher script which checks if new file is uploaded When a new file is detected, object is migrated to the new environment Send notification of task completion or failure
!! Questions / Comments?
Security Breach in MicroStrategy
#1 Duplicate Attributes in a project Security Breach Consider an example of Regional Sales Reports Region Region Region1 Regional Manager East Region = East Regional Manager East Region = East Location = East, West, North South Check if duplicate attribute definition exist using a Command Manager Script Remove, if unauthorized duplicate attributes exist
#2 Use of Pre Post SQL VLDB Settings of MicroStrategy Security Breach Use command manager script to get list of reports where VLDB setting Pre- Post Statement property is used Get SQL of the these reports using Integrity Manager Remove unauthorized Pre Post statements 28
#3 User is able to view reports that he/she is not entitled to Security Breach Process Action First time Project Migration Ensure Everyone group is not granted project access Object Migration Ensure Folder Access Control List is not undesirably changed by comparing with Baseline Access Control List Command Manager Scripts
#4 Multiple user connection request to MicroStrategy Servers in Enterprise environment Security Breach Breach of corporate Password security policy Monitor the list of distinct IPs for user by executing command manager script in Statistics Database Automatically report suspicious activity
Manual interventions required while using Integrity Manager
#1 Manual Test Creation for multiple reports in Integrity Manager Integrity Manager Create Tests using Test Generator Excel Basic input parameters to create a test: Report List Server Connection Details Processing Options Output MTC file is generated automatically
#1 Manual Test Creation for multiple reports in Integrity Manager Using Perl Script
#2 Manual Creation of Baselines for Critical Reports Integrity Manager Integrity Manager Executable File is used to run test MTC files to automatically create baselines Automate the process for multiple reports using batch scripts
#3 Manual Monitoring of Test Results to determine errors Integrity Manager Write a Batch script to parse Integrity Manager summary XML file Automated mail alert in case of Erroneous Test results
Ineffective License Management
Incomplete view of License usage and allocation Ineffective License Management MicroStrategy License Manager Report Number of Licenses by Product Users by Product
Licence Management - How you would like it to be Ineffective License Management Only 1 license being used out of 10- INVESTIGATE All 11 licenses being used- PLAN Admin and Sales Depts are Over utilizing REALLOCATE Over utilizing licences by 1 IMMEDIATE ACTION User has not logged in for a month - CHECK
Let s Summarize Topic Reports Getting Delayed Report Performance Degradation Object Migration Security Breach Integrity Manager License Management To-do steps Proactively manage memory availability Notify if ETL loads are behind schedule Detecting Cross Joins Detecting Multiple Fact Table references in a SQL pass Analytical Engine time optimization Automate Object Migration process Detecting Duplicate Attributes Detecting Unauthorized Pre-Post SQL statements Manage unauthorized access to reports Preventing password sharing Automate Test creation Automate Baseline creation Automate Error Detection License Management Dashboard 39
imanage 40
Presentation Giveaway Giveaway: Key Metrics for MicroStrategy Administrators Will be available on Feb 01, 2013 on: http://www.infocepts.com/microstrategyworld/ Feel free to reach out to us for details of any of the scripts: sbhagat@infocepts.com anaidu@infocepts.com 48
Thank You