SapphireIMS 4.0 Prduct Features COPYRIGHT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER All rights reserved. N parts f this dcument may be reprduced in any frm withut the express written permissin f Teckndreams Sftware Cnsulting Pvt. Ltd. Teckndreams makes n representatins r warranties with respect t the cntents heref. In additin, infrmatin cntained herein is subject t change withut ntice. Every precautin has been taken in the preparatin f this dcument. Nevertheless, Teckndreams assumes n respnsibility fr errrs r missins r any damages resulting frm the use f the infrmatin cntained in this publicatin. All trademarks belng t their respective wners. Page 1 f 16
Intrductin The emergence f new technlgies, IT becming an integral part f the business, peridic churn f IT administratrs and mbile wrk cultures has increased the cmplexity f IT infrastructure management in tday s wrld. CIOs must be adequately equipped t handle the challenges psed t them in rder t assure the smth running f their business IT envirnment. CIOs and IT managers are lking twards implementing prven IT plicies t handle these challenges effectively. T implement the prcesses, integrated and standards cmpliant prducts have becme the need f the hur. SapphireIMS is a cmprehensive integrated IT infrastructure management suite, with a cmplete set f features that are needed t manage yur rganizatin s IT infrastructure in an intuitive, efficient and standards cmpliant manner. Threshld / Escalatin Alerts Service Prtal Reprt Manager Service Desk SLA Management Sftware License & Plicy Management User Experience Mnitring (E- Mail, FTP, HTTP) Inventry & Cnfiguratin Management Perfrmance & Availability Mnitring Lg Mnitring (Eventlg, Syslg, SNMPTrap) Remte System Administratin Cntrller Netwrk Device / Link Mnitring Data Cllectin Manager (Standard Based / Custm) Netwrk Devices Servers Desktps Services / Applicatin s Page 2 f 16
SapphireIMS ffers an integrated set f features t help CIOs and IT managers handle the challenges faced by them efficiently and stay in cntrl f their IT envirnment in a prcess riented manner. SapphireIMS cmes with simple, easy t use cnsle and web-based interfaces and simplifies the cmplexity f management. Executive dashbards prvide quick views f the IT envirnment n a single click. This dcument prvides the details abut the features ffered by SapphireIMS. The technical pre-sales team can be cntacted fr clarificatins r further details. SapphireIMS supprts a distributed architecture where the slutin can be deplyed in a single server r distributed ver N servers based n the scalability requirements. Figure 1 SapphireIMS remte data cllectrs r prbes are deplyed in remte ffices fr lcalizing the data cllectin and the cllected data is sent t the central server thrugh a secure HTTP link as shwn in Figure 1. This apprach ptimizes the usage f the WAN bandwidth. If the scalability demands are high, a distributed apprach can be fllwed with the database installed n a separate server and the applicatin n a separate server and this can be achieved withut re-architecting the slutin. Page 3 f 16
SapphireIMS als prvides supprt fr unified agent architecture using which devices/systems can be managed seamlessly and all the agents cmmunicate with the central server thrugh web services interface. The cmmunicatin between the agents, prbes and the central server is encrypted and is cmpletely secured. The prbes perfrm the jb f replicatin agent r prt multiplexer as they talk t the central server behalf f the agents running in the lcal envirnment. There is ften requirement t supprt multiple departments in an rganizatin with distinct business prcesses r in the case f managed service prviders t manage IT services fr varius rganizatins. This can be achieved using the multi-tenant feature f SapphireIMS which allws the data and prcesses fr each department r rganizatin t be maintained in a secure and independent manner. SapphireIMS has cmplete high availability supprt and the architecture diagram in Figure 2 depicts the same. Figure 2 Service Desk Centralized service desk allws the rganizatin t streamline the service delivery and measure the effectiveness in a qualitative and quantitative manner. Page 4 f 16
Industry standard and best practices ITIL templates(incident management, Prblem Management, Change Management and Ad-hc Service Desk) built-in fr direct use Ability t publish the standard service delivery fferings as a Service Catalg fr quick reference. Align service delivery mechanism with the rganizatin s IT service delivery prcess. Ability t create multiple prjects fr cntrlled access and prject specific cnfiguratins Cnfigurable service-request state machine flw t enable the rganizatin t achieve the same Supprt fr distinct wrk-flws fr administratrs/technicians and external users Ability t synchrnize with Active Directry / LDAP Assciate service-request with Lcatins and Departments Assciate service-request with Categries, Sub-categries, Criticality, Severity and ther relevant fields t prvide cmplete infrmatin abut it in a simplified manner Cnfigurable interfaces t ppulate standard fields(lcatin, Department, Categry, Sub-categry, Severity) t simplify the service-request submissin prcess Supprt fr dynamic fields / cntext sensitive fields based n service request categry Supprt fr dynamic enclsure additins t prvide meaningful infrmatin abut the service requests Ability t add attachments as part f service requests Supprt fr multiple surce fr service request lgging Email Web Telephne (Manual entry created by the administratr n behalf f the user) Assciate apprval cntrl with service-requests. Enables the rganizatin t cntrl specific service-requests t get apprved frm the apprval authrities. Example: Licensed sftware installatin requests need apprval frm the apprval authrity Cnfigurable Autmatic Assignment algrithm fr assigning service-requests t the administratrs Page 5 f 16
Integratin with SMS sub-system fr generating SMS alerts t ntify the administratrs Knwledge base Supprt fr apprval mechanism t stre the apprpriate details. Search n the cntents and managing the same SLA Mnitring Assign service delivery time as per rganizatins prcess based n nature f service requests. Assign escalatin mechanism Supprt fr suspended states f request prcessing t have mre accurate SLA as per the rganizatin prcess definitin SLA engine mnitrs each service requests against the expected servicedelivery time. Upn vilatin, escalated t right users t bring it t management visibility. Maintenance f Histry fr auditing purpse API s fr autmatic submissin f service requests frm fault management and ther IMS mdules Interface t schedule ticket submissin fr rutine jbs (weekly backups etc) Interface t autmatically cnvert the email received as a service request r t maintain an email queue internally Ntificatins thrugh E-Mail/SMS Interface t bradcast critical infrmatin thrugh service desk Annuncements Ability t cnduct nline surveys t cllect end user feedback Reprts SLA Cmpliance Reprt User-wise call status Reprt Administratr call status Reprt Statistical reprts using any f the service desk parameter Trends Call Arrival Call Reslutin Pwerful filters fr ease-f-use Autmatin layer Helps t perfrm cnditinal call ruting t specific rles in the system based n the business rules prvided Page 6 f 16
Scripting layer Ability t launch pre and pst actin scripts specific t the cntext f the request thus prviding tighter integratin within different mdules as well as 3 rd party applicatins. Asset lifecycle management Asset infrmatin like make/mdel/hardware details/ warranty details/ PO details etc fr each f the asset type can be mdeled and captured. This can be recnciled and tagged with the discvered inventry. The entire asset life cycle peratins (right frm prcurement t scrap) can mdeled and linked with the service desk, thereby there wn t be any asset mvement/ allcatin withut a valid service request. Organizatins can als have an up t date recrd f wh uses what and als the in stck items f the inventry thus making planned prcurements. System supprts inventry and change management fr hetergeneus IT envirnment. The standard based data cllectin apprach helps the rganizatin t keep the dynamic inventry infrmatin reflecting the current state. - Mdeling f assets and assciated prperties as per yur business need (make/warranty details/ purchase details/ vendr details etc). System prvides asset f built-in asset templates and als the ability t add custm fields as per user needs. N restrictin n the number f fields. - Cnfigurable asset life cycle state machine (Prcurement till retirement), allws yu t stay in cmplete cntrl f assets (wh uses what asset and where) - Aut Discvery Aut enumeratin f Windws devices Netwrk Devices & Servers Cnfiguratin Discvery interval IP range Windws Dmains - Agents can be pushed t the target systems thrugh Agent distributin engine which is available fr dmain envirnments. - Detailed System / Device Inventry System, Bis, Disk, CPU, Memry, Interface cnfiguratin, User Cnfiguratin, Prts, Installed Sftware, Peripherals, Ht-fixes, Serial numbers, etc. - Ability t mnitr hetergeneus systems(windws XP, Windws 7, Windws 2003 Server, Windws 2008 Server, Linux, AIX, HP-UX, Slaris) using the Page 7 f 16
standard based apprach. Supprted standards are Windws Management Interface (WMI) Simple Netwrk Management Prtcl (SNMP v1/ v2c, v3) Web Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) SSH - Discver changes in the base-lined inventry - Mapping between the lcatins and systems/devices - Ability t add custm-tags, inventry item number, etc. - Ability t add external custm depreciatin rules - Ability t assciate discvered system with additinal fields like an inventry-tag, Warranty perid, AMC perid, Service prvider, etc. - Supprt fr maintaining nn-digital / un-managed IP inventry - Reprts Multiple frmat supprt PDF, Excel, HTML Overall inventry Sftware inventry Hardware inventry Sftware License Management Effective vigil against the license usage is must t save the cst as well as t avid license vilatins. - Master License inventry t hld the existing licenses purchased frm varius vendrs; Ability t add the licenses as per the purchase mdels with an ease t map t Purchase rders - Supprt fr time-based and permanent licensing appraches - Dynamically retrieved sftware inventry in the rganizatin - License installatin analysis and Reprting - Vilatin reprts alng with the installatin details enabling rganizatin t quickly act and be cmpliant all the time Plicy Management SapphireIMS helps the rganizatins t perfrm effective IT plicy audit f their existing infrastructure against well derived rganizatin plicies. Page 8 f 16
- Mapping f rganizatin IT plicies int SapphireIMS plicy rules - Supprt fr multiple plicies - Lgical mapping f plicies and the systems expected t cmply - Easy generatin f cmpliance and nn-cmpliance reprts IMAC Prcess Implementatin / Service desk Integratin Seamlessly integrates with SapphireIMS Service desk t deliver the fllwing features. - Lgging f service requests/incidents/prblem/change against the assets r CI s. Enables the tracking f chrnic assets, repeated issues, etc. - Asset lifecycle management(imac) prcess implementatin which ensures that the assets are managed as per the defined prcess and als updates the asset repsitry autmatically t keep the recrds intact - Can be extended t include asset allcatin management prcesses which may invlve ne r mre apprvals System Management and Autmatin System Management autmatin includes tasks that wuld be repetitive in each Windws system and wuld require a desktp visit in the nrmal scenari. SapphireIMS prvides a framewrk using which these tasks can be autmated and scheduled and executed as a batch. This ensures that the remte tasks get cmpleted n the target systems withut a desktp visit, ensuring a faster and cntrlled executin. The fllwing list explains the set f activities that are available as part f the framewrk Patch Management Helps t scan the netwrk fr all the missing windws patches Allws administratrs t perfrm a patch apprval, upn which the patch gets dwnladed and deplyed in the target devices Central Management f all the windws patches, prvides cntrl f critical patches and als saves bandwidth Share Management - Manage all the pen shares and the prperties n the netwrk Managing External Drives - Enable/Disable external drives n the target systems remtely, Drives include Flppy/ CD Drive and USB drives Page 9 f 16
User accunt management - Manage User accunts and the privileges set fr them remtely (peratin includes all standard user accunt settings as prvided by Windws) Executing any Custm Script - Launch scripts remtely n the target systems Disk Management - Perfrm disk management activities like fragmentatin remtely and peridically Managing Envirnment Variables - Manage envirnment variables and their prperties remtely (peratin includes bth the system and user variables) IE Prxy Setting - Deply IE prxy setting prperties t all target brwsers. This helps in cntrlling and managing the setting. Sftware Installatins - Deply sftware packages remtely; als uninstall restricted sftware remtely if it is detected in the netwrk Printer deplyment - Manage the printer additins and deletins remtely. This helps when a new printer gets deplyed in the netwrk and the same can be cnfigured in the target devices. System Restre - Manage the system restre settings (turning ff r turning n) as per the IT plicy f the netwrk. USB Prt(s) - Manage the usage f USB data drive plicy (example disabling the usage f USB data drives t be used in the netwrk, and selectively enabling it n need basis) System Maintenance activities System Maintenance activities include peridic r ad-hc maintenance activities that wuld need t be carried ut n the target devices. This includes Shutdwn devices Rebt devices Pwer On devices (if in case Wake-On LAN feature is enabled) Business Service Mnitring Organizatins are aware that even a marginal dwntime is enugh t impact their revenue margins by virtue f lesser prductivity r in sme cases even lst business pprtunities. A cmmn myth is that business cntinuity assurance is abut having a prcess by which plans are put in place and managed t ensure that IT Services can recver and cntinue shuld a serius incident ccur. It is nt just abut reactive measures, but als abut practive measures - reducing the risk f a disaster in the first instance. As rganizatins grw in size there is an expnential increase in the IT adptin t Page 10 f 16
imprve business efficiency. SapphireIMS supprts mnitring f the perfrmance and health f Critical servers, applicatins and links. Perfrmance mnitring is critical t assure business cntinuity and capacity planning. System level data cllectin interval supprt N custm/prprietary agents needed fr data cllectin Ability t mnitr hetergeneus systems (Windws 9x/2000/XP/7/2003/2008, Linux, Slaris, AIX, HP-UX) using the standard based apprach. Supprted standards are Windws Management Interface (WMI) Simple Netwrk Management Prtcl (SNMP) Web Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) SSH Standard perfrmance Parameters CPU Disk Interface Memry Paging Disk I/O Device/vendr specific parameters (fr instance, printer mnitring supprts the number f pages printed, tner details etc, UPS mnitring supprts the battery health, CISCO devices prvides cisc specific health mnitring parameters) Plug-in supprt fr IPSLA mnitring Availability mnitring System Interface Applicatin Windws Services and prcesses Supprts threshld mnitring f the parameters cllected Cnfiguratin Value range fr the parameters t raise Infrmatin alert r Warning alert r Errr alert Enabling / Disabling f cnsecutive alerts fr recurring prblem Tlerance level t indicate the acceptable time-limit fr each prblem Page 11 f 16
Alarms and Alerts are generated upn threshld breach and fllwing actins can be cnfigured E-mail alerts based n rles r users SMS alerts based n rles r users Launching f custm applicatins Service Desk ticket creatin Histrical data strage Reprts Intuitive graphs t indicate cllected parameter value perfrmance TpN reprts and Business Intelligence Reprts Histrical data based Multiple frmat supprt PDF, HTML Autmatic mailing f reprts as per the cnfiguratin Business level Mnitring Traditinally rganizatins mnitr infrastructure cmpnents, applicatins, services, etc. separately and take crrective actins. As the business service delivery infrastructure cmplexity grws with the adptin f clud, etc., it becmes critical t mnitr the health and availability frm the service perspective which has direct impact ver business. SapphireIMS allws the rganizatin t define business critical services and their dependent infrastructure cmpnents with redundancy, impact, etc. It prvides intelligent ntificatins upn threshld breach which helps the service persnnel t act quickly t avid any degradatin in service perfrmance and avid ptential disasters. Service Quality Mnitring / Synthetic Transactins SapphireIMS has an ability t measure the service quality f the business applicatins which are critical t the rganizatin. Mnitring availability des nt give enugh details abut the end-user experience and measuring the actual service quality by perfrming synthetic transactins helps t get a better view. Supprts services quality mnitring f E-mail FTP Services HTTP DNS RADIUS DHCP Parameters are cllected by perfrming synthetic transactins. Hence, cllected parameters reflects actual user experience fr the same services Page 12 f 16
Supprts threshlds mnitring f the service quality parameters Cnfiguratin Service quality parameter value range Enabling / Disabling f repeated alerts fr recurring prblem Tlerance level t indicate the acceptable time-limit fr each prblem Alarms and Alerts are generated upn threshld breach and fllwing actins can be cnfigured E-mail alerts based n rles r users SMS alerts based n rles r users Launching f custm applicatins Service Desk ticket creatin Histrical data strage Reprts Intuitive graphs t indicate cllected parameter value perfrmance Histrical data based Multiple frmat supprt PDF, HTML Autmatic mailing f reprts as per the cnfiguratin Netwrk Device & Link Mnitring SapphireIMS has an ability t mnitr critical devices and utilizatin f the back bne links. Discvers the devices in the netwrk; Cmplete supprt fr hetergeneus multivendr envirnment N custm/prprietary agents needed fr data cllectin Ability t mnitr devices using the standard based apprach. (SNMP) System supprts the plling f Enterprise MIB t find ut the device classificatin. If the device is nt supprted by default, it can be discvered thrugh additinal cnfiguratin based n IETF/RFC standard MIBs published by the equipment manufacturer. SNMP Traps and Syslg event cllectin Interface statistics Supprts threshld mnitring f the parameters cllected Cnfiguratin Page 13 f 16
Value range fr the parameters t raise Infrmatin alert r Warning alert r Errr alert Enabling / Disabling f cnsecutive alerts fr recurring prblem Tlerance level t indicate the acceptable time-limit fr each prblem Alarms and Alerts are generated upn threshld breach and fllwing actins can be cnfigured E-mail alerts based n rles r users SMS alerts based n rles r users Launching f custm applicatins Service Desk ticket creatin Histrical data strage Systems/Devices can be cnfigured fr scheduled maintenance and this shall take care f aviding generating alarms and ntificatins during the planned maintenance perid. Rle based User access cntrl t limit the access t critical devices and views Reprts Intuitive graphs t indicate cllected parameter value perfrmance Histrical data based Multiple frmat supprt PDF, HTML Autmatic mailing f reprts as per the cnfiguratin Applicatin Health Mnitring SapphireIMS has built-in mechanism t mnitr the health f ppular applicatins in the market. Currently supprted applicatins include Database servers (mysql, MS*SQL, Oracle, Sybase) Applicatin servers (Tmcat, JBss) Micrsft Applicatins (IIS, Active Directry, Exchange Server) Ability t mnitr hetergeneus systems using the standard based apprach. Supprted standards are Windws Management Interface (WMI) Custm scripts Java Management Extensins (JMX) Plug-In develpment interfaces are available t add the health mnitring fr ther standard / custm applicatins Page 14 f 16
Alarms and Ntificatins are generated upn threshld breach and the fllwing actins can be cnfigured. E-mail alerts based n rles r users SMS alerts based n rles r users Launching f custm applicatins Service Desk ticket creatin Histrical data strage Reprts Intuitive graphs t indicate cllected parameter value perfrmance Histrical data based Multiple frmat supprt PDF, HTML Autmatic mailing f reprts as per the cnfiguratin Event Cllectin & Management Lg Analyzer SapphireIMS has an ability t cllect and analyze critical lgs and events generated by the critical servers and devices. Supprted lg-types Windws Event lgs SNMP Trap messages Syslg messages Applicatin lgs (file based) Retrieval is instantaneus in case f SNMP Traps and Syslgs Retrieval f Event Lgs is incremental fr as per the cnfigured interval Supprts a rule based engine t cnvert the cllected events and lgs t alarms and generate ntificatins. Flexible Rule Cnfiguratin. Rule can be defined based n Lg type Event Lgs/ SNMP Traps/ Syslg Facility Applicatin generating the lg Alarms and Alerts are generated based n the rule defined E-mail alerts based n rles r users SMS alerts based n rles r users Launching f custm applicatins Service Desk ticket creatin Histrical data strage Page 15 f 16
Presentatin Histrical data based Multiple frmat supprt PDF, HTML, Excel Page 16 f 16