News
Latest News
Halcyon Software Launches Message Management Suite v3.0 software for IBM i
Date Posted: April 27, 2009
Low cost, feature rich solution enables customers to do more with less resources
Halcyon Software Inc., a global leader in systems management, today announced the launch of its low cost IBM Power Systems and System i monitoring and automation software,Message Management Suite v 3.0. Using smart automation commands, Message Management Suite v3.0 effectively automates an organization’s response to a given situation while monitoring for application error messages and system critical messages in real-time, enabling customers to do more with less resources.
Message Management Suite v3.0 enables the monitoring of any TCP/IP device such as another server, partition, hub, switch, router or hand held device. All message queues including system message, user message and device message, can now be monitored along with the history log (QHST) in real-time. The software is proven to significantly reduce manual checks by automating more than 80 percent of routine daily tasks. Message Management Suite v3.0 is ideal for monitoring multiple systems, freeing up valuable resource time, and minimizing risk of human error.
Designed to appeal to managed services companies and individual computer operators at all levels, this cost-effective and feature rich systems management software addresses real business needs, particularly in today’s price sensitive marketplace. Typical functionality includes the support for business continuity by automatically highlighting events that occur, enhanced scheduling of event monitors to reflect working patterns and escalation policies and improved audit trails with security journaling to maintain application integrity.
Martin Norman, Halcyon’s Technical Support Manager said, “Unlike the basic system reply list, currently shipped with System i servers, our new software addresses that system critical messages often go unnoticed on a busy system. They quickly disappear from the operator's screen amongst other routine messages, or their significance is lost on an inexperienced operator. Yet the effect of missing or ignoring a system critical event could prove disastrous for the operator, the department and the company.”
Norman continued “Our software takes a different action dependent on the occurrence of the message received. For example, if you had a VPN line failing you could retry it three times. If it still failed you could cancel it, vary it off, wait 30 seconds and vary it back on again automatically. If it failed again you could then be notified via SMS or email or via our graphical user interface - the Enterprise Console.”
In addition, Message Management Suite can alert customers to impending disasters, such as suspension of disk mirroring or imminent disk failure, or can inform users that a time-critical job has not yet finished. With the smart automation functionality users can “teach” Message Management Suite how to respond to situations, even complex ones, as the software will automatically emulate precisely the actions of a very experienced IT operator.
Message Management Suite v3.0 has several significant features. The “Halcyon Enterprise Console”, which is a user interface that enables centralized systems management allowing a user to have a single dashboard view of an entire infrastructure, regardless of their location. Another enhancement is the comprehensive service level agreement reporting tool and system “uptime” tool that shows subsystem availability allowing users to monitor multiple subsystems, at regular intervals. These, combined with “out-of-the-box” monitoring and alerting templates, which are shipped as standard, allows customers to automate their operations within hours of installation.
Message Management Suite is designed so that users can install, test and configure the software without affecting their live environment. Enhanced scheduling of resources also allows customers to emulate company working schedules, across multiple time zones.
SunGard Public Sector is a major provider of software and consulting solutions for clients in the public sector uses Halcyon Software in its data centers.
Sue Dumas, Technical Project Manager, SunGard Public Sector said, ”We specifically like Halcyon’s software because it’s intelligent and it emulates what a computer operator would do. We are now worry free about the stability of our hosted solutions because our systems are monitored 24/7 and we are notified immediately if there are any problems.” |
