Level 2: Systems Operations Suite

What Is Level 2: Systems Operations Suite?

Level 2 of the Halcyon IBM i Server Suites, Systems Operations Suite offers powerful and highly functional automation features for even tighter control of mission-critical business applications and processes. This solution provides total peace of mind that your IBM i is running at its full potential and maximizing system uptime for your business.

Level 2 not only notifies you of potential problems, but it also automates the correction process and logs its actions. When a server, job, subsystem, critical line, device, or other resource becomes unavailable, Level 2 can automatically initiate the required response. This eliminates repeat occurrences of the same issues, avoids late night support calls, and significantly reduces manual tasks and troubleshooting—all without the need to add extra staff.

Who Is Level 2 For?

Level 2 is ideal for IT teams who need to monitor multiple systems, free up valuable resource time, and minimize the risk of human error. IT teams can “teach” Level 2 how to respond to situations—even complex ones—and it will automatically and precisely emulate the actions of a very experienced IT operator or systems administrator. Level 2 customer success teams include:

• IT teams that need an extremely flexible messaging solution for stand-alone use
• IT teams that need to incorporate an extremely flexible messaging solution into their own third-party software, for example Help Desk applications
• Managed service providers (MSPs) and outsourcers supporting multiple clients
• System administrators and operators at all levels

HOW DOES LEVEL 2 HELP THESE TEAMS OVERCOME BUSINESS AND OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES?

In short, it allows them to do more with less. With Level 2, these teams can:

• Receive alerts of impending issues that may impact business, such as suspension of disk mirroring or imminent disk failure
• Receive real-time notification that a time-critical job has not yet finished
• Monitor multiple systems on multiple platforms without the need for additional staff
• Ensure maximum availability and continuous operation of critical IT systems
• Manage and control critical business applications such as Lawson M3 (Movex), SAP, JD Edwards, Misys Equation, Midas Plus, and Infor as well as high availability solutions
• Interface with integral calendars so that scheduled events and restricted tasks can run in an unattended environment
• Receive real-time auditing and security alerts
• Schedule event monitors and alert notification so that incomplete or failed processes replicate current working patterns and escalation policies
• Improve business process visibility
• Reduce costs caused by late night support calls because of incomplete or failed processes

Level 2: Key Software Features

In addition to handling IBM i messages, job queues, output queues, and devices for issues or threshold breaches, Level 2 also monitors and sends notification for scheduled events that have not run as planned. It proactively monitors key business applications, FTP activity, the security audit journal, and system events. It also supports the regular scheduling of essential house-keeping tasks and system saves. Additional features include:

BUSINESS APPLICATION MONITORING

Automatic monitoring using specialist templates allows critical business applications to be effectively managed and controlled. Organizations who use applications like Lawson M3 (Movex), SAP, JD Edwards, Misys Equation, Midas Plus, Infor, and well-known high availability solutions such as Robot HA, iTERA, MIMIX, or Maxava can all benefit from Level 2.

PERFORMANCE MONITORING

Ensure critical subsystems remain active and interactive response times are maintained. Use Level 2 to alert you to any performance issues based upon customizable system thresholds. Monitor memory and CPU activity both overall and on an individual job basis.

REAL-TIME SECURITY ALERTING & AUDITING

Security event management can be costly if you only perform manual checks. Level 2 enables you to proactively monitor the IBM i system audit journal (QAUDJRN) for security-related events. Demonstrate to auditors the ability to receive real-time alerts via email or SMS whenever an entry is written to the journal.

OPEN SOURCE & HELP DESK SYSTEMS

Halcyon solutions interface with recognized open-source systems such as Security Information Event Managers (SIEM), Log Amalgamators, IBM Tivoli, HP Openview, CA Unicenter, BMC Patrol, and any Syslog or SNMP-compliant system. The software also interfaces with both in-house and proprietary Help Desk systems.

ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT

Halcyon Enterprise Console, included with the software, gives full visibility of messages and alerts generated by IBM i, AIX, Windows, and Linux servers and provides a centralized dashboard view of your entire enterprise.

The Halcyon Enterprise Console is a centralized GUI, providing a real-time focal point for all your cross-platform monitoring, allowing you to view and respond directly to messages and alerts generated by IBM i, AIX, Windows, and Linux servers. It can also manage alerts from other key agent-less hardware such as hubs, routers, and switches. Replies can be given to messages and alerts closed from the central console while color-coded options help identify different servers and/or different types of alerts. Comprehensive filters can escalate actions, change severity, and forward alerts.

REMOTE MANAGEMENT

Halcyon’s Enterprise Console, included free of charge with Level 2, can also be used remotely on Apple or Android smartphone or tablet devices, allowing you the freedom of being able to remotely monitor and respond to messages and alerts received from your servers and devices across your organization’s network. You can use the Enterprise Console “app” to view the current status of your entire network, even when you are not at your desk.

Follow up any messages received on Enterprise Console by sending an email, SMS text, or forwarding into an integrated Help Desk application. Use the Archive Viewer option to see what has happened with any messages or alerts received while you were offline or unavailable, so you can keep fully informed at any time and from any location.

BUSINESS APPLICATION TEMPLATES

Use Halcyon’s templates to monitor all of your critical business applications running across a multi-platform environment. Halcyon templates are designed to provide the same level of monitoring across several similar devices by applying a set of user-defined filters with a single click. This greatly reduces setup time and ensures all systems are covered by at least a basic level of monitoring. Should you need to make a system-wide change at a later date, a single update covers all systems using the template.

Level 2: Key Software Benefits

Level 2 addresses customer requirements and delivers real business benefits. Here’s what you get with Level 2:

GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI)

Provides a high-level management view and business process visibility. Can be used to define and assign an action or number of actions when a logged event produces a message.

BUSINESS APPLICATION MONITORING TEMPLATES

Automatic monitoring of critical business applications using specialist templates to improve process visibility, giving you greater operational efficiencies and responsiveness.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY

Create and replicate your unique master environment and automatically highlight events that occur during the backup process.

CONSOLIDATE EXISTING TOOLS

Integrate Level 2 into your own internal systems and have a dashboard view of your entire infrastructure anytime, anywhere.

COST REDUCTION

Significantly reduce costs by reducing late night support calls caused by incomplete or failed processes and by scheduling events and resources to run in a completely unattended environment.

POWERFUL MONITORING & AUTOMATION TECHNIQUES

Automate the monitoring of virtually any component, job, subsystem, or device on your IBM i by automating key repetitive tasks and assigning message rules to execute an action or procedure.

VIRTUALIZATION MANAGEMENT

Install more than one version of Level 2 on a single platform. You can even install the software and test the configuration and PTFs without affecting your live environment.

MORE EFFICIENT SCHEDULING OF EVENTS

Avoid unplanned outages by removing points of failure and scheduling essential system backups and housekeeping tasks to reflect your business processes and escalation policies in a completely unattended environment.

EASY TO INSTALL

Level 2 comes with remote installation and intelligent templates making installation possible within minutes.

FLEXIBILITY

Use of calendars allows increased flexibility in scheduling event monitoring to reflect your organization’s working patterns. Intelligent templates enable you to respond to a specific event or alert to reflect your organization’s processes. For example, call a particular program or email a particular person.

SECURITY COMPLIANCE

Enhanced audit trail, security journaling, and access control. Level 2 enables you to restrict options to particular user(s) or organization(s).

SMART AUTOMATION USING COMMAND SCRIPTS

Automate and replicate how your organization responds to a given situation.

REPORTING TOOL

Access comprehensive reporting capabilities including the audit journal.

Next Steps

LEVEL 2: SYSTEMS OPERATIONS SUITE

Monitor your IBM i system messages and automate the control of significant events. Automate 100% of your manual daily checks, repetitive tasks, and essential system saves. Ensure that things happen when you expect them to—and monitor for the unexpected.

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