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Red Box |
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Red Box |
Release 1.3, "the next generation", of Ultracomp's Red Box Service Management system represents a significant advance in the provision of Enterprise-wide Service Management facilities. Red Box uniquely integrates the key Service Management processes of:
Help Desk & Problem
Management
Change Management
Configuration Management
Release 1.3 contains major new facilities enabling it to interwork with other tools, integrate with other processes, and to actively monitor and control a distributed infrastructure of managed systems, It provides enhancements, product-wide and to all application modules, increasing ease of use and customisation facilities, extending functionality and user empowerment, and reducing the cost of user connectivity. The principal features of release 1.3 are:
APIs - The "open" database approach:
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) are provided, enabling access to the database by external tools and processes. The APIs available in this release are:
Read-only SOL views are provided in a manner which makes consistent the table and field names with those normally seen in the application. Users with the necessary SQL*Net or ODBC drivers on their PCs will be able to connect their ORACLE Version 7 compliant tools to access the Red Box database. Access is also available from UNIX using standard Oracle tools, e.g. SQL*Plus.
A Unix based utility is provided to perform bulk extraction and updating of database information. The utility is simple to use, controlled by steering files, and manipulates ASCII and CSV data.
C function calls utilising elements of the UNIX utility can be built into site specific programs, enabling ad-hoc data extraction or take-on, regular data transfers with other systems, or building alternative interfaces with Red Box.
Complex Red Box data manipulations are available through the last two interfaces described above, e.g. allocating incident reference numbers, escalating problems, re-opening an incident etc.
Operations Control - Enterprise-wide management
This is a new Red Box application which integrates the key service management process managed by Red Box into an enterprise-wide management process. Operations Control enables Red Box to manage, monitor and control networked managed systems, e.g. UNIX, ICL VME mainframes, etc. It also provides interfaces to work with other tools, such as network management systems including HP Open View, IBM's Netview, and all Ultracomp's systems management tools, including Helmsman, Vigilant, Battleboard and BattleView. Operations Control distributes alert information to Email addresses, Windows PCs, and to remote devices such as pagers and mobile phones, via an auto dial gateway. Operations Control will:
Allow users to define and monitor events on managed systems
Take or
initiate actions on managed systems in response to events
Automatically log
incidents on the Red Box Help Desk or raise change requests to be processed by
the Red Box Change Management application.
List Management - Power views
Powerful new facilities are available for users to manipulate lists resulting from database queries. These include:
User-definable lists: This provides users with the ability to: dynamically control column widths, by dragging boundaries with the mouse control which columns appear in a list, the order in which they appear, and their sort sequence save a list definition for subsequent re-use either as a private or as a public list definition print the currently displayed list as seen, either as a printed report or as CSV to a file. Auto-Refresh list screens (Monitor mode): This provides users with the ability to: set list screens into auto-refresh mode, control the refresh interval, the number of refreshes and the sort sequence
Reporting - Red Box, the Management Information system
There are now many more ways of producing reports on the wealth of information accumulated by Red Box. These are:
Standard Reports: The number of standard report
definitions issued with the system has been significantly increased. There are
standard reports available for all major record types.
Red Box Report Generator;
Red Box is issued with its own
powerful report generator, which can produce complex and sophisticated reports,
perform on-the-fly calculations, and provide full format control. Reports are
produced via Windows Print Manager, or to files in ASCII or CSV formats.
Ad-hoc reporting: Exploiting the User-definable list
facilities, mentioned above, printed reports or CSV files can be produced of the
currently displayed list as seen, These reports can be further enhanced by
printing the displayed list using standard, either issued or user defined,
report definitions, to modify the format of the report.
Report writers: Red Box is ODBC enabled. Third party tools can
be used to exploit the SQL views from Windows PCs with the appropriate SQL*Net
or ODBC drivers. Appropriately compliant UNIX tools can also be used, and hence
it is possible to produce scheduled reports, on say a daily, weekly, monthly
etc. basis, perhaps overnight.
Extended Selection Screen Options - Power queries Extensive new facilities are provided to enhance field selection criteria in queries from selection screens. The criteria available for the different field types include:
numeric: greater than,
less than, between, equality, inequality and ranges
Character: contains, starts
with, end with, greater than, less than, equality, inequality, case blind
All Fields: presence and
absence conditions, inter-field comparisons
Saved query definitions: Query definitions can be saved for subsequent re-use
Change Management - automated and enhanced Automatic:
Changes automatically progress to the next stage on completion of the previous
stage
Reminders: Reminders are generated for outstanding actions.
Reduced cost of user connectivity
Zero Application
slots required: logged-on users, can now run with Red Box minimised and receive
messages with no applications open, therefore not using any licensed slots
General Enhancements
There are many other
enhancements in Release 1.3, product-wide and to all the Red Box applications.
If you are interested in significantly improving the quality and effectiveness of your service management processes, then take a look at Red Box - "the next generation"
"The implementation of key Service Management processes is significantly enhanced by the ability to integrate them, in real-time, with systems and network management tools, and other processes running in managed systems on an enterprise-wide basis".
Red Box Operations Control application is an enterprise-wide event management and operations command and control system. Its principal aims are to:
Provide interfaces between
the Red Box Service Management system and any number of managed systems and
other systems and network management tools
Receive, log and process event
messages from managed systems
Take appropriate actions in
response to the occurrence of events
Distribute event/alert
information on an enterprise-wide basis
Integrate with Ultracomp's VME
and UNIX systems and event/alert management tools
Operations Control works in conjunction with a community of Red Box Agents running on managed systems, or in the case of ICL VME systems, existing Vigilant BattleBoard systems act as Red Box Agents. Agents collect event information from various sources, including VC/R and Network Management systems, and pass these through to one or more Red Box Managers running on the Red Box server or other UNIX systems. Red Box Managers are responsible for controlling the activities of a community Agents, monitor event messages and initiate user-defined actions, controlled by the database definitions maintained by the facilities of Operations Control. Red Box Managers request Agents to perform or initiate tasks on managed systems.
Benefits
Red Box Operations Control provides the facilities and interfaces to enhance the key service management processes of Help Desk, Problem, Change, and Configuration Management, managed by Red Box, by integrating and interworking them with any number of networked managed systems and other management tools, on an enterprise wide basis.
Operations Control receives, logs and processes, events and messages, from any number of managed systems, and in response, takes appropriate actions. These actions include automatic incident logging at the Help Desk, automatic raising of Requests for Change in the Change Management system, sending messages to Email users. Operations Control also initiates tasks on managed systems, including, starting jobs, running shell scripts, sending commands to other software tools, such as network management systems, including HP OpenView.
Operations Control also distributes enterprise wide event/alert information to Red Box users, Email addresses and any number of Windows PCs running Ultracomp's BattleView event notification system, to provide cost effective distribution of alert information, to the right people, at their desktops.; Operations Control integrates with Ultracomp's Vigilant BattleBoard autodialler to send messages to remote destinations via pagers, mobile phones and so on.
Red Box Operations Control is fully integrated with the rest of Red Box and uses the same SQL database as all the other Red Box applications and provides the same consistent, product-wide Windows's user interface.
FOCAL POINT FOR ENTERPRISE-WIDE INFORMATION
Schedulers
Performance
Availability
Service Levels
Applications
Networks
Environment
User Processes
System Processes
Hardware
File Systems
Software Control and
Distribution
FULLY INTEGRATES WITH SERVICE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
Help Desk
Problem Management
Change Management
Configuration Management
Automatic Incident Logging
Automatic Change Requests
DISTRIBUTES ALERT INFORMATION TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE, AT THE RIGHT TIME
Windows PCs
Email addresses
Auto dial
Red Box Users
Other tools
INTERWORKS WITH ULTRACOMP PRODUCTS
Helmsman
Sceptre
Overlord
Vigilant
BattleBoard
BattleView
VEMU
* Ultracomp is an HP OpenView Solutions Partner
"Today's IT systems have to change rapidly to meet the needs of business and to cope with advances in technology. Change also occurs as a result of corrective action and the continual process of refinement and improvement".
Red Box Change Management provides the procedural framework for managing change in a controlled and secure manner. It follows the progress of a change, documenting, recording and monitoring each stage in the life-cycle from request to implementation.
A single central database
Change details and status
held in the central Red Box database
All configuration items
affected by or associated with the change can be identified
Change control, from request to implementation
Logging of all Requests
for Change (RFCs)
Allocation of change category
and priority
Tracking of change through to
implementation
Changes automatically progress
to the next stage on completion of the previous stage
Standard Red Box change models
for:
CCTA ITIL recommended
change guidelines
Software releases
Software release components
Installation defined models
for any change category
Multiple changes, change
dependencies and inter-dependencies
Automatic progress chasing
Reminders to individuals
of their actions
Management reports for changes
behind schedule
Escalation procedures
Management information including:
Changes in progress,
authorised and rejected
Changes being built and those
tested
Changes implemented
Easy-to-use change initiation
link
Simple on-screen "form"
filling
Access from electronic mail
systems
Integrated with Help Desk, Configuration Management, and Operation Control
Although Change Management is a fully functional and self-contained system its value is enhanced through integration with other Red Box applications. The inter-working of Change Management with Help Desk and Configuration Management provides additional functionality, so enabling a more comprehensive approach to managing change.
HELP DESK
The integration of Change Management with the problem
management functions of the Help Desk accelerates the process of change and
ensures the completeness of information available to the Change Manager. The
start point for change often originates from a Help Desk incident that has
developed into a problem -- the RFC being raised directly from the problem
management function of the Help Desk. A fully documented history of the problem
and its associated incidents is immediately available to Change Management. The
life-cycle of a change can therefore be controlled from its point of origin
through to implementation.
CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT
Configuration Management provides Change
Management with a complete picture of all the system components and users that
are affected, or potentially affected by the change. The links and inter-
relationships presented by Configuration Management ensure that the change is
fully implemented and that all affected users are informed. It also helps to
ensure that unacceptable side effects are eliminated. During the specification
of a change, updates to the Configuration Management data can be entered. These
changes are applied automatically when the change is implemented.
OPERATIONS CONTROL
Operations Control provides the Change Management
system with real-time information about the distributed infrastructure used to
deliver the IT services it supports. Operations Control monitors events on
managed systems and can automatically raise Requests for Change (RFCs) and these
can, if required be progressed automatically to completion through the Change
Management process model. In turn, Change Management can, at an appropriate
point in a change process model, initiate via Operations Control actions to be
executed on managed systems, for example, to initiate a Software Distribution
tool.
USER SERVICE
System changes occur as a result of enhancement or corrective action, and in either circumstance can have a disrupting affect on users and user services. Successful management of change is therefore an important consideration in the relationship between users and IT departments. Change Management provides the framework and procedures to control changes from their point of origin to implementation. User confidence in the change process is enhanced through:
Knowledge that every
change will be considered and a response given
Certainty that each stage of
the change process is properly documented and monitored
Being informed and involved
throughout the change life-cycle
Successful implementation
IT CONTROL
The consequences of uncontrolled change and their potential as causes of system failure are well documented. Such failures cause disruption to services and as a result affect the business. The effect of these disruptions must be measured not only in terms of the recovery costs, but also in the loss of user confidence in the IT function. Change Management means:
Ensuring the change is
applied accurately with undesirable side-effects eliminated
Controlling and directing
resources to the most significant changes
Being aware of each item's
priority and its progress
RECONFIGURATION AND UPGRADES
Change does not only apply to corrections and amendments. Hardware upgrades, the introduction of new applications and new users all require careful control and planning. In some cases a change will affect large parts of the user community and therefore requires increased management attention and control. Change Management provides a step-by- step approach controlling each stage of a change from its initial specification and authorisation, through notification of interested parties, to preparation and final implementation. Integration with Configuration Management ensures that all users, services and other components affected by the change are identified thus allowing proper planning of the change implementation. And by using Red Box messaging facilities, information notices and change bulletins can be distributed to advise users of an impending change and how it might affect them.
MANAGEMENT CONTROL
The Red Box Change Management system provides the information that enables:
Better control of
resources and timescales
Identification and control of
costs
Allocation of resources to
priority items
Overall awareness of the
volume, status and progress of changes
As a consequence, Change Management focuses attention on the "change" process, enabling the real costs of change to be identified and providing a number of other change metrics. The resulting more accurate picture is vital when considering a corporate strategy for the resourcing priority and time-scales of changes.
"Configuration Management is the cornerstone upon which Service Management and Service Support strategy can be built. It provides a complete catalogue of information detailing all the hardware, software, users, services and network components that constitute a computer system."
Red Box Configuration Management collects and maintains data about the computer systems being used to provide services to users. The Configuration Management database is available to other Red Box applications to improve their effectiveness as Service Support systems. The principal features of Red Box Configuration Management are:
A single central database
Configuration item classes including:
Hardware
Software
Users
Services
Locations
Documentation
Consumables
Ancillary equipment
Automated population of the database User profiles with links to configuration items
Many types of relationship between configuration items
Physical connections
Hierarchic structures
Logical associations
Inventory and asset management
Suppliers
Acquisitions
Financial details
Contractual details
Maintenance management
Maintainers
Maintenance histories
Contract details
Easy-to-use navigation and viewing techniques
Configuration "browsing"
by following relationship links
Concurrent enquiries into
several parts of the database from a single screen
History options to back-track
along an enquiry path
Integrated with Help Desk and Change Management
Although Configuration Management is a fully functional and self-contained system, its value is enhanced when it is used in conjunction with other Red Box applications. In particular, it is of benefit to Help Desk and Change Management.
HELP DESK Configuration Management enables the Help Desk to be better informed and better equipped to progress user enquiries and incidents. A complete profile of the user, services and system components is available to the Help Desk operator through a wide variety of search options -- short name, extension number, department and so on. This, in turn, minimises the time taken to record details of the incident ensuring that the best possible response is given. Often, an incident can be "closed" during the initial call. If not, subsequent investigations into the cause of the problem will have access to accurate configuration details to assist with the diagnosis.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT The integration of Configuration Management with Change Management enables changes to be applied to all affected services, users and components. And because Configuration Management can identify inter-relationships, the Change Manager can be confident that potentially unacceptable side-effects are eliminated.
Benefits
ENHANCED MANAGEMENT CONTROL
On their own, individual items- of configuration data are not very useful. However, brought together by Red Box Configuration Management, and with the relationships between the components added, the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. This allows IT service providers to exercise better financial and management control over all types of computer asset.
Configuration Management not only improves the day-to-day control of all the components in the system, it also provides essential management information to enable the planning of upgrades and other changes. It is a major source of diagnostic data for trouble shooting operations and is the repository for much of the costing data needed for good financial management.
To complement its on-line data access facilities, Configuration Management has a number of different standard report types for printed output. Reports can be produced on a regular basis or in response to ad hoc requests. Data from the Configuration Management database can also be "exported" in industry standard formats for processing outside Red Box.
BETTER FINANCIAL CONTROL
The ability to measure and control costs is fundamental to the successful management of IT systems. In addition to the simple cataloguing of assets, Configuration Management has facilities to record acquisition and running costs for a range of component types. These features can be used for:
Cost and profit centre
management (with multi-department budgets if required)
Asset valuation (with user
supplied depreciation formulae)
Simple stock control for
consumable items (e.g. paper, floppy discs and so on)
IMPROVED SERVICE AVAILABILITY
Proper maintenance, be it preventative or corrective, is at the heart of reliable service provision. By holding maintenance schedules and recording details of service events for each configuration item, Configuration Management alleviates many of the problems associated with managing the maintenance process in today's complex multi-vendor systems.
In the event of a component failure, the configuration data can be used to determine if the system can be re-configured temporarily to reinstate a user service until a permanent solution is available.
REDUCED OPERATING COSTS
The actual collection and entry of configuration data can be an arduous task. To simplify the operation and to make the system more cost effective, Configuration Management is delivered with a set of data collection utilities which automate the data gathering process, making it more efficient and less error prone.
After the initial database creation, the utilities can be used to "audit" the current state of parts of the configuration.
"The most visible task of any Service Support system is that of running an effective Help Desk. The success of its operation is measured by the quality of responses to incidents and their speed of resolution."
Red Box Help Desk and Problem Management record and manage incidents reported from a number of sources. The whole incident life cycle is covered from reporting through diagnosis and corrective action to closure. The principal features of Red Box Help Desk and Problem Management are:
A single central database
All data relating to an
incident is held in the central Red Box database
Immediate access to other Red
Box data (e.g. configuration details)
Comprehensive incident logging and data capture
Direct data entry by the
Help Desk operator
Data capture from electronic
mail for "remote" incident reporting
Automatic logging of incidents
from other parts of Red Box
Many "ease-of-use" options for the Help Desk operator
Rapid capture of incident
details assisted by automatic form filling
Immediate access to data from
Configuration Management about:
... Users Terminals Locations
Services
Prompts to assist the
operator/caller dialogue and ensure complete data capture
Fully integrated Problem Management system
Help Desk and Problem
Management use the same data to manage the incident
Access to "known error
logs" and other problem reports
Symptom directed searches
based on problem description
Incident tracking and management
Full incident tracking and history Automatic escalation of incident priority at prescribed time thresholds Comprehensive logging and audit trails
Integrated with Configuration Management, Change Management and Operations Control
Although Help Desk and Problem Management is a fully functional and self-contained system, it is designed to be used in conjunction with other Red Box applications, especially Configuration Management and Change Management.
CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT
Configuration Management enables the Help Desk
to progress enquiries and incidents rapidly, by providing complete details of
the hardware and software, locations, versions and profile of the user. This
information assists user communication by reducing the time to gather
information and avoids unnecessary dialogue. The speed of problem diagnosis and
resolution is also improved because precise identification of the system
components is passed to Problem Management. In addition both Help Desk and
Problem Management are able to get an accurate picture of other users and
services that may be similarly affected.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
The interworking of Change Management with the Help
Desk ensures that all changes are implemented in a properly controlled fashion.
Details from the original incident, together with a full profile of the user and
system components, provide the base data for ensuring the change is complete and
accurate. Throughout the change life-cycle, progress can be monitored by Help
Desk and Problem Management personnel, to whom control ultimately returns.
OPERATIONS CONTROL Operations Control provides the Help Desk and Problem Management system with real-time information about the distributed infrastructure used to deliver the IT services it supports. Operations Control allows the Help Desk to know about problems before the users. Operations Control monitors events on managed systems and can automatically log incidents on the Help Desk and these can, if required be transferred to Problem Management. Operations Control can also initiate automatic corrective actions and therefore also close the incidents it logged at the Help Desk.
Benefits
PROMPT ATTENTION TO USERS' PROBLEMS
Because the Help Desk operator is relieved of many of the routine problems of collecting data relating to an incident, the conversation with the user can be more friendly and relaxed. This leads to a more professional and helpful service to the caller. In addition, Red Box Help Desk has access to "known error logs", to other current problem reports and to the Problem Management system, so the operator has options to:
resolve the incident
immediately
suggest a circumvention for
the problem
pass the incident to Problem
Management.
A reliable and friendly service helps to build users' trust in the Help Desk and its staff, and significantly reduces the time to handle each enquiry.
IMMEDIATE FOCUS ON PROBLEM AREAS
When a problem report is raised, details of the original incident are automatically passed to Problem Management. This gives the Problem Manager a clear statement of:
the problem as reported
and its severity level plus any initial diagnosis
any circumvention for the
problem that was suggested by the Help Desk
details of any related
configuration items.
Problem Management provides an operating framework in which to progress towards a resolution of each problem. This disciplined approach allows the Problem Manager to control the problem at every stage, assigning responsibilities for each step in the process of diagnosing and correcting the error. Each problem report is progressed independently with target resolution times set according to the severity of the problem. Problem monitoring automatically escalates the incident if it is not receiving sufficient attention.
KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH THE USERS
As part of its general facility to pass messages around the system, the Help Desk is able to broadcast bulletins containing information relating to the services being provided. Bulletins can be distributed generally or routed to specifically targeted groups of users. The rapid dissemination of critical system information allows users to avoid problems or to work round them and helps to maintain high levels of serviceability.
HELP DESK PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
A by-product of the operation of Help Desk and Problem Management, is a wealth of statistical information about the volume and nature of the incidents being reported. Analysis of these trends will highlight recurring problems such as faulty hardware or unreliable software, allowing more general corrective actions to be initiated. The information available includes:
Incident volumes
summarised by category and severity
Resolution times similarly
summarised
Incidents not resolved within
the target time.
In addition, to historical information, similar statistics are available for "current" incidents providing the data needed for day-to-day management of the Help Desk and Problem Management functions.
Red Box is supported with a full range of Consultancy and Training services.
This enables customers to plan and implement Service Management disciplines
supported by the skills and experience of our consultants.
The combination of Training and Consultancy services provides customers
with a full range of options from which to develop and implement their plans.
Requirements
to establish needs
Planning to
ensure success
Implementation
to make it happen
Advice and guidance
to recommend
Audits to
measure success
Workshops and
training to develop skills
Red Box is based on a Client/Server architecture. Red Box 1.31 runs on the
following platforms:
SCO
ICL NX on DRS6000 and S-Series
Teamserver
IBM AIX on RS6000
Solaris on Sun and other SPARC
compatibles
HP-UX on HP9000
Dynix/ptx on Sequent
OSF/1 (Digital Unix) on DEC
Alpha
Red Box workstation runs on Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, Window 95, and Windows NT on Intel.
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