user guide - helpsystemsservices to tango/04 applications: • authentication services: seamlessly...

User Guide

1.3ALG-COR

Alignia User Guide

The software described in this book is furnished under a license agreement and may be used only in

accordance with the terms of the agreement.

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2015 Tango/04 All rights reserved.

Document date: March 2015

Document version: 1.0

Product version: 1.3

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic mechani-cal, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Tango/04.

Trademarks

Any references to trademarked product names are owned by their respective companies.

Technical Support

For technical support visit our web site at www.tango04.com.

Tango/04 Computing Group S.L. Avda. Meridiana 358, 5 A-B Barcelona, 08027 Spain

Tel: +34 93 274 0051

http:\\www.tango04.com

http:\\www.tango04.com

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents .............................................................................. iii

How to Use this Guide.......................................................................vii

Chapter 1

Introduction to Alignia........................................................................ 11.1. Alignia Architecture .........................................................................................2

1.2. What You Will Find in this User Guide............................................................2

Chapter 2

Before You Begin ............................................................................... 12.1. Requirements..................................................................................................1

2.2. Security ...........................................................................................................1

2.3. How to Log in to Alignia ..................................................................................1

Section 1: Visualization Engine

Chapter 3

Alignia Visualization Engine Interface .................................................. 43.1. Module Name Tile...........................................................................................6

© 2015 Tango/04 Computing Group Page iii

Table of Contents

3.1.1. Alignia Menu .............................................................................................6

3.2. Search Box .....................................................................................................8

3.3. Taking a Screenshot .......................................................................................9

Chapter 4

Settings .......................................................................................... 104.1. User Settings ................................................................................................11

Section 2: Business Applications

Chapter 5

Introduction to Alignia for Business Applications ................................. 145.1. What is a Business Application?...................................................................14

5.1.1. Business Application Components..........................................................15

5.1.2. Standalone Application Components ......................................................15

5.1.3. Connectivity Group Components ............................................................15

5.1.4. Other Elements .......................................................................................16

Chapter 6

Alignia Visualization Engine Interface ................................................ 176.1. Smartcard Toolbar ........................................................................................18

6.1.1. Grouping Smartcards ..............................................................................18

6.1.2. Ordering Smartcards...............................................................................19

6.1.3. Health Filter.............................................................................................21

6.1.4. Smartcard Filtering by Contact................................................................22

6.2. Smartcard Panel ...........................................................................................22

6.2.1. Characteristics of a Smartcard................................................................23

Chapter 7

Real-Time Asset Overview and Analysis.............................................. 257.1. Overview Tab................................................................................................26

7.1.1. Monitoring Context Panel........................................................................27

7.1.2. Asset Details Panel .................................................................................27

7.1.3. Impact Analysis Panel.............................................................................28

7.1.4. Status Evolution Panel ............................................................................29

7.1.5. Root Cause Analysis Panel.....................................................................30

7.1.6. Events in SmartConsole Web Client .......................................................31

© 2015 Tango/04 Computing Group Page iv

Table of Contents

7.1.7. Controls and Components Panel ............................................................35

7.2. Analysis Tab .................................................................................................39

7.2.1. Health Evolution Panel............................................................................40

7.2.2. Metrics Panel ..........................................................................................41

7.3. No Health Info Available ...............................................................................46

Section 3: Business Processes

Chapter 8

Introduction to Alignia for Business Processes ..................................... 49

Chapter 9

Anatomy of a Business Process.......................................................... 509.1. Process Components....................................................................................51

9.1.1. Process Tasks.........................................................................................53

9.1.2. Error Messages.......................................................................................53

9.1.3. Process Activity Indicators ......................................................................54

9.2. Business Consumers ....................................................................................54

9.2.1. Process Instances per Business Consumer ...........................................56

9.3. Layers ...........................................................................................................57

Chapter 10

Alignia Visualization Engine Interface ................................................ 5810.1. Filter Toolbar...............................................................................................59

10.2. Business Consumers Panel ........................................................................59

10.3. Business Processes Panel .........................................................................60

Chapter 11

Processes, Instances, Stages, Channels and Tasks ............................... 6311.1. Business Processes and Instances ............................................................64

11.1.1. Business Processes..............................................................................65

11.1.2. Instances...............................................................................................65

11.1.3. Process Stages Panel...........................................................................66

11.1.4. Process Activity Panel...........................................................................67

11.1.5. Errors Panel ..........................................................................................69

11.1.6. Viewing the Control in SmartConsole ...................................................70

© 2015 Tango/04 Computing Group Page v

Table of Contents

11.2. Stages.........................................................................................................70

11.2.1. Channels ...............................................................................................71

11.2.2. Stage Tasks ..........................................................................................72

11.2.3. Channel Activity ....................................................................................73

11.2.4. Errors ....................................................................................................73

Chapter 12

Operational Status ........................................................................... 7412.1. Idle, About to Start, Started, Finished, and Optional...................................74

Appendices

Appendix A: Contacting Tango/04 ..................................................... 76

Glossary.......................................................................................... 78

About Tango/04 Computing Group .................................................... 96

Legal Notice .................................................................................... 97

© 2015 Tango/04 Computing Group Page vi

How to Use this Guide

© 2015 Tango/04 Computing Group Page vii

How to Use this Guide

This chapter explains how to use Tango/04 User Guides and understand the typographical conventions

used in all Tango/04 documentation.

Typographical Conventions

The following conventional terms, text formats, and symbols are used throughout Tango/04 printed

documentation:

Convention Description

Boldface Commands, on-screen buttons and menu options.

Blue Italic References and links to other sections in the manual or further documentation containing relevant information.

Italic Text displayed on screen, or variables where the user must substitute their own details.

Monospace Input commands such as System i commands or code, or text that users must type in.

UPPERCASEKeyboard keys, such as CTRL for the Control key and F5 for the function key that is labeled F5.

Notes and useful additional information.

Tips and hints that will improve the users experience of working with this product.

Important additional information that the user is strongly advised to note.

Warning information. Failure to take note of this information could potentially lead to serious problems.

Introduction to Alignia

Chapter 11 Introduction to Alignia

Alignia from Tango/04 is a comprehensive monitoring solution that prevents and identifies problems in

online services and business processes, along with the technology and the security that support them,

helping your company to operate smoothly, without interruption, in a safe environment with extreme

visibility.

Alignia is composed of four modules completely integrated with each other:

Controls the technology that supports services and business processes

Identifies problems and delays in business processes

Prevents and identifies problems in online transactions

Identifies security incidents and makes any impact on any service, process, or infrastructure visible.

© 2015 Tango/04 Computing Group Page 1

Introduction to Alignia

Alig

nia

Alignia is a tool of interrelated modules with integrated information. For example, Alignia will let you

know when a security incident may impact on electronic channels, or if a problem in the integration

process of applications results in online services operating with bad data.

Each of the Alignia modules is explained in greater detail in the appropriate section of this manual.

1.1 Alignia ArchitectureThe Alignia monitoring solution has two distinct parts:

• Visualization: this is the front-end tool where end-users can view the information collected by

Alignia modules, including:

− Alignia for Business Applications:

• an overview of all the assets being monitored

• the individual status of each business application

• the status of standalone applications including availability, performance and errors

• the status of devices including availability, performance and errors

− Alignia for Business Processes:

• an overview of all the business processes being monitored

• the individual status of the defined business consumers

• the status of the various layers of each business process or instance including

stages, channels and tasks

• activity charts for processes, single channel stages, or stages

• detailed errors pertaining to specific tasks

• Configuration: for administrators of the Alignia monitoring solution. Orchestrator provides all

the tools needed to ensure the results displayed in the Alignia Visualization Engine are exactly

what the end-user needs to see.

1.2 What You Will Find in this User Guide This user guide is intended for end-users of the Alignia monitoring solution and will explain exactly how

to view and interpret the status of the monitored elements in the Alignia Visualization Engine, in order to

ensure you get the most from this powerful solution.

How to configure Orchestrator for Alignia is covered in the Alignia Configuration Guide.

This guide is organized into various sections to make it easier for you to find the information you need

quickly:

• Section 1: Alignia Visualization Engine: introduces the aspects of the interface that are

common to all Alignia modules

• Section 2: Alignia for Business Applications: explains how to view the status of monitored

business applications in Orchestrator

• Section 3: Alignia for Business Processes: explains how to view the status of monitored

processes in Orchestrator


Before You Begin

Chapter 22 Before You Begin

This chapter provides important information to help you get started with Alignia. Please read it carefully

before you begin.

2.1 RequirementsAlignia is a Web-based application and requires nothing more than an internet connection and a Web

browser.

2.2 SecurityAlignia security is managed by AccessServer, a middleware product that provides security-related

services to Tango/04 applications:

• Authentication Services: seamlessly integrating Tango/04 applications with user provider

systems already available in your company (only Windows-based user provider systems at the

moment, but others can be supported if required). AccessServer allows you to configure an

applications security based on the current user profiles available in your systems, negating the

need to manage new user systems just for our products.

• Authorization Services: allows you to define and fine-tune an application’s security privileges

based on application roles, system users and system groups.

• Auditing Services: provides the basis for common and flexible auditing requirements.

For more information regarding AccessServer please also see the AccessServer Tools and Procedures

User Guide.

2.3 How to Log in to AligniaAccessServer is utilized by Alignia to manage the users that have access to the product by requiring

authentication in order to log in. Privileges can be applied per Tenant, so users will be able to see only

the assets available to their Tenants.

To work with Alignia, users must first log in at the Windows User Authentication screen. A user name

and password are required.


Before You Begin

Alig

nia

To log in to the Alignia Visualization Engine:

Step 1. Open a Web browser and navigate to the location of the Alignia Visualization Engine, by

default:

http://yourserver/Bentham.Web/

Step 2. Enter Windows user Credentials.

AccessServer opens the Windows User Authentication screen. Enter your user name

and password in the fields provided.

Click Log In.

Figure 1 – Windows User Authentication powered by AccessServer

Note This address can be configured by the administrator during installation,

so the address may be different. Please check with your system

administrator if Alignia has been installed in a different location.


Section 1: Visualization Engine

Alignia Visualization Engine Interface

Chapter 33 Alignia Visualization Engine Interface

In this chapter we will introduce you to the Alignia Visualization Engine interface and help you to

familiarise yourself with its basic components, so you can quickly get started with Alignia.

In Figure 2 on the following page you can see the Alignia for Business Applications home page. The

home page for each module is comprised of the following distinct components:

The Module Name tile and the Search box are generic sections of the Alignia Visualization Engine and

are common to all Alignia modules, while the data displayed in the Module specific panel will vary

depending on the selected Alignia module.

In this chapter we will explain the functionality of the Module name tile and the search box.

The module specific panel will be described in detail in the corresponding module sections of this guide.

Module Name tile

Search box

Module specific panel


Alig

nia V

isualiza

tion E

ngine In

terface

© 20

15 Ta

ngo/04

Com

puting G

roup P

age 5
Figure 2 – The Alignia for Business Applications home page


Alig

nia

3.1 Module Name TileThe Module Name Tile serves two distinct purposes: firstly it indicates which particular Alignia

knowledge module is currently open in the Alignia Visualization Engine; and secondly it provides access

to the menu for the knowledge module in question.

Figure 3 – The Module Name Tile on the home page

Click the Menu button in the Module Name Tile to open the Alignia menu.

3.1.1 Alignia MenuThe Alignia menu when expanded provides various options specific to the Alignia module.

Figure 4 – Alignia menu. Notice business applications and business processes are listed in the

menu. If you have other Alignia modules installed, they will appear here.

The Alignia menu provides access to:

• Configuration settings: click the Settings button to open the Alignia

Visualization Engine Settings page, see Chapter 4 - Settings on page 10 for further details.

• The Alignia Home page: click the Home button to return to the Alignia Home page

displaying all Smartcards.

Note Other installed Alignia modules will also appear listed in the menu. Switching between

modules is as simple as clicking on a module in the Alignia menu.



Alig

nia

• Exit the application: click the Sign Out button to sign out of the Alignia

Visualization Engine and return to the login window.

• Module specific information: the information displayed in the right-hand column varies

depending on the selected module:

− Alignia for Business Applications: provides a summary of the number of unhealthy

assets by type (business application, standalone application, server etc.). Click on an asset

type in the list to filter the Smartcards panel to show only that asset type.

Figure 5 – Click on an asset type in the list

Figure 6 – Clicking on Standalone Applications in the Unhealthy Assets list opens the Smartcard panel showing only the unhealthy Standalone Applications. The AssetClass: ”Standalone

Application” filter is applied in the Search box.

• Alignia for Business Processes: a summary of the available processes organized by

operational status (delayed, idle about to start, etc.). Click on an operational status in the list to

filter the Business Processes panel to show only those process currently in that state.

Figure 7 – Click on a process state in the list



Alig

nia

Figure 8 – Clicking on Started in the Business Processes list opens the Business Processes panel showing only the processes that are in the started operational status. The Started filter is applied in

the Filter toolbar.

3.2 Search BoxThe Search box provides extremely dynamic filtering of the Smartcards displayed in the Smartcard

panel in Alignia for Business Applications, or the business processes displayed in the Business

Processes panel in Alignia for Business Processes, and so on.

This is essential when you are monitoring large infrastructures and many assets.

Figure 9 – The search box

The search box is as powerful as you need it to be: limiting the list of Smartcards to those that match a

simple search term, a word or a phrase; or invoking boolean operators and attributes to fine tune the

displayed Smartcards to very specific conditions.

Click the Search Options button to reveal the Search Options panel which provides a useful example

of the type of search term you can employ using boolean operators, and also a useful list of attributes

that can be quickly added to the search string by simply clicking on the desired attribute.

Tip

Figure 12 – Only in processes check box

If you have other Alignia modules installed, click the Only in Processes check box to ensure

the search results only include business processes, otherwise any instance in any Alignia

module that matches the search criteria will be listed. For example if searching for a

particular customer, any business applications associated with that customer will be found as

well as the business processes for that customer if this option is not selected.



Alig

nia

3.3 Taking a ScreenshotIt is possible to take a screenshot of any Alignia screen at any time by simply clicking the Screenshot

icon in the lower right corner.

Example

If you wish to search for a specific customer, scroll down the list of attributes until you find Customer

in the list:

Figure 10 – Click on an attribute in the list...

Click on the attribute, and it will be automatically added to the search string in the Search box:

Figure 11 – The attribute is added to the search string in the Search box.

Enter the name of the customer you wish to find and click on the Search button and the list of

Smartcards displayed in the Smartcard panel will be limited to only those for the customer specified in

the search.


Settings

Chapter 44 Settings

The Settings page is initially configured by the Alignia monitoring solution administrator during the

installation of Alignia, and therefore when you begin working with the product there should be minimal

changes to be made here.

Figure 1 – User settings Alignia visualization engine

The Settings page comprises of one panel:

• User settings

To return to the Business Applications module, simply click the Business Applications logo above the

User Settings panel.


Settings

Vis

ualiz

atio

n E

ngi

ne

4.1 User SettingsThe User Settings panel provides options to define various user settings in Alignia for the user currently

logged in, changes made here will not affect other users’ preferences.

Figure 2 – User settings changed here are only applied to the currently logged in user.

The following parameters can be defined here:

• Language: select the default language for the module interface from the drop-down list box.

The following languages are available:

− English

− Español

• Date Time Format: select the desired default date time format from the drop-down list box

• Theme: select the default theme for Alignia. There are three themes to choose from:

− Default

− Dark

− Lightweight: this theme is a stripped down version of the default theme which provides the

benefit of quicker loading times.


Settings

Vis

ualiz

atio

n E

ngi

ne

Figure 3 – Alignia Dark theme

• Color Blind Icons: select the default color blind icons setting. Select the check box to activate

color blind icons.

• Component Icon Size: select the default component icon size from the drop-down list box

• Time Zone: select the default time zone from the drop-down list box


Section 2: Business Applications

Business Applications - Introduction to Alignia for Business Applications

Chapter 55 Introduction to Alignia for Business Applications

Alignia for Business Applications is a module of the Tango/04 Alignia product, whose main objective is to

help IT departments detect, understand and fix the problems that cause unavailability and low

performance of their business applications. Furthermore, it is the foundation for other Alignia knowledge

modules which provide visibility to the real-time impact of online services and processes on the

business.

More than 15 years of experience working with monitoring solutions has been embedded in Alignia for

Business Applications to create unique monitoring software that joins an application model together with

a set of best practices and procedures regarding standardized practices for monitoring applications.

Alignia for Business Applications also provides IT managers with a powerful tool for the continuous

improvement of their Service Levels. It delivers relevant information to IT departments concerning the

main IT components that have been the root cause of an applications’ unavailability or that have been

responsible for breaking Service Level Agreements.

What’s more, Alignia for Business Applications has been designed to be configured, operated and

administered by the IT department in a simple and agile way, so that IT departments concentrate their

efforts on fixing problems and improving the service, rather than thinking about which applications to

monitor and how to monitor them.

5.1 What is a Business Application?A business application is defined as a piece of software used by internal or external business users to

perform critical business functions for the company: enter orders, claims, billing, etc. Examples of

business applications are SAP Financials, Siebel, the core banking application, SWIFT, EDI, etc.

Applications are normally designed in a multi-layer (also known as multi-tier) architecture, where each

layer has specific functionality: presentation, application processing, data management, etc.

In the same way, Tango/04’s Alignia for Business Applications module provides a standard way of

modeling business applications based on layers, where business applications are composed of a

number of standalone applications or devices, one or more per layer.

The critical elements (assets) of the Alignia Business Applications module are described here:

• Business applications: defined as a set of interrelated stand-alone applications. Examples of

business applications are Siebel, SAP, EDI, etc.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

• Standalone applications: are software applications that run on just one server. Examples of

stand-alone applications are SQL Server, IIS, Siebel application server, etc.

• Servers: in the module a server can support none, one, or more standalone applications. The

servers may have elements such as disks, processes, etc.

• Connectivity Groups: sets of communication devices or standalone applications that

interconnect standalone applications within a business application.

• Communication devices: routers, switches, etc.

• End-point devices: i.e. printers

5.1.1 Business Application ComponentsA business application can comprise of:

• At least one standalone application (obligatory)

• Connectivity Groups (optional)

• End-point devices (optional)

Figure 4 – Business application components

5.1.2 Standalone Application ComponentsA Standalone application is composed of one of the following components:

• One server, OR

• One end-point device

5.1.3 Connectivity Group ComponentsA Connectivity group connects some of the standalone applications of a business application. It can be

composed of several components:

• Standalone applications (none or N)

• Communication devices (none or N)



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

5.1.4 Other ElementsAll the other elements that a business application may be composed of are not formed by other

components, they include:

• servers

• end-point devices

• communications devices


Business Applications - Alignia Visualization Engine Interface



familiarise yourself with its basic components, so you can quickly get started with Alignia for Business

Applications.

In Figure 5 you can see the Alignia Visualization Engine home page is comprised of the following distinct

components:

The components specific to Alignia for Business Applications (the Smartcards toolbar, and the

Smartcards panel) are explained in detail in this chapter.

Figure 5 – The Alignia Visualization Engine home page

Module Name tile (see section 3.1 - Module Name Tile on page 6)

Search box (see section 3.2 - Search Box on page 8)

Smartcards toolbar

Smartcards panel



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

6.1 Smartcard ToolbarThe Smartcard toolbar provides further control over which Smartcards are displayed in the Smartcard

panel and how they are displayed.

Figure 6 – The Smartcard toolbar

There are three elements to the Smartcard toolbar:

• Group by: enables the grouping of similar Smartcards in the Smartcard panel

• Order by: enables Smartcards to be ordered as required in the Smartcard panel

• Health filter: provides further filtering of the Smartcards displayed based on the health of the

monitored asset

6.1.1 Grouping Smartcards

To group Smartcards in the Smartcard panel:

Step 1. Click the Group by button in the Smartcard toolbar to reveal the

Group By Options panel.

Figure 7 – Group by Options panel

Step 2. Click on an group element in the Available list to add it to the Selected list.

Step 3. (Optional) click on further group elements to add them to the Selected list, Smartcards

will be grouped by the top element and then grouped again by the following elements.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 8 – You can group by more than one element

Group elements in the Selected list can be rearranged using the arrange buttons

to move them up or down in the list, or removed from the list by clicking on the delete

button .

Step 4. A Group By column is added to the Smartcard panel containing the groups that have

been created. Click on a group in the column to limit the Smartcards displayed to only

that group, and click All to display all groups.

Figure 9 – The Group By column provides further filtering options in the Smartcard panel. In the above example we have groups for Class and then within that group further grouping by Criticalness,

so for instance we could select to see only the servers that had errors.

6.1.2 Ordering Smartcards

To order Smartcards in the Smartcard panel:

Step 1. Click the Order by button in the Smartcard toolbar to reveal the Order

By Options panel.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 10 – Order by Options panel

Step 2. Click on an ordering element in the Available list to add it to the Selected list.

Step 3. (Optional) click on further ordering elements to add them to the Selected list,

Smartcards will be ordered by the top element and then ordered again by the following

elements.

Figure 11 – You can order by more than one element

Ordering elements in the Selected list can be rearranged using the arrange buttons

to move them up or down in the list, or removed from the list by clicking on the

delete button .

Step 4. Smartcards are re-ordered in the Smartcard panel according to the selections made.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 12 – In the above example the Smartcards are ordered by Criticalness to promote the monitored items that are the most critical to the top of the panel. Notice they are also grouped by

class.

6.1.3 Health FilterThe Health Filter allows you to set the minimum level of the overall health status of a Smartcard to be

displayed in the Smartcard panel. Any Smartcard with an overall health status that is less critical the

level set in the Health Filter will not be displayed.

For example Smartcards with an overall health status of Harmless will not appear in the Smartcard

panel if the Health Filter is set to Minor.

Figure 13 – Using the health Filter to control which Smartcards appear in the Smartcard panel. In the above example only Smartcards whose overall health is critical are displayed.

The following health levels can be set:



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 14 – Minimum health levels in the Health Filter: Critical; Monitoring Error; Warning; Minor;

Harmless; Unknown.

6.1.4 Smartcard Filtering by ContactAny asset that has a contact assigned to it will show that contact directly in the Smartcard. To show all

assets that this contact is responsible for, simply click on the contact name.

Figure 15 – Clicking on a Responsible name in a Smartcard will create a filter as shown in the Search box in the example above

6.2 Smartcard PanelThe Smartcard panel is where all the filtered/unfiltered Smartcards are displayed, providing a quick and

easy way to obtain an overall picture of the state of the monitored assets in Alignia for Business

Applications.

Remember assets can be:

• business applications

• standalone applications

• servers

• connectivity groups

• end-point devices

A Smartcard will exist for every asset configured in Orchestrator to be monitored in Alignia for Business

Applications.

Smartcards are extremely easy to interpret at a glance providing exactly the information needed to know

if the monitored asset it represents requires further attention. In which case you can simply click on the

Smartcard to open the Real time Asset Overview page for the asset in question (see Chapter 7 - Real-

Time Asset Overview and Analysis on page 25 for further details).

Note The Health Filter only allows the minimum level to be set, you cannot for example use the

Health Filter to display only the Smartcards whose overall health is Harmless.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 16 – Smartcards in the Smartcard panel

6.2.1 Characteristics of a SmartcardThe following elements comprise a Smartcard:

Figure 17 – Characteristics of a Smartcard

SmartConsole icon: helps to quickly identify the type of application

Asset name: name of the asset being monitored

Application class: the class of asset such as business application, standalone application, server, communication device, or end-point device

Application health indicators: three types of KPI represented by indicators that may appear in a Smartcard:

• Availability

• Errors

• Performance

The color of the indicator changes to represent the health of the KPI in question

Critical duration: how long the asset has been in a critical health state

Responsible: the contact responsible for the asset



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Overall asset health indicator bar: this bar changes color to indicate the overall health of the monitored asset:

critical (red)

monitoring error (brown)

warning (yellow)

minor (blue)

harmless (green)

unknown (gray)


Business Applications - Real-Time Asset Overview and Analysis

Chapter 77 Real-Time Asset Overview and Analysis

The Real-Time Asset Overview and Analysis page provides highly detailed information regarding each

asset being monitored by Alignia for Business Applications. Here you can view historical data regarding

the asset, the impact of any failures it may have on other monitored assets, the root cause of the

problem, and the components that are responsible for the health of the asset. In other words, everything

you need to know in order to quickly identify how to deal with the issue in one invaluable screen.

To open the Real-Time Asset Overview and Analysis page for a particular asset, simply click on the

Smartcard for that asset in the Smartcard panel.

The body of the page is tabbed enabling quick selection of either:

• the Overview of an asset, or

• an Analysis of an asset

Simply click on a tab to make a selection:

Figure 18 – Click the Overview tab to view an overview of the asset or the Analysis tab to view an analysis of the asset

Tip All of the information displayed here is displayed in real time, and the default refresh rates for

the data are as follows:

• Real-Time Threshold: 60 minutes

• Home Refresh Timeout: 300 seconds

• Asset Refresh Timeout: 120 seconds

These settings can be customized by the Alignia administrator if required.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

7.1 Overview TabIn Figure 19 on the following page you can see that each Real-Time Asset Overview tab is comprised of

the following distinct panels:

Figure 19 – Real-Time Asset Overview tab for a printer

Monitoring Context panel

Asset Details panel

Impact Analysis panel

Status Evolution panel

Root Cause Analysis panel

Controls and Components panel



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

7.1.1 Monitoring Context PanelThe Monitoring Context panel displays the health status icons for the asset in question as well as assets

that impact on it (Core Health) and assets that it impacts upon.

This provides a useful view of the context of the selected asset and provides at a glance all connected

assets and the status of their health.

Figure 20 – The Monitoring Context panel

7.1.2 Asset Details PanelThe Asset Details panel includes the following information:

• Health status icon: the color of the icon will change depending on the overall health status of

the asset.

• Name: the name of the monitored asset (in our example below the name is: printer)

• Type of asset: the type of monitored asset (for example Windows Desktop (7), printer, AIX

server, etc.)

• Unavailable since: the amount of time the asset has been failing (if applicable)

• Environment/Responsible: depending on the information available for the asset the following

details may appear in this panel:

− Environment: describes the general usage of the asset such as production, development,

testing etc.

− Responsible: the contact that is responsible for the asset

Figure 21 – The Asset Details panel showing information regarding the environment

Figure 22 – The Asset Details panel showing information regarding the contact responsible for the asset



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

7.1.3 Impact Analysis PanelThe Impact Analysis panel is comprised of two sections which list the appropriate assets:

• Business elements affected by the asset: lists the business elements or assets whose

health is being affected by the performance of this asset ie. any asset whose health status is

critical (red) because of this asset.

Figure 23 – The Impact Analysis panel. In the above example the Siebel Call Center is being affected by the unavailability of the printer.

• Other business elements that depend on the asset: lists the business elements that depend

on the asset, but are currently unaffected.

Figure 24 – The Impact Analysis panel. In the above example we can see that now the printer is not Critical, the Siebel Call Center is not being affected, but is now listed as a business element that

depends on the printer. This allows us to know that whenever there is a problem with this printer, the Siebel Call Center will be affected.

Click on an asset in this panel to navigate directly to the Real-Time Asset Overview for the selected

asset.

The sections in this panel can be hidden or revealed simply by clicking at the top of each panel. The

arrow icons indicate which panel is being displayed and which is currently hidden .



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

7.1.4 Status Evolution PanelThe Status Evolution panel shows the overall health of the asset plus the health of any monitored KPIs

(availability, performance, or errors) for a predefined time frame.

This information is extremely valuable for pin-pointing the exact time an error occurred and exactly what

type of error is affecting the overall health of an asset. Each change in health status is represented by

the color of the health status making it very easy to see at a glance any change in status:

• red = Critical

• yellow = Warning

• blue = Minor

• green = Harmless

• brown = monitoring error

• Gray = unknown

Figure 25 – The Status Evolution panel. In the example above we can see that the asset was unavailable an hour ago and this error affected the overall health of the asset, while the performance

of the asset was Critical for just over 25 minutes, but the overall health status was Warning.The asset has been in a Harmless health state for just 5 minutes.

The overall health of the asset is displayed in the top bar, while the KPIs are represented below.

Figure 26 – Context information is available for the overall health and each KPI shown in the Status Evolution panel, including the time frame and the health status



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

The time frame of the Status Evolution panel can be changed to suit your exact needs, increasing it or

decreasing it as necessary to ensure it includes all the information you need to determine the cause of a

problem. The default time frame is one hour but this can be changed by the Alignia administrator if

required.

7.1.5 Root Cause Analysis PanelIf the Status Evolution panel provides an idea as to what has been causing an asset problems at a

glance, the Root Cause Analysis panel is where you can drill down deeper into a problem in order to

understand why the asset is having these problems.

This panel provides precise information regarding the specific controls that are registering problems that

are affecting the asset, including how long the problem has been affecting the asset and a detailed

message generated by the control (ThinkServer monitor).

Figure 27 – The Root Cause Analysis panel

The Root Cause Analysis panel provides a list of all the controls adversely affecting the asset. The list

contains the following columns:

• KPI Indicator icon: displays the icon for the type of KPI being monitored by the control. For

example the Temperature (Router) control is a performance KPI, and therefore the

performance indicator icon is displayed

• Health Status icon: displays the SmartConsole icon for the control. The color of the icon

changes to indicate the current health status of the control.

• Control: the name of the monitor in ThinkServer retrieving the information regarding the status

of the asset. Click on the control in the Root Cause Analysis panel to open it directly in the

SmartConsole Web Client to view the events associated with the control.

Figure 28 – Click on the control in the Root Cause Analysis panel to open the control directly in the SmartConsole Web Client

Note If the health status of the asset is Harmless there will be no controls to display in the Root

Cause Analysis panel. Only problems affecting the asset are displayed here.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

See section 7.1.6 - Events in SmartConsole Web Client below for further details regarding

working with events.

• Since: the amount of time that the control has been adversely impacting on the asset

• Responsible: the contact responsible for the asset

• Control location: refers to the asset type of the asset being monitored

• Message: the complete message retrieved by the monitor in ThinkServer containing detailed

information regarding the exact problem being detected by the control

7.1.6 Events in SmartConsole Web ClientEvents for a specific control can be viewed in detail by opening the control directly in the SmartConsole

Web Client. Here we have much more control over the events displayed, for example: we can select to

view all events for a specific time period; view the full message for an event; reset the criticalness; and

more.

Figure 29 – Events received in the last 2 hours are listed here for the Physical Memory (VM-T04-SADAMS) control in the SmartConsole Web Client

To open a control directly in the SmartConsole Web Client:

Step 1. Either click on the control in the Root Cause Analysis panel, or click on the control in the Core section of the Controls and Components panel

Step 2. The control opens in the SmartConsole Web Client in a new tab in your browser, and

events associated with that control are listed here.

We will explain briefly how to work with the control and events while open in the SmartConsole Web

Client in the following sections.

Tip The information provided in this panel can be ordered in the list by clicking the Order buttons

at the top of each column . By default the list is ordered by criticalness, so that the most

critical items appear at the top of the list.

Please note that the list is scrollable when it is not possible to display all the controls in the

panel at once.

Note When the SmartConsole Web Client is accessed directly in this manner, only the Events tab

is available. It is not possible to access other areas of the SmartConsole Web Client.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Reset the Criticalness of a Control

It is possible to reset the criticalness of a control when it is open in the SmartConsole Web Client.

To reset the criticalness of a control:

Step 1. Either click on the control in the Root Cause Analysis panel, or click on the control in the Core section of the Controls and Components panel

Step 2. Rest the mouse on the control health icon in the top right corner and click the Options

arrow that appears, to open the Options menu.

Figure 30 – Rest the mouse on the control health icon in the top right corner and click the Options arrow

Step 3. Select Reset criticalness.

The health status of the control will be reset to Harmless (green).

Figure 31 – In the Core section of the Controls and Components panel we can see the criticalness of the control has been reset to “Harmless”

Figure 32 – We can also observe that the criticalness has been reset in the Service Model in SmartConsole Web Client



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Event Buffer Period

We can change the time period to control the events that are displayed in the list to make it easier to

view recent events or to obtain an historical perspective of the events over a longer period of time.

To edit the Event Buffer Period:

Step 1. Click on the currently defined time period to open the options menu.

Step 2. Select the desired time period from the options menu.

Figure 33 – Select a time period from the options menu

The list is automatically refreshed to display events that occurred during the selected

time period.

Show Full Message

We can view the full message of an event that is listed here to make it easy to access all the information

available regarding the event.

To show an events full message:

Step 1. Click on the Options icon for an event in the list in the right hand column to open the

options menu.

Figure 34 – Click on the Options icon for an event in the list in the right hand column

Step 2. Select Full message in the Options menu. The full message for the event opens in a new window. Information regarding the event

is organized into the following categories, accessible via tabs:

• SmartConsole: information regarding the event specifically in SmartConsole

• Common: general information regarding the event, including Agent code, message

ID, message text, and more.

• Windows: Windows specific information

• Business: business related information

• Other: any other information such as company name etc



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

• iSeries: iSeries specific information

• Event Variables: lists the event variables and their values for the event

Figure 35 – SmartConsole tab of the Full Message for an event

Figure 36 – Common tab of the Full Message for an event

Step 3. Click OK to close the Full Message window.

Execute an Action Set

We can run an Action Set that has been defined in SmartConsole on an event that is listed here. For

more information regarding Action Sets, please refer to the VISUAL Message Center SmartConsole

User Guide.

To execute an action set on an event:

Step 1. Click on the Options icon for an event in the list in the right hand column to open the

options menu.


http://customers.tango04.com/content/948

http://customers.tango04.com/content/948


Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 37 – Click on the Options icon for an event in the list in the right hand column

Step 2. Select Execute an action set in the Options menu.

The Execute an Action Set window opens.

Step 3. Select the Action Set you wish to run on the event and click the Execute button.

Figure 38 – Click the Execute button to run an Action Set on an event

Step 4. Click the Close button when finished.

7.1.7 Controls and Components PanelThe Controls and Components panel displays all the controls that have been created in Orchestrator to

monitor an asset. In this panel we can see at a glance the health status of the specific elements of the

asset being monitored and as well as the health status of each component of that monitored element.

The color of the icon for each control reflects the health status of that control, making it easy to see

which elements of the asset and which of their components are Critical, Warning, Minor, or Harmless, as

well as those whose status is unknown or having monitoring errors.

Figure 39 – The Controls and Components panel



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

If we take a server for example, a server is comprised of various elements that can be monitored, such

as logical and physical disks. Furthermore we can monitor specific components of these elements to

provide specific information which will deliver quick visual indications as to the main components that

are adversely affecting the health status of the asset.

In Figure 39 above we can see that for the server itself we are monitoring the status of the following

components:

• Virtual memory

• Physical memory

• Network availability

• CPU usage

For the Logical Disk C, we are monitoring the status of these components:

• Availability

• Disk usage

So, while the availability of Logical Disk C is good, we know that the disk usage is a concern, and it is

this component that is creating the Warning status for the disk, and while this may not be a problem at

the moment, the important thing is that we are alerted to the disk usage situation and can make sure we

address it before it has an adverse effect on any business applications that depend on this server.

In Figure 40 we can see the complete list of components that we have created controls for in

Orchestrator for that specific server. Notice that this controls relate directly to the Business Views that

have been automatically generated by Orchestrator in SmartConsole.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 40 – The controls and components for a monitored server in Business Applications (top

image) are the same as those defined in SmartConsole (lower image)



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Note Depending on the type of asset opened in the Real-Time Asset Overview, there can be

several lists of controls in this panel as displayed in Figure 41 below:

Figure 41 – Context and core controls displayed for a standalone application

For example, in the Figure 41 the controls that have been created that are relevant to the

Datacenter databases standalone application include:

• Context controls: here we see the controls that exist for the SQL server database

used by Siebel as Siebel Call Center business application is a business element

that depends on the Datacenter databases standalone application. So we can see

here that despite the overall health status of the asset being Warning, it is not

currently adversely affecting the Siebel Call Center

• Core controls: controls for the standalone application itself are displayed here

• Platform controls: the core controls for the server on which this standalone

application depends are also displayed, which provides further detailed useful

information which can identify the key issue that is affecting the asset. If the overall

health status of the server for example was Critical, we would expect this to impact

on the standalone application.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

7.2 Analysis TabIn Figure 42 below you can see that each Real-Time Asset Analysis tab is comprised of the following

distinct panels:

Figure 42 – Real-Time Asset Analysis tab for a server

Monitoring Context panel (see section 7.1.1 - Monitoring Context Panel on page 27)

Asset Details panel (section 7.1.2 - Asset Details Panel on page 27)

Health Evolution panel

Metrics panel



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

7.2.1 Health Evolution PanelThe Health Evolution panel controls the time frame that is displayed in the Metrics panel and provides

navigation to charts providing historical metrics.

Figure 43 – Health Evolution panel

This panel contains two distinct controls to manage the time frame:

• Period drop-down list box

• Period bar

Select a period from the drop-down list box and the charts in the Metrics panel will automatically refresh

to display data for the selected period.

Figure 44 – Period drop-down list box

The Period bar will also automatically update to adopt the same time frame:

Figure 45 – The slider time frame automatically matches the selected period

The Period bar provides even further granular control of the time frame that the charts will display in the

Metrics panel. Click anywhere on the bar to enable the focus controls whereby you can drag the handles

of the time frame and adjust the focus of the time frame to a more precise period.

Figure 46 – Drag the handles of the time frame and adjust the focus of the time frame to a more

precise period

Click the Close icon to revert to the original time frame defined by the selected period.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

7.2.2 Metrics PanelThe Metrics panel displays a selection of charts for the selected monitored asset that provide essential

historical data for powerful analysis of the asset’s health.

The metrics displayed here will vary depending on the type of asset and the metrics that have been

configured for the asset in Alignia for Business Applications.

In our example we have a Windows server which has the following metrics available:

• Network

• CPU Usage (%)

• Memory Usage

• Used Storage

• Physical Disks Performance

Working with Metrics

We can focus on specific charts in the Metrics panel to view the data in greater detail. To focus on a

specific chart click the Focus icon in the top right corner of the chart.

Figure 47 – Focussing on a specific chart

The chart is expanded, providing further control over the time frame for these particular metrics.

To return to the Real-Time Asset Analysis tab, and close the chart currently in focus, click the Close

button in the top-right corner of the chart.

X and Y axis

As explained previously in section 7.2.1 - Health Evolution Panel on page 40, the time frame for the

metrics displayed in the charts is dependent on the period selected in the Health Evolution panel,

however we can manipulate the time frame further in this view.

Note You can only make the focus more acute using this method, you cannot expand the selected

time-frame, to do that simply select a greater period from the Period drop-down list box.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Drag the handles of the time frame bar below the selected chart to adjust the focus of the time frame

to a more precise period as shown in Figure 48.

Figure 48 – Drag the handles of the time frame bar below the selected chart to adjust the focus of the time frame

The y-axis can also be manipulated in the same way, click on the y-axis and drag the handles

that appear to contract or expand the scale of the y-axis.

Figure 49 – Drag the handles that appear to contract or expand the scale of the y-axis

To restore the y-axis back to the default, click the Restore icon at the top of the scale as shown in

Figure 50.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 50 – Click the Restore icon at the top of the y-axis scale

Context Information

Context information is available for all charts, to view specific metric details for any node in a chart,

simply rest the mouse on a node. The details of the metric for that node are displayed in the chart, plus

the details of the nodes for other elements on the same time line. In the example in Figure 51 we can

see how this feature enables quick and easy comparisons between several elements of the same

device, namely the number of transfers for each disk at 14:17.

Figure 51 – Rest the mouse on a node to see the details of the metric, plus the details of the nodes for other elements on the same time line.

Viewing Elements

When a chart contains metrics for several elements, it is possible to control precisely which elements

appear in the chart. By default all elements are displayed, but we can remove elements by clicking on

their label in the Element key in the chart as illustrated in Figure 52.



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 52 – Click on the label of an element to hide it in the chart:

Figure 53 – Element hidden in the chart

To restore the hidden element, simply click its label in the Element key one more time.

Thresholds

Thresholds for elements of a chart are defined by the Alignia Administrator in Orchestrator and will be

visible in a chart when only one element with defined thresholds is visible. This makes it extremely easy

to see at a glance when values are within acceptable limits. As we can see in Figure 54 below the

response time for the Orchestrator Website stays well within acceptable limits during the monitored

period in the chart.

The following thresholds are available:

• Critical: red dotted line

• Warning: orange dotted line

• Minor: blue dotted line



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 54 – Thresholds for the Orchestrator Website displayed in a chart: Red = critical; orange = warning; blue = minor

Tip Context information, control of visible elements in a chart, and thresholds, are also available

when the chart is not in focus. The Element key in this instance is located at the top left of the

chart.

Figure 55 – Context information available in charts directly in the Real-Time Asset Analysis tab



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

7.3 No Health Info AvailableDuring any period when an asset is not being monitored, a message will appear in Alignia for Business

Applications warning that no health info is available.

There are several reasons for this message to appear:

• Monitoring of the asset has been stopped in Orchestrator: in Orchestrator it is possible to

stop the monitoring of an asset, if for example we know that we will temporarily disconnect a

printer and we don’t wish to record this period as Critical, we may stop the monitoring of the

printer.

• Templates may not be correctly assigned in Orchestrator

• License keys may have expired

Figure 57 – No health information available

If this message persists we advise that you contact the Alignia monitoring solution administrator to

ensure a quick resolution.

Periods during which monitoring of the asset does not occur displays in the Status Evolution panel as a

Gray vertical bar where no health status information is available, as shown in Figure 58 below:

Figure 56 – Thresholds in the Real-Time Asset Analysis tab, note that only one element in the chart can be visible in order to view thresholds for that element



Bus

ines

s A

pplic

atio

ns

Figure 58 – No health information available in the Status Evolution panel


Section 3: Business Processes

Business Processes - Introduction to Alignia for Business Processes


Chapter 88 Introduction to Alignia for Business Processes

Alignia for Business Processes is a module of the Tango/04 Alignia product, whose main objective is to:

• Control that business processes are executed within an expected time

• Make sure that the various activities included in the process are completed successfully

• Provide visibility over problems, of their root cause and the impact they have on the business.

More than 15 years of experience working with monitoring solutions has been embedded in Alignia for

Business Processes to create unique monitoring software that will:

• detect problems, in real time, that impede a process from executing correctly and on time; and

• provide relevant information for the continuous improvement of processes, allowing users to

identify the bottlenecks and the reasons for their degradation with regards to duration,

unavailability and critical errors.

What’s more, Alignia for Business Processes has been designed to be configured, operated and

administered by the IT department in a simple and agile way, so that IT departments concentrate their

efforts on fixing problems and improving the service, instead of spending valuable time trying to detect

where the problem in the process lies. This is achieved because Alignia for Business Processes

provides a means to rapidly identify the nature of a problem: if it is generated by an IT component or

application; or if it resides in the process’ own logic, for example in a process’ workflow such as passing

documents or data from one participant (person or software system) to another.

Alignia for Business Processes is designed to be integrated with the rest of Tango/04’s monitoring

solutions, allowing you to obtain a global view over services, processes, applications, the IT

infrastructure that supports them and security logic in general.

Business Processes - Anatomy of a Business Process

Chapter 99 Anatomy of a Business Process

Before we get started with Alignia for Business Processes it is important to examine the architecture of a

business process. Understanding the structure of a business process is essential to understanding the

results delivered via the Alignia visualization engine.

There are three key concepts to explain when examining the architecture of Alignia for Business

Processes:

• Process components: the process itself and its main tasks or groups of tasks (stages), and

the means of carrying out these tasks (channels). See section 9.1 - Process Components on

page 51 for further details.

• Business consumers: each business consumer has specific requirements of a business

process, and therefore their definition shapes each process. For example, not all business

consumers will use all the channels or tasks defined for a business process, but they may

require extra data sources or monitors. Business consumers are explained in detail in section

9.2 - Business Consumers on page 54.

• Layers: a layer is a conceptual term that helps to clarify the results in the visualization engine

and how each part of the process impacts on another. We use layers when talking about the

structure of a business process, see also Chapter 11 - Processes, Instances, Stages, Channels

and Tasks on page 63.

Note The process components and number of layers in a process are fixed and therefore a

business process will always follow this basic structure:

Layer Component

1 Business process

2 Business consumers

3 Stages

4 Channels

5 Tasks

The number of business consumers, stages, channels and tasks however, will vary from

business to business.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

9.1 Process ComponentsFirstly, we should begin by defining what we mean by a business process:

A business process is a set of tasks or activities that are executed in a determined order and in a time

frame. A business process generates one or several outcomes that may also produce errors that must

be treated.

We break-down a business process into the following basic structure:

• Business processes: this is the top level, the actual process itself. Every defined business

process consists of stages and tasks and has associated business elements such as business

consumers.

• Stages: a process is comprised of various stages that serve to organize and segment the

process. A stage is a functional concept that enables you to group tasks according to the role

they play in the process. There may be several different ways to complete a stage in a process

in which case we have channels.

• Channels: channels are optional and are used specifically during the information reception or

sending stages of the process. They serve to identify the different ways by which the input

(files, data, etc.) arrives to the process, or how the outputs of the process (normally to business

consumers) are sent.

• Tasks: represent the individual actions that make up one stage in a process, each stage will

have one or more tasks over which we can realize a limited and determined number of controls

(see section 9.1.2 - Error Messages on page 53 for further details).

Note If no channels are defined for a business process, in order to preserve the structure of the

business process, a default channel will be applied to a stage through which all tasks are

executed. This default channel will not however be visible in the visualization engine.

Example

We will use the same example throughout this document to illustrate how we monitor a typical

business process in Alignia for Business Processes.

Our process (Order fulfillment) is a common process for tracking orders used by retail companies. We

will concentrate on this one process only and one specific stage (Order reception) of that process for

the purpose of simplifying our example. The tasks that we define for this example are required

specifically for completing this stage via one of two available channels (EDI or Ftp).

In Figure 60 on page 55 we can see the larger picture in terms of how the business manages the

ordering and delivery of products online, and where exactly our process, stage, channels and tasks fit

into this picture.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Figure 59 – In this example we can see that the Order Fulfillment process is one of three with regards to how the business manages orders, and the Order reception stage is also one of three

stages for this particular process.

So let’s begin by providing a simple explanation of the components created for each layer in our

example:

Layer Component Example Description

1 Business process

• Order Fulfillment This process is concerned with preparing orders from the point when an order is placed up to the point of delivery.

It is a vital process to the business and as such must be monitored at every level to ensure there is no delay in the preparation of each order.

2 Business consumers

• Big Corp

• Small Corp

• ACME

We have three companies that order from our business. However as we will see they don’t all use the same means (channels) to send their orders.

3 Stage • Order reception This stage groups the tasks that are concerned with how our business receives an order that has been placed online by a business con-sumer.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

9.1.1 Process TasksNeither processes nor stages will collect metrics of their own whatsoever. It is the tasks which produce

data that indicates the corresponding health and specific metrics for each layer. This ensures we

pinpoint precisely where a problem occurs.

By monitoring the business process we are able to identify which task or tasks are having errors,

unexpected results, or delays in execution.

Tasks can be of two types according to the number of times they are executed:

• Batch tasks: tasks that run only once within the execution of a business process, whether

scheduled or not.

• Continuous tasks: tasks that are executed a variable number of times within a defined window

of time (they are repeated continuously for example tasks in the assembly line in a

manufacturing process). Continuous tasks are not concerned with the details of the task, only

whether a task is active or not.

9.1.2 Error MessagesWhen we detect a problem in a task, an error message is generated, which will help to resolve the

problem as quickly as possible.

Every error message is tailored to emphasize the impact of an issue from the business' perspective

(business process and business consumers). Messages are categorized to make it easier to track and

resolve a problem as quickly as possible.

The categories are as follows:

• IT availability

• Scheduling

• Performance

• Errors

4 Channels • EDI The Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) channel is an electronic means for the business con-sumers to transfer structured data from one computer system to another without human intervention.

• Ftp The Ftp channel allows the business consum-ers to transfer computer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet.

5 EDI tasks • Document

receptionThis task receives the orders.

• Send to

validationThis task sends the orders to be validated.

Ftp Tasks • Zip files reception This task receives the orders in a zip file.

• Unzip This task unzips the orders received.

• Send to

validation

This task sends the unzipped orders to be vali-dated.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

• Activity

9.1.3 Process Activity IndicatorsA Process Activity Indicator is a KPI for a process that indicates the amount and/or value of what is

being processed.

It is possible to define up to a maximum of three Process Activity Indicators for each business process.

A Process Activity Indicator is a measurement regarding the process execution itself. In Alignia for

Business Processes we are not concerned with other indicators, such as the main server CPU for

example, these indicators are displayed in Alignia for Business Applications. Each process task will be

able to have one unique Business Process Activity Indicator1.

Monitoring of a business process should be performed from various points of view:

• its timely execution: the process advances or moves

• the availability of IT: applications and infrastructure are available

• business activity: the objective here is to be able to identify that a task is not producing the

expected outcome from the business activity point of view. For example, let’s say we have a

task for receiving orders for a critical customer that expects to receive a certain volume of

orders per day. If by noon zero orders have been received, this lack of activity will be detected

and an alert generated that can translate this lack of activity into the cost (in financial terms) to

the business. This is extremely useful when prioritizing which problems to deal with first.

9.2 Business ConsumersFurther to tasks and their organization by stages, we also need to ensure the monitoring of the process

can be adapted to meet the specific needs of various business consumers. Business consumers provide

visibility over how the process is seen through the impact on a specific consumer of the process.

Business consumers require their own instance of the process and don’t instantiate all the elements

available for the process, only the process elements they need.

In the following figures we can see how a business consumer affects the architecture of a specific

business process. Figure 60 on page 55 illustrates the basic structure of a business process complete

with the layers we described earlier. The process is comprised of stages, channels, and tasks which are

linked to various data sources and monitors. This image shows the process for All consumers.

Note Not all tasks will need Process Activity Indicators

1.If it is a task that is instantiated by various business consumers, you will be able to have a Business Process Activity Indicator for this task for each consumer, in order to understand the activity of a specific consumer.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Figure 60 – Business process structure for All Consumers

If we define a business consumer however, the structure will change to represent the process

specifically for the selected business consumer as illustrated in Figure 61. Now we can see that the

business consumer creates an instance of the process that effectively provides a filter to hide any

channels or tasks that are not used by the business consumer. On the other hand extra data sources or

monitors required only by this business consumer may be added to the structure.

Figure 61 – Channels, tasks, data sources, and monitors not used by the business consumer are masked in this instance of the business process (represented by the blue rectangles), while data

sources and monitors specific to this business consumer are added to the structure (blue circles).



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

9.2.1 Process Instances per Business ConsumerBusiness consumers allow us to define the different internal or external clients, providers or partners that

a business process can have. Business consumers are receptors of the critical activity that the process

generates, either because they interact in part with the process, or because they aliment it with the

information that it must process.

As we have explained in the example above, depending on the nature of a business process there may

be channels that are only open to one particular client, and the creation of instances for each business

consumer allows us to reflect this in the structure of the process.

By defining business consumers for a process, a level of granularity is at your disposal that can be

applied to each one of the process’ channels or tasks. As such you can associate which consumers are

Example of different channels used by different business consumers

In our example, not all of our business consumers use all of the available channels to place orders:

• BigCorp only uses the Ftp channel to send orders

• SmallCorp only uses the EDI channel to send orders

• ACME uses both channels

If we select BigCorp in the Business Consumer panel, when we drill down through the various layers

of the Order Fulfillment process to the Order Reception stage we will see the Ftp channel and the

tasks defined for completing this stage via this channel.

Figure 62 – BigCorp uses the Ftp channel to send files for validation

If however we select SmallCorp, we will not see the Ftp channel and associated tasks when we drill

down through the process layers. We will in fact see the EDI channel and the tasks associated with

this channel.

Figure 63 – SmallCorp uses the EDI channel to send files for validation



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

impacted by a task through a specific channel, and create specific instances of controls for each

consumer.

9.3 LayersLayers are a useful concept used to explain how the business process components and business

elements combine to create the complete picture regarding the state of your business processes.

Layers and how they are presented in the Alignia visualization engine are explained in detail in Chapter

11 - Processes, Instances, Stages, Channels and Tasks on page 63.


Business Processes - Alignia Visualization Engine Interface



familiarise yourself with its basic components, so you can quickly get started with the Alignia for

Business Processes module.

In Figure 64 on the following page you can see the Alignia Visualization Engine home page is comprised

of the following distinct sections:

The components specific to Alignia for Business Processes (the Filter toolbar, the Business Consumer

panel, and the Business Processes panel) are explained in detail in this chapter.

Figure 64 – The Alignia Visualization Engine home page for Business Processes

Module Name tile (see section 3.1 - Module Name Tile on page 6)

Search box (see section 3.2 - Search Box on page 8)

Filter toolbar

Business Consumers panel

Business Processes panel



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

10.1 Filter ToolbarThe Filter toolbar provides further control over which business processes are displayed in the Business

processes panel.

Figure 65 – The Filter toolbar

The following filtering is possible:

• All: shows all the defined business processes available in Alignia for Business Processes.

• Unhealthy: shows only the problematic business processes or instances, i.e. any health status

that is not green (success)

• Active: shows only the business processes or instances that are currently active

• Delayed: shows only the business processes or instances that are delayed

• Idle: shows only the business processes or instances that are idle

• About to Start: shows only the business processes or instances that are about to start

• Started: shows only the business processes or instances that have started

• Finished: shows only the business processes or instances that have finished

• Optional: shows business processes or instances that are optional, i.e. they may or may not

start in the current process period.

Simply click the filter you wish to be applied in the Filter toolbar and only business processes matching

that filter will appear. Click All to remove any filters.

The number of business processes matching the status is displayed in brackets to the right of each filter.

10.2 Business Consumers PanelThe Business Consumers panel displays all the defined business consumers available in Alignia for

Business Processes for the selected layer. It provides a quick filter to display only the business

processes in the Business Processes panel that correspond to the selected business consumer.

Figure 67 – Business Consumers panel



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

At the top of the Business Consumers panel (as long as a business consumer has been defined), we

see the following options complete with health status icons:

• All Consumers: select this option to display all available business processes in the Business

Process panel. The health status icon indicates the health of the worst component of all the

defined business process instances, including the shared business process instance.

• Shared: select this option to display the shared business process instance. The Shared

business process instance represents the layers of the process that are shared by several

business consumers. In other words when a shared stage, channel, or task fails they fail for all

the business consumers that depend on them.

Below them we are presented with a list of all the defined business consumers, again accompanied by a

health status icon.

Simply click any business consumer to filter the business process instances displayed in the Business

Process panel to those of the selected business consumer, and the health status icon will represent the

health of the selected consumer (that is to say, the shared part used by this business consumer plus the

specific part for this business consumer).

10.3 Business Processes PanelThe Business Process panel on the home page displays the available business processes that

correspond to the selection made in the Business Consumers panel:

• If All Consumers is selected: all the business processes will be listed displaying the health

status of the worst business process instance

• If a specific business consumer is selected: only the business processes available for that

business consumer will be displayed and the health status of each process will be specifically

for that business consumer

Note If you are viewing a business process, channel or task that has no business consumers

defined for that layer, then the Business Consumers panel may not appear as shown in the

top image. The default setting is configured by the Alignia administrator.

Figure 66 – Business Consumer panel hidden in the top image and still visible in the lower image.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

• if shared is selected: all the shared business processes will be listed displaying the health

status of the shared component of each process

The contents of the Business Process panel will also change depending on the layer of the business

process that is selected. So while the panel displays the filtered business processes on the home page,

clicking on a business process will update the contents to display all the stages of the process. When a

stage is clicked in the Business Process panel, the contents will change to display the associated

channels and their tasks. Clicking on a channel will change the table below to display the tasks for that

particular channel.

Please see Chapter 11 - Processes, Instances, Stages, Channels and Tasks on page 63 for further

details.

Figure 68 – Filtered business processes are displayed in a table in the Business Process panel

The Business Processes panel displays the filtered layers of the business process in a table that

consists of three to four columns, depending on the type of layer selected:

• Layer name: this column displays the name of the business process, stage or task as well as

the health status icon for the layer.

• Operational status: the current operational status of the process, stage or task. For further

details please see Chapter 12 - Operational Status on page 74.

The operational status will be one of the following:

− Delayed

− Idle

− About to start

− Started

− Finished

− Optional

• IT Dependencies: the health status in real time of any IT dependencies of the process element

at that moment will be displayed in this column.

• Stage / Task number: the number of the stage or task which indicates the order in which they

are executed in the process. NOTE: This column does not appear on the home page.

Note If no channel has been defined for a stage (ie channel name = Default), no channel will be

displayed.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Tip All of the information here is displayed in real time, and the default refresh timeout rate for

the data is as follows:

• Refresh Timeout: 120 seconds

This setting can be customized by the Alignia administrator if required.


Business Processes - Processes, Instances, Stages, Channels and Tasks

Chapter 1111 Processes, Instances, Stages, Channels and Tasks

As we have already mentioned, Alignia for Business Processes breaks down each individual process

into process components and business elements, which it is useful to consider as a series of layers

when it comes to visualizing a business process. This enables us to drill down through the various layers

of the process to see exactly at what point in the process issues may exist, and furthermore how they

impact on the other layers of the process. This method ensures everything you need to know is

presented neatly in one invaluable screen in order to quickly identify how to deal with an issue.

The layers of a process and their hierarchy are clearly defined in Alignia for Business Processes as

follows:

• Business Process

− Instances

− Stages

− Channels

− Tasks

Configuration of each of these layers is conducted in Orchestrator, the Alignia configuration tool. In

Figure 69 on page 64 we can see the business process and the various instances, channels, stages,

and tasks associated with it that we have created in order to illustrate how each layer is associated with

a business process.

For further information regarding configuring Alignia for Business Processes please refer to the Alignia

Configuration Guide.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Figure 69 – The various layers of one business process and the examples of each layer as defined in

Orchestrator for our example.

11.1 Business Processes and InstancesBusiness Processes are created in Orchestrator and are common to each business consumer we have

defined. So when a new business process is created, the Alignia administrator can create a business

instance for each business consumer that uses the process.

When a business consumer is selected, we are presented with the business process for that consumer,

or to be more specific we are presented with an instance of the business process specific to that

consumer. The only time when we are not viewing instances of a business processes is when All

Consumers is selected in the Business Consumer panel.

In our example we only have one defined business process (OrderToCash), however you will notice that

the color of the icon may differ depending on which business consumer is selected in the Business

Consumers panel. This is because the health status of the business processes will vary depending on

the status of a stage, channel or task that is part of the business process for a particular consumer.

To illustrate, in Figure 70 below in the top image we are displaying the OrderToCash Shared business

process instance whose icon is green, indicating a success health status. This means that none of the

shared components of the process are having any problems.

In the lower image we have selected ACME in the Business Consumers panel and therefore the health

status of the OrderToCash business process is specifically for ACME only. The health of its icon is

yellow indicating a Warning health status. This suggests that the component that is failing in the process

for ACME is not a shared component.

Note The business consumer name shown in Figure 69 above is used to provide each component

with a unique name in orchestrator, however the business consumer name will not be visible

in the Alignia visualization engine.

Tip The health status icon represents the worst component of the business process.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Figure 70 – Two different instances of the OrderToCash business process are displayed here, hence the different health status of the icons. The top image shows the Shared instance of the business

process, while the lower image shows the ACME instance of the same business process.

11.1.1 Business ProcessesWhen business processes are displayed on the home page, we see all the available business

processes listed complete with the basic information displayed in the Business Process panel as

described in section 10.3 - Business Processes Panel on page 60.

To open a business process to view the various process layers:

Step 1. Select All Consumers in the Business Consumers panel

Step 2. Click on the desired business process in the Business Processes panel on the home

page.

11.1.2 InstancesInstances of a business process are created for business consumers, that is to say that for every

defined business process there will be an instance for every defined business consumer plus a common

instance which includes all the stages and tasks that are common to or shared by all business

consumers.

In our example we have created one business process: OrderToCash

We have three business consumers: ACME; BigCorp; and SmallCorp.

Therefore we have four instances of the OrderToCash business process:

Figure 71 – Business process (OrderToCash) and the business process instances in Orchestrator

To open a business process instance to view the various instance layers:

Step 1. Select Common or a specific business consumer in the Business Consumers panel



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Step 2. Click on the desired business process instance in the Business Processes panel on the

home page.

Once a business process has been opened we are presented with further information regarding the

following:

• Process Stages

• Process Activity

• Errors

Figure 72 – The OrderToCash ACME process instance. Here we can see details of the stages that comprise the process, activity for the process and errors relating to the process.

11.1.3 Process Stages PanelThe Process Stages panel displays the associated stages of the business process or instance in a table

that consists of four columns:

• Stage number: the number of the stage which indicates the order in which it is executed in the

process.

• Process stage: this column displays the name of the business process stage as well as the

health status icon for the stage.

• Operational status: the current operational status of the stage. The operational status will be

one of the following:

− Delayed

− Idle

Tip Remember the difference between a business process and a business process instance is

that the instance is a version of the process specific to a particular business consumer.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

− About to start

− Started

− Finished

• IT Dependencies: the health status of any IT dependencies will be displayed in this column.

11.1.4 Process Activity PanelThe Process Activity panel displays the activity of any stage associated with the business process or

instance. If there is no activity for any of the stages, no data will be displayed as shown below in

Figure 73.

Figure 73 – No data available in the Process Activity panel as no stage for the OrderToCash BigCorp business process instance is currently showing any activity

As soon as the stages start being active, this panel provides a wealth of information regarding specific

details for each stage, displayed in a bar chart for quick visual comparisons. For example we can see

specific quantities for the operational status of each stage such as the number of orders that have been

processed in the Order Reception stage as well as the number that have been rejected, alongside

those that have been processed or rejected at the Order Validation or Order preparation stages.

This data gives a useful perspective on the stages of a process allowing you to see at a glance which

stages may be providing issues or bottlenecks.

Context data in the Activity panel

Furthermore context sensitive information is available to provide the exact number of units involved in

each section as illustrated in Figure 74 on page 68. Simply rest the mouse on a section view the number

of units involved.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Figure 74 – Context information for each section is obtained by resting the mouse on the section. Here we can see that 593 units were rejected at the Order Reception stage, 313 were processed,

and the monetary value of those processed is 666 dollars.

Filtering data in the Activity panel

The information displayed in the Process Activity panel can be filtered by clicking on the data filter option

for the type of data you wish to be displayed solo. This action hides the other data available, so by

clicking on the Processed data filter option in the example above, we will be left with just the data

relating to the number of processed units in the stage as illustrated in Figure 75 below. Click on

Processed again to remove the filter.

Figure 75 – Filtering the data displayed in the Activity panel to show only processed units



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

11.1.5 Errors PanelThe Errors panel provides details of the specific issues that are affecting the successful completion of a

process. The information here is provided in a table that contains the following columns:

• Status icons: the substate icon and the health status icon for the affected control. Substates of

the control are represented as follows:

− Availability

− Errors

− Activity

− Scheduling

− Performance

• Control: the name of the affected control. Click on a control in the table to open it in the

SmartConsole Web Client (see section 11.1.6 - Viewing the Control in SmartConsole on

page 70 for further information).

• Since: how long the issue has been impacting on the process

• Control location: the exact path of the affected control

• Business Consumer: the business consumer affected by the issue

• Message: the error message providing further details as to the exact problem being detected

by the control.

The information displayed in this table can be ordered by any specific column as desired to ensure the

information is easy to find.

For example click the order arrows in the Since column header to promote the most recent

detected errors to the top of the table.

Figure 76 – The Errors panel, showing details of an issue affecting the selected business process



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

11.1.6 Viewing the Control in SmartConsoleA control listed as detecting an issue in the Errors panel can be viewed in the SmartConsole Web Client

if desired by simply clicking on the control name in the table.

Figure 77 – The affected control in the SmartConsole Web Client.

Viewing the affected control in SmartConsole provides further contextual information which can be

useful. For example it is easy to see the control in the Business View tree and how it is impacting on the

service model.

11.2 StagesStages represent specific phases of a process and can comprise of one or more channels. When a

stage is defined, an instance of the stage will be created for every defined business consumer, as well

as the common or shared version which will can be used by any of the defined business consumers.

In our example we have created three stages for our business process: Order Preparation; Order Reception; and Order Validation.


Therefore we have 12 stages created in total for the OrderToCash business process (including the three

common / shared versions:

Figure 78 – Process stages in Orchestrator



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Once a business process stage has been opened we are presented with further information regarding

the following:

• Channels

• Stage Tasks

• Channel Activity

• Errors

Figure 79 – The Order Reception ACME process stage. Here we can see the channels created for the stage above the Stage Tasks panel which includes the tasks associated with the stage for the

selected channel.

11.2.1 ChannelsChannels represent various means of carrying out tasks in a process and can comprise of one or more

tasks. When a channel is defined we start by creating a common or shared version and then instances

of the channel can be created for any defined business consumer that uses the channel.

In our example we have created three channels: Default; EDI; and Ftp.


As all our business consumers use all three channels, we have 12 channels created in total for the

OrderToCash business process:

Tip Remember that the Default channel is created in order to ensure there is always a channel

layer in case there are no channels that are applicable to a process stage. In such cases the

default channel is applied to all the stage tasks.



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Figure 80 – Process channels in Orchestrator

The available channels for each selected stage are presented above the Stage Tasks panel. Click on a

channel to select it and the tasks that are displayed here will be those that correspond to that particular

channel.

Figure 81 – Information specific to the selected Ftp ACME channel. The tasks displayed below are associated with the selected channel as is the activity presented in the Channel Activity panel

11.2.2 Stage TasksTasks represent the individual actions that make up one stage in a process. This is the most specific

layer of the entire process and enables users to pinpoint the exact actions that are failing in a business

process, such as unzipping a file, or sending an item for validation. When a task is defined we start by

creating a common or shared version and then instances of the channel can be created for any defined

business consumer that uses the channel.

In our example we have created four tasks: Send to Validation; Zip files reception; toto; and

unzip.


As all our business consumers use all four tasks, we have 16 channels created in total for the

OrderToCash business process including the common or shared version of each task:



Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Figure 82 – Tasks in Orchestrator

The Stage Tasks panel provides information regarding the stage tasks related to the selected channel.

Please refer to section 11.1.3 - Process Stages Panel on page 66 for details of how to use this panel.

11.2.3 Channel ActivityThe channel activity panel provides information regarding the active stage tasks. Please see section

11.1.4 - Process Activity Panel on page 67 for details of how to use this panel.

Figure 83 – Channel Activity panel showing three active stage tasks side by side, including the monetary value of each task. Notice the y axis contains two scales: one for the number of orders in

units and the other for the monetary value in dollars.

11.2.4 ErrorsThe controls displayed in the Errors panel are those related to the selected channel. Please see section

11.1.5 - Errors Panel on page 69 for details of how to use this panel.


Business Processes - Operational Status

Chapter 1212 Operational Status

This chapter explains the operational status of a process, how it works and where and how it is used for

monitoring a Business Process.

12.1 Idle, About to Start, Started, Finished, and OptionalOperational status in Alignia for Business Processes is an extremely useful indicator as it describes the

current state of a process, stage or task, but to correctly understand the meaning of each operational

state we need to explain operational status at task level:

• All the tasks are set to idle when the process is reset.

• The task is set to About to start depending on the value defined in the AboutToStartTolerance

variable which is set in the ActivityCalendar for the task.

• For continuous tasks, start and end are automatically generated based on the ActivityCalendar.

• For batch tasks, start and end are generated by the collecting monitors.

• When the task has received a started event it is set to Started.

• When the task has received an end event it is set to finished.

• A task is set to optional when the ActivityCalendar has no active period in the process period. It

is used for example when you have a task that happens only on Saturday or for a task that is

unscheduled (you don't know when it will happen). If an optional task does not start, it behaves

like a idle task. Once it has started it behave like a normal task.

Figure 84 – Operational states for a business process task


Business Processes - Operational Status

Bus

ines

s P

roce

sses

Example

Let’s say we have daily process that begins at 04:00.

At at 00:00 the process resets because it is not concerned with any data from the previous day and

the process enters the Idle state.

At 03:00 it enters the About to start state because in order for the IT department to deal with any

problems that may affect the process before it begins.

At 04:00 it enters the Started state.

When all the tasks in the process are completed in enters the Finished state.


Appendix A : Contacting Tango/04

Appendix AAppendix A: Contacting Tango/04

EMEA (European, Middle-Eastern & African) Headquarters

Tango/04 Computing Group S.L.

Avda. Meridiana 358, 12 B-C

08027 Barcelona Spain

Phone: +34 93 274 0051

Fax: +34 93 345 1329

[email protected]

www.tango04.com

Latin American Headquarters

Barcelona/04 Computing Group SRL

Avda. Federico Lacroze 2252, Piso 6

1426 Buenos Aires Capital Federal

Argentina

Phone: +54 11 4774-0112

Fax: +54 11 4773-9163

[email protected]

www.barcelona04.com

North America (USA & Canada)

Tango/04 Computing Group USA

PO Box 3301

Peterborough, NH 03458 USA

Phone: 1-800-304-6872

Fax: 858-428-2864

[email protected]

www.tango04.com

Sales Office in Brazil

Tango/04 Computing Group Brasil

Rua Turiassú, 591 - 5º Andar

Perdizes

Cep: 05005-001 São Paulo

Brasil

Phone: +55 (11) 3675 6228

Fax: +51 1 211-2526

[email protected]

www.tango04.com.br

Sales Office in Chile

Barcelona/04 Computing Group Chile

Guardia Vieja 255, Of. 1601

Providencia

Santiago

Chile

Phone: +56 2 234 0898

Fax: +56 2 234 0865

[email protected]

www.barcelona04.com

Sales Office in Columbia

Barcelona/04 Computing Group Colombia

Calle 125 nº 19-89, Piso 5º

Bogotá, D.C.

Colombia

Phone: + 57(1) 658 2664

Fax: +51 1 211-2526

[email protected]

www.barcelona04.com


Mailto:[email protected]

www.tango04.com


www.barcelona04.com


www.barcelona04.com


www.tango04.com


www.barcelona04.com

www.tango04.com.br


www.barcelona04.com

www.barcelona04.com

Appendix A : Contacting Tango/04

Sales Office in Peru

Barcelona/04 Computing Group Perú

Calle Isaac Albeniz 555, Dpto 201 Urb

Las Magnolias

San Borja

L 27 Lima

Perú

Phone: +51 1 640-9168

Fax: +51 1 211-2526

[email protected]

www.barcelona04.com

Sales Office in Italy

Tango/04 Computing Group Italy

Viale Garibaldi 51

13100 Vercelli VC Italy

Phone: +39 0161 56922

Fax: +39 0161 259277

[email protected]

www.tango04.it



www.barcelona04.com


www.tango04.it

Glossary

Glossary

A AccessServerTango/04’s security application. It provides authentication and authorization services (like User

Management and single sign-on) to all Tango/04 apps. Part of the Monitoring Engine (Submodel-Mxx).

ActionA task that SmartConsole performs automatically when an Alarm is triggered. Actions include: writing to

the Event Log, Executing an OS/400 command, Sending an e-mail, and more.

Action Set A set of Actions that SmartConsole performs automatically when an Alarm is triggered.

ActorAn Actor, who plays an Application Role in Tango/04 apps, can be any Windows user or group, or

another Application Role.

Advanced Assistance ServicesA credit-based help system for Tango/04 Customers who need occasional help with their Monitoring

Solution.

Agent Code (SmartConsole)A ThinAgent’s three-letter identification code. Each event arriving to SmartConsole from ThinkServer

has this unique identification code, so you can: tell which ThinAgent the event came from; filter for

events coming from a specific ThinAgent.

Agent Code (ThinkServer)Represented by the variable VSMAgentID, this is a ThinAgent’s three-letter identification code.

AgentlessAgents installed in ThinkServer—not in the target machine—are considered agentless because they do

not involve installing on/consuming client resources.


Glossary

AlarmA SmartConsole filter that enables the user to be notified of certain events, perform actions, etc. An

alarm may or may not include audible/visible alerts.

ALEViSeries Agents use a scripting language that allows the user to perform advanced operations or change

the information contained in a message. This powerful yet simple scripting language is called ALEV and

is explained in the Arithmetic-Logic Expression eValuator (ALEV)1.5 - Reference Manual. Part of the

Monitoring Engine (Submodel-Mxx).

Analysis PanelThe bottom panel of SmartConsole (Web Client) wherein the user can see the components being

affected by a selected component experiencing a non-harmless health state. In the SmartConsole

desktop client this panel is known as the Problem Root Cause panel.

Application RoleAn Application Role is a user’s level of importance in a Tango/04 application. By default, three

Application Roles exist: Viewer, Creator, and Administrator. New roles can also be created.

Applications AgentA Legacy Monitoring Engine-standard product. Reads any real-time text file (from servers, applications

etc.).

Auto-Enterprise ViewThe default way that SmartConsole Web Client displays the inner componenets of a selected Business

Folder. It is for the sake of organization, as the user can see any subfolders and all the corresponding

Business Views placed in their actual folders. An Auto-Enterprise View is not an Enterprise View.

B Batch Queues MonitorIncluded with VISUAL Message Center iSeries Base and the VISUAL Message Center Suite for

Operations. Allows the monitoring of messages from any iSeries message queues. Not sold separately.

BEA WebLogic Operations AgentA group of ThinAgents that monitor WebLogic Servers for bandwidth events and JMS messages

exchanged between applications. Comes standard with the Monitoring Engine’s ThinkServer.

Browser PanelThe SmartConsole panel (at upper right) showing the components included in a selected Service Model

Business Folder. As long as a folder is selected on the Service Model, Auto-Enterprise Views appear in

this panel in SmartConsole Web Client.

BSMSee Business Services Management.


Glossary

Business CategoryA user-defined label for any SmartConsole Business Component. This property can be reused in

VISUAL Message Center Reports and VISUAL Message Center Goals.

Business FolderA folder anywhere on the SmartConsole Service Model. It can contain other Business Folders, Business

Views, and SCPs. Business Folders are usually identifiable by a folder icon.

Business NetworkThe entire “Service Model” (or “Tree”) in the desktop SmartConsole interface.

Business Services Management (BSM)A Monitoring Engine add-on that includes: nonstandard SLA Analytics and Reporting ThinAgents in

ThinkServer; the ability to have SCPs and Total Impact Cost in SmartConsole; nonstandard BSM reports

in Reports; special dashboards in Dashboards.

Business ValueA numeric weight given to a SmartConsole SCP, it represents the cost to your business that an event

has on a monitored service or application. It is a user-defined number that should reflect lost profits, lost

customers, or the like.

Business ViewIn VISUAL Message Center SmartConsole, a Business View represents an IT element of a business

service or process. Business Views are the ends of the branches in the Service Model (tree). They

group relevant incoming events and change Health status accordingly.

Business View Message PanelIn SmartConsole, the Browser panel becomes the Business View Message Panel when the user drills

down, on the Service Model, to a Business View. The events (messages) corresponding to the Business

View are listed in the panel.

C CalendarCreated online via SharedObjects, a Calendar can be used across the range of Tango/04 apps to have

an application consider only those days and hours set forth in the Calendar when handling events.

Child ReportsThe number of reports that have been launched from a report template.

Cisco PIX/ASA Security AgentThese ThinAgents monitor your Cisco PIX and ASA firewall devices. This Agent does not come

standard with the Monitoring Engine. Product code Submodel-TSN.

Citrix Operations AgentA sold-standard group of standard.ThinAgents that monitor Citrix farms and MetaFrame servers for

processes, sessions, bandwidths, performance, datastore availability, users, and application load level,

among other things.


Glossary

CommanderThe ThinkServer DOS-command line tool that enables users to quickly and easily list, start and stop

monitors, and view events.

ConnectorDetermines where data used by Goals will come from. Connectors can be of type SmartConsole or

ThinkServer.

ContactA third party that is involved with a particular SLA (or goal) in VISUAL Message Center Goals. Contacts

usually include: the name of the company, a primary contact person, and e-mail and phone details.

ContractThe binding SLA between you (your IT department or your organization) and another party, entered in

VISUAL Message Center Goals. Contracts include: contact details for both parties, start and end dates,

etc.

Crash PreventerA product for the iSeries platform that is included with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for

Operations and VISUAL Message Center iSeries Base.

CriticalnessThe health-state of a Business Component in SmartConsole: Harmless, Minor, Warning, Critical or

Unknown.

Criticalness Propagation The way by which a Business Component in a Harmless, Minor, Warning or Critical state affects a

parent component. User-defined, can be set to: Cause/Effect, Simple Redundancy, Custom Rules, etc.

Custom Command AgentThis ThinAgent group lets you execute single or multiple commands and scripts on remote Windows and

Linux/UNIX systems, controlling the output returned. It has a wide range of use. A standard Agent.

D DashboardsVISUAL Message Center Dashboards is Tango/04’s real-time dashboard application. Including many

predefined dashboards, it lets users view everything from system performance to business trends. The

dashboards include charts, tables, gauges, and can handle SmartConsole branches, and can be shared

across installations. Product code Submodel-DSB.

DashboardServerA legacy product, it was replaced by VISUAL Message Center Dashboards.

Data Adapter AgentThis ThinAgent group allows you to collect a wide variety of events for ThinkServer using SQL queries

via ODBC connections. Pre- and post- queries are also used to modify these events to your liking.

Monitoring Engine-standard.


Glossary

Data Collector for GoalsA group of ThinAgents acting in ThinkServer to collect the data that Goals needs. This Agent is sold and

used by Tango/04 Customers without a Monitoring Engine (a Customer having just Goals, for example).

It has product code Submodel-TOG.

Data Monitor for iSeriesAvailable for both Reads (DMI-REA) and Changes (DMI-BAS), and in an Express version as well (DMI-

EXP), these products monitor IBM DB2 UDB databases, and comes with best-practices that are useful

in security auditing. It is installed on the server you wish to monitor.

Database Settings AdministratorTango/04’s database management program for all Tango/04 apps. It lets you create each application’s

database, manage event signatures, variables, and define retention policies. Part of the Monitoring

Engine (Submodel-Mxx).

Debugging Agent (powered by VDW)VISUAL Message Center Debugging Agent is an iSeries debugging product that enables a user to

monitor and control Jobs, applications, Security, system information. It displays problematic source code

and lets the user run commands and modify variables. Formerly known as VISUAL Debugger for

WIndows. Product code VDW.

DependenciesA relationship between one SmartConsole alarm and another. Specifically, if the first alarm is triggered,

then the second one is automatically triggered as well.

Device MonitorA product for the iSeries platform that is included with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for

Operations and VISUAL Message Center iSeries Base. It notifies the user of the statuses of drivers,

devices, and communication lines.

E Element IDUsed in ThinkServer—in Data Collection for Dashboards—it is a user-defined text variable that appears

with an event (to distinguish it from others) when a monitor is producing multiple events per recollection.

Enterprise Problem SolverA Legacy product, code EPS.

Enterprise ViewProvides a top-down, high-level view in SmartConsole. Constructed using Service Model elements, you

can add Business Views, Business Folders and SCPs to an Enterprise View, create custom

backgrounds and place the selected elements exactly where you need to. You can even create links to

other Enterprise Views or URLs, offering quick access to important information.


Glossary

Escalation ListA list of e-mails/mobile phone numbers (for SMS) by which SmartConsole tries to contact operators

when an alarm in triggered. SmartConsole tries first to contact the operator at the bottom of the list, and

if no reply is received (or receipt of message delivered) within a certain amount of time, it moves up the

list, attempting to contact the next operator, until an answer or appropriate response is received. The

Escalation List is editable in Notifier, which handles the sending of the e-mails and SMS (text) messages

for SmartConsole.

Events Integrity AgentThis Monitoring Engine-standard Agent (one ThinAgent, in this case) provides security to the

T4EventLob table. It verifies the digital signatures of events and detects unauthorized modifications or

deletions.

Exchange Server Operations Agent There are two of these Agents: one for Exchange 2003, and the other for Exchange 2007-2010. They

both include several ThinAgents that monitor the performance of the Exchange mail system itself as well

as the relevant databases, services, DAGs, mailboxes, etc. Product code Submodel-TOE.

Exclusion RangeA period of time in a Calendar that is not considered by a Tango/04 application in which the Calendar is

used.

F Filters Used widely by VISUAL Message Center products to facilitate the easy retrieval of specific data.

Folder See Business Folder.

G Global Variables ALEV variables that the user can define in SmartConsole, for use in scripts.

GoalsVISUAL Message Center Goals is a Tango/04 product that provides real-time calculation for SLAs and

goals making sure you reach important service goals and avoid failures that can impact on your clients

or can come from your suppliers.

H HealthThere are five possible health values that represent the current monitor status: unknown, critical,

warning, minor, and success. The user can define monitor health conditions with the Health and Actions

Wizard. When defining the health condition assignment you can use any of the variables available in the

monitor. Every time the data source state is refreshed the configured health scripts are executed to

assign the new monitor health.


Glossary

Health Action (ThinkServer)A Python script that a ThinkServer monitor runs when an event is found to match the conditions of a

Health state.

HP Systems Insight Manager AgentA group of ThinAgents that capture, from your current HP Systems Insight Manager software, the

statuses and performances of your HP logical disks and controllers, memory modules, hardware fans

and temperature, network interface adapters, physical disks and controllers, power supplies and

consumptions, processors and CPUs. Standard with Monitoring Engine.

HyperhashingTango/04 technology that boosts the efficiency of SmartConsole filters so that incoming events are

processed up to 99% faster.

I IBM Director SNMP AgentThis Agent is made up of one ThinAgent that lets you incorporate the physical and virtual IBM

infrastructure currently monitored by IBM Director. Processing, disks and memory, configuration, and

device-health events appear in ThinkServer. Comes standard with the Monitoring Engine; not sold

separately.

Impact AnalysisSmartConsole’s way of showing a user how one component is affecting another (how a Business View

is affecting SCPs, for example).

IndicatorIn VISUAL Message Center Goals, an Indicator performs the calculation (and/or Python expression) for

each inflowing variable instance. An Indicator’s output is compared against the conditions of a

corresponding goal; this determines the goal’s status.

Interactive AgentA product for the iSeries platform that is only available as part of the VISUAL Message Center Suite for

Operations and VISUAL Message Center iSeries Base. It monitors for any interactive error in the system

and allows for automatic freezing of the user session. Not sold separately.

iSeries Agentless SecurityOnly available as part of the VISUAL Security Suite - Security Package (VSS) and the Submodel iSeries

Security Agent, these ThinAgents are partly agentless and return Security events based on job inactivity,

system and network attributes, etc. Not sold separately.

iSeries Audit JournalAvailable as part of either the Submodel iSeries Security Agent or the VISUAL Security Suite - Security

Package (VSS). Spawns events based on the iSeries Audit Journal. Not sold separately.


Glossary

iSeries Operations ThinAgentsIncluded (exclusively) with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations and VISUAL

Message Center iSeries Base, these ThinAgents are partly agentless and return Operations events

based on queues, jobs, OUTFILE output, etc. Not sold separately.

iSeries Performance AgentVISUAL Message Center iSeries Performance Agent also known as VCW, is included in the VISUAL

Message Center Suite for Operations as well as VISUAL Control Center. Available as a standalone

product. It monitors the performance of iSeries systems. Product code VCW-ISE.

iSeries Performance ManagerVISUAL Message Center iSeries Performance Manager is included in VISUAL Control Center, and is

made up of two products: VISUAL Control for Jobs and VISUAL Control for Pools. It boosts system

response time and automates job control and optimizes memory for pools. Product code Submodel-VJP.

iSeries Security AgentVISUAL Message Center iSeries Security Agent is also available as a standalone product, this Agent

comes as part of the VISUAL Security Suite - Security Package (VSS). It is particularly useful for

Security auditing and automated protection. Product code Submodel-SEC.

iSeries SQL AgentVISUAL Message Center iSeries SQL Agent includes the iSeries SQL Interactive Monitor and the

iSeries SQL Monitor. It is useful in securing iSeries SQL databases and increasing application

availability. Product code Submodel-SQL.

iSeries Support AgentVISUAL Message Center iSeries Support Agent also known as VISUAL Support, is included in the

VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations as well as VISUAL Control Center. It has a Remote

Control functionality and is especially beneficial to programmers/technicians in situations where

applications are undergoing big changes. Product code Submodel-RST

iSeries Restricted State MonitorVISUAL Message Center iSeries Restricted State Monitor requires either the Monitoring Engine or

VISUAL Message Center iSeries Base. It delivers informational events when an iSeries system goes

into a restricted state. Product code VSP.

J JBoss Operations AgentA ThinAgent group that comes standard with the Monitoring Engine (not sold apart). They monitor JBoss

Application Servers and produce events related to memory pools, threads, CPU, and message queues.

JMX Generic AgentThis (single) ThinAgent is shipped with the Monitoring Engine, and is not sold individually. It monitors

target MBeans and their attributes for Java application resource usage, response times and server

performance.

Job Activity Monitor


Glossary

Included (exclusively) with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations and VISUAL

Message Center iSeries Base, this ThinAgent is useful in reporting unfinished or prematurely finished

iSeries jobs. Not sold separately.

Job Duration MonitorIncluded (exclusively) with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations and VISUAL

Message Center iSeries Base, this ThinAgent produces events when an iSeries job exceeds predefined

times. Not sold separately.

Job Status MonitorIncluded (exclusively) with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations and VISUAL

Message Center iSeries Base, this ThinAgent produces events if an active job has spent too long in a

given abnormal state, such as MSGW or INEL. Not sold separately.

Job Que Status MonitorIncluded (exclusively) with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations and VISUAL

Message Center iSeries Base, this ThinAgent monitors job queues for the presence of problems such

as full or blocked queues, jobs in excessive HLD or RLS, etc. Not sold separately.

K KeyInfoAn XML file that you create with NiceLink Configurator. It contains the serial number and MAC address

of a system for which you need a product activation key.

L LabelA user-defined piece of text that appears on a dashboard.

LaunchTo run a report based on a template in VISUAL Message Center Reports.

Link GeneratorA VISUAL Message Center Dashboards dashboard sharing tool. A dashboard shared this way can be

used—with full functionality, if desired—by another Dashboards user..

Linux Operations AgentA nonstandard ThinAgent group for Linux and FreeBSD Operations. They spawn events related to

physical and virtual memory, CPU, processes, file systems, etc. Product code Submodel-TOL.

Linux Security AgentA non-standard ThinAgent group for Linux and FreeBSD Security. They monitor, via SSH or Syslog,

user and group activity, file systems, audit logs, etc. Product code Submodel-TSL.

M Managed Administration ServicesA service offered by Tango/04 whereby a Customer’s Monitoring Solution is managed remotely.


Glossary

MiddlewarePrograms essential to the VISUAL Message Center product suite that do not demand a high level of

user-interface interaction: AccessServer, ALEV, Database Settings Administrator, NiceLink, Scheduler,

SharedObjects.

Message PanelAlso known as the Message Grid, this is the upper panel in SmartConsole that shows the events filtering

in to a Business View.

MonitorAny instance of a ThinAgent. For example, to monitor the Availability of two different computers on your

network you create two different monitors from the Network Basic Agent’s Ping ThinAgent—one for

each IP address.

Monitoring EngineTango/04’s standard monitoring solution. It is composed of ThinkServer (with its various standard

ThinAgents), SmartConsole (and its Web Client), Reports, and also the following middleware:

AccessServer, Database Settings Administrator, Notifier, NiceLink, SharedObjects, and Scheduler. It

also includes two Web Portal Users. Product code Submodel-Mxx.

Multiple CopyAn action on any part or parts of the SmartConsole Service Model or Enterprise Views, it involves the

duplication of the copied component(s) while renaming the pasted component(s). You can save a

Multiple Copy for use later, by exporting it (this is only possible in the desktop console).

N Narrow TableThe type of table in VISUAL Message Center Dashboards that typically includes one host, several

variables (aligned vertically).

Network Basic AgentA Monitoring Engine-standard ThinAgent group that monitors ports, POP3, SMTP, and performs pings to

check network devices.

Network Operations AgentThis ThinAgent group does not come standard with the Monitoring Engine. It monitors Cisco Operations

(memory, processors, temperature, interfaces, top flows). Product code Submodel-TON.

Network Syslog AgentA non-standard ThinAgent that captures events from the Syslog Daemon for use in ThinkServer (and

thus, all other VISUAL Message Center apps). Product code Submodel-TNW.

NiceLinkA network protocol created by Tango/04 to manage different communication protocols, such as TCP/IP,

PPC and SNA Server, allowing VISUAL Message Center SmartConsole (and other Tango/04 products)


Glossary

to communicate with servers running different operating systems and different network protocols. Part of

the Monitoring Engine (Submodel-Mxx).

Non Resilient ModeA SmartConsole operation mode that disregards events sent to the console at times when it is off.

Faster than the resilient mode, especially in cases where the console has been down a long time.

NotifierNotifier allows VISUAL Message Center SmartConsole (as an Alarm Action, for instance) to send SMS

messages or e-mail from a mobile phone connected to a PC (the “server” phone) or an SMTP mail

server to another mobile device (the “receiver” phone) or e-mail address, and reply to a message from

any device via the server phone or via e-mail.

O Operations Knowledge Module for IBM iThis product can be added on to: the Monitoring Engine with the VISUAL Message Center Suite for

Operations, or the Monitoring Engine with VISUAL Message Center iSeries Base. System i features and

functions in ThinkServer, SmartConsole, Reports and Dashboards. Product code Submodel-KIO.

Oracle Operations AgentIncludes a wealth of ThinAgents; for Availability, Performance, and Alert Log, to name a few. Product

code Submodel-TOO.

Oracle Security AgentThinAgents that return Profile-, Role-, Login- and User-Manipulation events. Product code Submodel-

CSO.

P Paste as LinkAn action in SmartConsole whereby you are able to paste any Service Model component(s) onto

another as a link. A pasted Business Folder icon appears with an arrow on it to indicate that is it a link,

whereas the icon of a pasted Business View does not.

PlayerA SmartConsole Web Client feature. Show a rolling, live presentation of desired Enterprise Views. Can

be shared.

PMDBUsed by VISUAL Message Center to manage data source configuration and retention policies.

Policy Compliance for WindowsAn Agent including several ThinAgents. They notify you when Windows Policies are changed, etc.

Useful in Auditing for Regulatory Compliance. Product code Submodel-TWP.

Portal User


Glossary

A Tango/04 Portal User is an AccessServer-registered user for all desktop and Web applications. Two

Tango/04 Portal Users are included with the Monitoring Engine. Extra Portal Users are sold in packages

of Users under product code Submodel-USE.

Post Event Group ActionAn action that a ThinkServer monitor performs for an event group after Health rules are applied.

Post Health Check ActionAn action that a ThinkServer monitor performs for each incoming event after Health rules are applied.

Pre Event Group ActionAn action that a ThinkServer monitor performs for an event group before Health rules are applied.

Pre Health Check ActionAn action that a ThinkServer monitor performs for each incoming event before Health rules are applied.

PreprocessA combination of a filter that screens events and an ALEV expression that modifies them as soon as

they reach SmartConsole (before appearing in the console).

Problem Root Cause PanelIn SmartConsole (the desktop client), this is the panel at bottom-right when any Business Folder is

selected. It shows all the Business Views contained in the folder, their Total Impact, etc.

Python Generic AgentIncluded with the Monitoring Engine, this ThinAgent can run any user-defined Python script at a

specified time interval. Does not recollect data (used for scripting).

R Range SetA group of weekdays with desired hours (from a 24-hour scale) that you add to a Calendar. The days

and hours set forth in a range set are the beginnings of a Calendar: the range set sets the days and

hours that events will be considered.

RepetitionsSmartConsole alarm controls that determine if an alarm will repeat (or not), etc., if it has recently

triggered.

ReportingSystemA legacy product, replaced by VISUAL Message Center Reports.


Glossary

ReportsA VISUAL Message Center module that allows you to create a variety of reports in real time or report on

historical data. It uses ODBC to connect to data stored in the VISUAL Message Center databases and

creates reports that allow you to view historical message information, Security, Auditing policies, User

Usage/Accounting data, Performance Data, SLAs and more. This Web-based application is shipped

with the Monitoring Engine.

Resilient ModeAn operation mode that allows SmartConsole to recuperate events that have occurred while the console

was off or disconnected.

Restricted State MonitorIncluded (exclusively) with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations and VISUAL

Message Center iSeries Base, it produces events based on (QSYSOPR) messages when the iSeries

system is in a restricted state. Not sold separately.

RoleSee Application Role.

S SchedulerA piece of middleware that enables the execution of Tasks that you schedule in Dashboards and

Reports.

ScorecardA page within VISUAL Message Center Goals where the user sees the statuses of all goals. Goals has

real-time, historical, and summary scorecards. Each are filterable (they can show specific goals if

desired).

SCPSee Service Control Point.

Security ModelThe product-specific security configuration stored by AccessServer for each Tango/04 product. A

Security Model is important because it holds all the user permissions you have configured in a product.

SelectorA selection field in dashboards whereby the user chooses which data he wants the dashboard to show

when he clicks the Show Dashboard button.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)An agreement between an organization and a service provider, including those services provided by IT

within the organization. In VISUAL Message Center SLAs are monitored by SLA Analytics ThinAgents

in ThinkServer. In Goals: any goal. In SmartConsole: an SLA can be represented by an SCP on the

Service Model. In Reports, BSM Reporting based on SCPs in SmartConsole is essentially SLA

Reporting.


Glossary

Service Control Point (SCP)A type of folder that is used in Business Services Management (BSM) projects in VISUAL Message

Center SmartConsole. Service Control Point (SCP) is a BSM concept and represents any critical

element of a business, such as an application, a service, a business process, and more. SCPs have

Business Values.

SeveritySmartConsole determines the Severity of each event coming in from ThinkServer. Severity then

translates into Criticalness via the rules the user sets forth (in SmartConsole) for the four states (of

Criticalness): Harmless, Minor, Warning and Critical.

SharedObjectsA repository for common data used by several VISUAL Message Center products (like calendars). It

includes the PMDB statistical database which provides multidimensional statistical data, centralized

access to BSM databases and forecasting functions.

SLASee Service Level Agreement.

SLA AnalyticsA group of ThinAgents that enable historical and real-time SLA events and reporting based on your

SLAs. Sold separately. Product code Submodel-MSL.

SmartConsoleVISUAL Message Center’s client console. It has a desktop interface as well as a Web interface

(SmartConsole Web Client). SmartConsole correlates events from ThinkServer via NiceLink and can

perform actions on them (according to filters), simply display them in the console, or manage them to

show the status of your business in corresponding locations on the Service Model.

SmartConsole BranchA group of SmartConsole components shown in a dashboard exactly as they appear in a SmartConsole

Service Model. In Dashboards the user can assign a display title, hyperlinks, and more for it.

SmartConsole ComponentAny item on the SmartConsole Service Model (a.k.a. tree). The types of components are: Basic Service

Control Point, Service Control Point, Business Folder, Business View.

SmartConsole Web ClientThe Web-based client for VISUAL Message Center SmartConsole.

SNMP AgentA group of ThinAgents for Network and Printer health, TCP Connections, and more. Shipped with the

Monitoring Engine.


Glossary

Spool Files by Job MonitorIncluded (exclusively) with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations and VISUAL

Message Center iSeries Base, it produces events when an iSeries job is using more spool files than

allowed. Not sold separately.

Spool Files by Output Queue MonitorIncluded (exclusively) with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations and VISUAL

Message Center iSeries Base, it produces events when there are more spool files per output queue than

allowed. Not sold separately.

Spool Files by Size MonitorIncluded (exclusively) with both the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations and VISUAL

Message Center iSeries Base, it produces events when it detects larger spool files than allowed. Not

sold separately.

SQL Server Operations AgentHas ThinAgents for Availability (like the Logical Disks Usage ThinAgents) and Performance (like the

CPU Abuse ThinAgents). Not included with the standard Monitoring Engine, this Product code

Submodel-TOS.

T TagA categorization of a report in Reports . . . like Security, ThinkServer, or BSM. Reports can have several

tags at once. You can search for reports by clicking on tags.

TaskA scheduled macro with a defined trigger(s) in Dashboards and Reports. Tasks appear in the Scheduled

Items list.

ThinAgentClasses of monitors installed on ThinkServer. Many ThinAgents come standard with VISUAL Message

Center ThinkServer, and many are available as will differ depending on what libraries you have on your

server at the time of installation. A few examples are the Port, Ping, and SMTP Connect.

ThinkServerThe server component of VISUAL Message Center ThinkServer. ThinkServer contains all the reusable

logic and stores the configuration the user sets in the ThinkServer Configurator. Therefore the

ThinkServer can run independently from the Configurator. The ThinkServer usually runs as a Windows

Service on your machine.

ThinkServer ConfiguratorThe graphical client component of VISUAL Message Center ThinkServer. Here you can configure

monitors, connect to one or more ThinkServers on your system, and view messages received from the

ThinkServer. Note: a ThinkServer Configurator can be connected to more than one ThinkServer, and

one ThinkServer may be connected to more than one ThinkServer Configurator.


Glossary

Total Impact CostThe sum of the Business Values of affected SmartConsole components. Shows operators which

problems are affecting the business most negatively.

TriggerA user-defined time-based definition that tells Dashboards or Reports when to run a macro. A

component of Scheduler.

U Universal File Reader AgentIncludes ThinAgents for Files and Folders. Reads logs. Comes standard with the Monitoring Engine.

Universal Transaction AgentFor SAP, Citrix, ActiveX control-using browser apps, and more. Available as a Monitoring Engine add-

on. Includes a script runner (on monitored system). Product code Submodel-TUC.

UNIX Operations AgentThinAgents for AIX, HP-UX and Solaris file systems, processes, and system health. Sold separately.

Product code Submodel-TSU.

UNIX Security AgentA group of ThinAgents sold to complement the Monitoring Engine. They supply ThinkServer with events

based on User Activity and Management, Files Systems etc. Product code Submodel-TSU.

User Activity MonitorIncluded with all iSeries suites (not sold separately). Generates events if user inactivity breaches a

threshold of time.

User Message VariablesUser-defined SmartConsole variables. They are per-message variables (they can have different values

depending on the event). These variables can be used with ALEV.

V Variable InstanceA VISUAL Message Center Goals concept. A single occasion whereby a desired variable (and its value,

at that particular time) is passed to a Connector.

VISUAL Control CenterIncludes Submodel iSeries Performance Manager, the Submodel iSeries Performance Agent (a.k.a.

VCW), VISUAL Support Pro, and VISUAL Control Performance Planner. No Monitoring Engine required.

Product code VCC.

VISUAL Control for JobsA single product. No Monitoring Engine required. Product code VCJ.


Glossary

VISUAL Control for PoolsA single product. No Monitoring Engine required. Product code VCP.

VISUAL Control LPAR TunerLegacy product, code LPT.

VISUAL Control Performance Planner - All LPAR E.A single product. No Monitoring Engine required. However, either the Submodel iSeries Performance

Agent or the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations is required. This product is also known as

Performance Navigator. Product code VPP-IFL.

VISUAL Debugger 5250A source-level interactive debugger that serves as support for batch and remote iSeries jobs. Product

code VD.

VISUAL Message Center for iSeries/IBM iThe VISUAL Message Center Monitoring Engine for iSeries. Product code Submodel-Mxx.

VISUAL Message Center iSeries BaseIncludes several iSeries agents. A Monitoring Engine add-on. Product code Submodel-BAS.

VISUAL Message Center Suite for OperationsAn iSeries Monitoring Suite. Includes VISUAL Message Center iSeries Base, the Submodel iSeries

Performance Agent (a.k.a. VCW), VISUAL Support Pro, and Submodel iSeries Restricted State Monitor.

Product code SUI-OPE.

VISUAL Remote ControlRequires VISUAL Support Pro, but not the Monitoring Engine. Product code VSP-VRC.

VISUAL Security Suite - Security Package (VSS)Includes the Submodel iSeries Security Agent, Data Monitor for iSeries Express, and the Submodel

iSeries SQL Agent. Product code SUI-SEC.

VISUAL Support ProAvailable only with the VISUAL Message Center Suite for Operations. Inspects details of iSeries jobs.

Product code VSP.

VMware Operations AgentA Monitoring Engine add-on, it has ThinAgents for Role Management, VMs, Hosts, Datastores, Logons/

Logoffs etc. Product code Submodel-TSV.

VMware Security AgentSold separately. ThinAgents for Role Management, VMs, Hosts, Datastores, Logons/Logoffs etc.

Product code Submodel-TSV.


Glossary

W Web Availability and Response Time AgentMonitors that tell you how long Web transactions are taking on Consumer sites, their Availabilities and

Contents, etc. Web 2.0-friendly. An End-User Experience Agent. Product code Submodel-TWS.

Web SmartConsoleA Legacy product. The former Web interface for VISUAL Message Center SmartConsole

(SmartConsole Web Client being the current one).

WebSphere Application Server Operations AgentAgents for both Version 5.x and Version 6.x.The Agents includes ThinAgents for Thread pools, sessions,

Enterprise Beans, and the J2C Connection Pool, etc. It is not shipped standard with the Monitoring

Engine. Product code Submodel-TOW.

WebSphere MQ Operations AgentSafeguards Web applications. Includes several ThinAgents that create events about MQ Channels, the

Queue Manager, and message traffic, among others. Product code Submodel-TOQ.

Wide TableThe type of table in VISUAL Message Center Dashboards that typically includes several hosts (aligned

vertically, and several variables (aligned horizontally).

Windows Operations AgentAllowing deep insight into Windows Server Operations (Availability, Performance, Compliance etc.), this

large collection of ThinAgents, which is sold apart from the Monitoring Engine, also delivers events

about Services, Terminal Services, and File Systems. Product code Submodel-WAD.

Windows Performance AgentVISUAL Message Center Windows Performance Agent is a standalone product with code VCW-WIN.

Does not require Monitoring Engine.

Windows Security AgentA collection of ThinAgents, this Agent provides events based on Security: User/Computer, File, Domain

Policy/Trust, Active Directory, and Event Log events appear in SmartConsole Business Views and

predefined reports can be generated in Reports.

WMI Generic AgentA ThinkServer staple, the ThinAgent runs WMI queries against as many local/remote Windows systems

as you desire and returns provides disk, service, process, system configuration and Event Log events.

X XML Generic AgentIncluded with the Monitoring Engine, this ThinAgent reads any XML log/file anywhere to deliver events

concerning service applications.


About Tango/04 Computing Group

Tango/04 Computing Group is one of the leading developers of systems management and automation

software. Tango/04 software helps companies maintain the operating health of all their business

processes, improve service levels, increase productivity, and reduce costs through intelligent

management of their IT infrastructure.

Founded in 1991 in Barcelona, Spain, Tango/04 is an IBM Business Partner and a key member of IBM's

Autonomic Computing initiative. Tango/04 has more than a thousand customers who are served by over

35 authorized Business Partners around the world.

Alliances

Awards

Partnerships IBM Business Partner

IBM Autonomic Computing Business Partner

IBM PartnerWorld for Developers Advanced Membership

IBM ISV Advantage Agreement

IBM Early code release

IBM Direct Technical Liaison

Microsoft Developer Network

Microsoft Early Code Release


Legal Notice

The information in this document was created using certain specific equipment and environments, and it is limited in

application to those specific hardware and software products and version and releases levels.

Any references in this document regarding Tango/04 Computing Group products, software or services do not mean

that Tango/04 Computing Group intends to make these available in all countries in which Tango/04 Computing Group

operates. Any reference to a Tango/04 Computing Group product, software, or service may be used. Any functionally

equivalent product that does not infringe any of Tango/04 Computing Group's intellectual property rights may be used

instead of the Tango/04 Computing Group product, software or service

Tango/04 Computing Group may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter in this

document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents.

The information contained in this document has not been submitted to any formal Tango/04 Computing Group test

and is distributed AS IS. The use of this information or the implementation of any of these techniques is a customer

responsibility, and depends on the customer's ability to evaluate and integrate them into the customer's operational

environment. Despite the fact that Tango/04 Computing Group could have reviewed each item for accurateness in a

specific situation, there is no guarantee that the same or similar results will be obtained somewhere else. Customers

attempting to adapt these techniques to their own environments do so at their own risk. Tango/04 Computing Group

shall not be liable for any damages arising out of your use of the techniques depicted on this document, even if they

have been advised of the possibility of such damages. This document could contain technical inaccuracies or

typographical errors.

Any pointers in this publication to external web sites are provided for your convenience only and do not, in any

manner, serve as an endorsement of these web sites.

The following terms are trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or

other countries: iSeries, iSeriese, iSeries, i5, DB2, e (logo)®Server IBM ®, Operating System/400, OS/400, i5/OS.

Microsoft, SQL Server, Windows, Windows NT, Windows XP and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft

Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are

trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. UNIX is a

registered trademark in the United States and other countries licensed exclusively through The Open Group. Oracle

is a registered trade mark of Oracle Corporation.

Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of other companies.


user guide - helpsystemsservices to tango/04 applications: • authentication services: seamlessly...

Documents