As an IBM i system notification and monitoring vendor, we’ve helped a lot of people get started with automating everything about their IBM i systems, including communication and real-time alerts.
It’s always interesting to see how many things change after a shop installs system monitoring software. A new monitoring package not only affects your monitoring strategy, it also impacts your incident response and resolution time, your resource allocation, and your programmer productivity.
Here are some things shops experience when they start using IBM i system monitoring software.
No More Hovering Over the System
Well-configured system monitoring software sends out alerts when things go wrong such as hardware failures, program messages, long running jobs, and disk capacity issues. A responder picks up the alert and is responsible for solving the issue.
With system monitoring, nobody needs to constantly be watching the system. The monitoring software does that for you (even on multiple IBM i systems) and lets you know when it finds something wrong. IT operations staff in particular, will have more time to improve the system rather than watching the system.
System monitoring software gives shops the freedom to stop worrying about what’s happening with their IBM i partitions. Shops move from checking the system to see if anything is wrong to having the system tell them when there’s an issue.
IBM i system monitoring is liberating.
Avert Disaster and Gain Peace of Mind
Without system monitoring, you have to rely on people physically monitoring the system round-the-clock to catch and escalate problems. Sometimes they miss an issue and the problem gets bigger, causing more system corruption. And the staff deals with these issues, because there isn’t any alternative.
When responsible parties start getting alerted after incidents occur (sometimes in the middle of the night or on the weekend), they quickly respond to and start insuring those same problems don’t occur a second time.
IBM system monitoring improves response and resolution time by a) letting people know what’s happening exactly when it’s happening (no waiting for the operator to notice an issue and no missed issues); and b) giving them a strong incentive to solve the issue and make sure it never happens again.
System monitoring software enables faster responses and solutions.
Repurpose Your Staff for More Productivity
Since there’s less need for physically monitoring your IBM i partitions, shops can examine how they’re allocating their staff. I get surprised when I find shops that still have round-the-clock operations staff (including, nights, weekends, and holidays) where one of their biggest tasks is to look for and mobilize people to solve problems.
System monitoring software cuts out the middle-man and makes round-the-clock monitoring obsolete. People who were formerly tied up with looking for problems can perform other tasks. It gives you a chance to rethink your resource allocation and make your man-hours more proficient.
System monitoring software enables a lights-out environment where people stop looking for trouble and start responding to issues.
Responsibilities Also Transition for Programmers
When tools aren’t available, programmers create tools. Shops without system monitoring tend to have some do-it-yourself (DIY) solutions that watch certain parts of the system. In past blogs, I’ve talked about how it’s a waste of resources to use scarce programming talent to recreate inexpensive off-the-shelf software. This is doubly true with system monitoring software. Time previously spent on creating and maintaining a DIY system monitoring solution can now be refocused on a programmer’s true job: creating killer apps.
With a monitoring package, programmers can (and do) get out of the system monitoring business.
It Happens Quickly
The benefits of using IBM i system monitoring software like MessageFlex, start immediately and compounding ROI is realized within the first three to six months after implementation. Contact us at DRV Tech if you need help evaluating or getting started with your system monitoring solution. And don’t forget to check the helpful articles related to this post below.
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Related Reading:
4 Ways Message Monitoring Software Can Help Avoid IBM i Disasters
5 Strategies for Setting Up IBM i System Monitoring
5 Steps for Setting Up IBM i System Monitoring
5 Proactive Ways to Use IBM i System Monitoring Software
13 Questions Worrying IT Managers About IBM Systems
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