Aligning IT with Business via Performance Management

Much of the discussion around the Observer Platform 17 release has focused on how the designs of the new user interface (UI) and other enhancements will assist network and operations teams to more easily manage service and application performance.

This performance data and analysis isn’t just of value to IT but to the overall business. The challenge for performance management solutions has been providing this intelligence in a way that can be easily accessed and understood by other IT and business teams. The Observer Platform 17 both expands useful analysis available to business groups and makes it easier to use the data with systems familiar to these groups.

Enhancement: Expanding Web Service Analytics

  • Benefit: Strengthens visibility into how users consume company web resources, specifically as it relates to a web-based app’s device parameters like OS, mobile and desktop platform details, and browser type.
  • Business Value: Knowing not just “what” but “how” customers are accessing data is pivotal to optimizing web content and quantifying the effectiveness of customer-facing web interactions.
  • In Practice Example: For the marketing team launching web initiatives, these metrics provide details on how visitors are accessing the website, and enhance their understanding of the user experience by providing response-time and error metrics. Additionally, when network-based problems occur that impact marketing web programs, they can be resolved by the network team which has access to the packets.

JDSU Network Instruments Observer 17 Platform

Enhancement: Third-Party System Integration via RESTful APIs

  • Benefit: Simplifies sharing of performance data with other groups. RESTful APIs are a programming interface that utilizes HTTP requests like GET, PUT, POST and DELETE. Using this universal access method enables any solution to connect to the Observer Platform to access data or even manage the solution remotely.
  • Business Value: Other teams in an organization can interact and view performance data and analysis from the Observer Platform from the tools and workflows that they use on a daily basis. This allows them to proactively track performance of critical business systems, and view these metrics alongside business metrics.
  • In Practice Example: A support staff for a retail chain could integrate the Observer Platform into their helpdesk system via Apex’s RESTful API to monitor points of sale (PoS) on their network. The Observer Platform could instantly alert the service desk of an anomaly or system condition that could soon negatively impact users. The early alerts, performance analysis, and access to packets allow the staff to take proactive steps to remediate the issue before it impacts the PoS and customers.

JDSU Network Instruments Observer Apex

With IT playing a key role in helping businesses to develop competitive advantages and nimbly respond to changing markets, it’s critical that network teams can facilitate the sharing of performance intelligence. This also allows IT and business teams to evaluate the success of business operations and initiatives. The new features of the Observer Platform 17 mark a significant step forward in enabling the network team and IT to more closely align with business processes and goals.

Thanks to Network Instruments for the article. 

Ixia’s new Ebook- The Network Through a New Lens: How a Visibility Architecture Sharpens the View

“Enter the Visibility Architecture”

“Buying more tools to deal with spiraling demands is counter-productive – it’s like trying to simplify a problem by increasing complexity. Visibility merits its own architecture, capable of addressing packet access and packet stream management. A visibility architecture that collects, manages, and distributes packet streams for monitoring and analysis is ideal for cost-savings, reliability, and resilience. The economic advantages of such end to-end visibility are beyond debate.

An architectural approach to visibility allows IT to respond to the immediate and long-range demands of growth, management, access, control, and cost issues. This architecture can optimize the performance and value of tools already in place, without incurring major capital and operational costs. With the ability to see into applications, a team can drill down instantly from high-level metrics to granular details, pinpoint root causes and take action at the first—or even before the first – sign of trouble – lowering Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) dramatically.

A scalable visibility architecture provides resilience and control without adding complexity. Because lack of access is a major factor in creating blind spots, a visibility architecture provides ample access for monitoring and security tools: network taps offer reliable access points, while NPBs contribute the advanced filtering, aggregation, deduplication, and other functions that make sure these tools see only traffic of interest.

Application- and session-aware capabilities contribute higher intelligence and analytical capabilities to the architecture, while policy and element management capabilities help automate processes and integrate with existing management systems. Packet-based monitoring and analysis offers the best view into the activity, health, and performance of the infrastructure. Managing a visibility architecture requires an intuitive visual/ graphical interface that is easy to use and provides prompt feedback on operations – otherwise, architecture can become just another complexity to deal with.”

Ixia Visibility Architecture

The Ixia Network Visibility Architecture encompasses network and virtual taps, as well as inline bypass switches; inline and out-of-band NPBs; application-aware and session aware monitoring, and a management layer.

Download the ebook here

Ixia The Network Through a New Lens

Thanks to Network World for the article.