Systems Management
Maximizing Data Value
with IT Analytics
and the Dell
Management Console
By Ryan Stolte
Feris Rifai
Bay Dynamics™ IT Analytics™ software incorporates
multidimensional analysis, robust graphical trending,
and key performance indicators to help IT organizations
maximize the business value of data in the Dell™
Management Console Powered by Altiris™ from Symantec™.
s IT-related standards and automated collec-
A
The software offers a fluid mechanism that runs
tion tools become widespread, IT organiza-
a sequence of administrator-defined queries—such
tions have become increasingly data rich and
as drilling down, drilling up, pivoting, and active
knowledge poor—leaving IT managers to sift through
filtering—to help them make the most of their infor-
rapidly growing amounts of data before they can
mation. As a result, they can explore the CMDB with-
extract meaningful information. Many decisions made
out advanced knowledge of databases or third-party
in this context are based on highly formatted reports
reporting tools, and can ask and answer questions
that can help answer a set of predetermined questions,
quickly, easily, and effectively. Rather than toiling
but that may offer little in the way of interaction or
over complex reports and basing decisions on
analysis. By using IT Analytics software from Bay
assumptions or incomplete data, IT organizations can
Dynamics, a certified Dell Management Console part-
instead shift their focus to strategic thought leader-
ner, IT organizations can make informed decisions
ship and positive change.
based on actionable information about their IT infra-
By leveraging the capabilities of IT Analytics, the
structures, helping them to simplify analysis and effi-
Dell Management Console can help maximize the
ciently maximize the business value of their data.
value of CMDB data and incorporate business intelligence tactics that include multidimensional analysis,
Business intelligence for
the Dell Management Console
cators (KPIs). The combination helps IT staff to con-
The Dell Management Console Powered by Altiris
tinually fine-tune their operations, observe compliance
from Symantec is a flexible framework built on the
standards, and reduce costs.
robust graphical trending, and key performance indi-
Symantec Management Platform that provides
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expandable capabilities by adding plug-in solutions.
Unified view of IT data
IT Analytics provides a starting point for administra-
IT Analytics provides a consistent, unified view of
tors to explore data in the console’s configuration
data derived from Dell Management Console plug-ins
management database (CMDB), allowing them to ask
by transforming the raw data into fast, flexible online
and answer their own questions on the fly. By provid-
analytic processing (OLAP) cubes. These cubes
ing timely access to data and visibility beyond pre-
form the core of IT Analytics, and are available in
formatted reports, it can help IT organizations
modular IT Analytics Packs for Dell client and server
minimize the risk of making decisions too late or
hardware, Altiris Client Management Suite™ and
basing those decisions on educated guesses rather
Server Management Suite ™ software, Symantec
than real, actionable information.
Endpoint Protection, and more. IT Analytics can
DELL POWER SOLUTIONS | 2010 Issue 1
Reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, 2010 Issue 1. Copyright © 2010 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
present several views to help provide insight
into the data, including the following:
■■
Dashboards: IT Analytics dashboards
show related data at a glance and allow
administrators and IT executives to drill
down for detailed views (see Figure 1).
They can then take action by using the
integrated set of tasks available from
Dell Management Console plug-ins.
■■
Trend reports: Visually informative
trend reports help administrators
understand the performance of critical
infrastructure. Using IT Analytics can
provide a comprehensive perspective
Figure 2. IT Analytics key performance indicators in the Dell Management Console
on specific servers, correlating col-
■■
■■
lected metrics with the resulting alerts
information in the context of a specific
and tasks to support closed-loop
organization through visual indicators
Integrated perspective
for informed decisions
detection and remediation processes.
denoting the current status and the
With a huge and rapidly expanding amount
Pivot tables: Drag-and-drop pivot
recent trend. For example, for the envi-
of data at their disposal, administrators
tables are designed to mine data and
ronment shown in Figure 2, the console
need tools that can help them quickly
identify KPIs, enabling administrators
shows that nearly 60 percent of the
understand what that data means for their
to view high-level summaries of data
clients have completed a Symantec
infrastructure and their organization. IT
and then gain perspective on specific
Endpoint Protection scan in the last 30
Analytics software from Bay Dynamics
areas by dragging and dropping
days. But this data alone is only part of
offers a powerful, flexible way to explore
attributes.
the story. By viewing the KPI status and
data in the Dell Management Console,
Key performance indicators: KPIs help
trend, administrators could see that this
enabling IT organizations to move from
administrators and IT executives mea-
percentage indicates poor performance,
being reactive to proactively measuring,
sure critical success factors for the
but that the value has been improving—
managing, and continually improving their
organization and quickly assess how
providing the type of valuable insight
operations and their bottom line.
these measures are changing over time.
that can be critical to understanding
They capture a value and interpret the
and enhancing IT operations.
Ryan Stolte is the CTO and cofounder of
Bay Dynamics.
Feris Rifai is the CEO and cofounder of Bay
Dynamics.
QUICK LINKs
IT Analytics:
www.baydynamics.com/
itanalytics
Dell systems management:
DELL.COM/OpenManage
Figure 1. IT Analytics dashboard summarizing servers requiring updates in the Dell Management Console
Reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, 2010 Issue 1. Copyright © 2010 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
DELL.COM/PowerSolutions
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