Chapter 14

Managing E-Business and

Network Systems
 Introduction
Managing e-business systems and their
underlying infrastructure is a critical
success factor for managers
In the e-business world, networks are the
key ingredient linking, systems,
processes, and people
Networks add value and complexity to
information infrastructures
System Operational Disciplines
 Managing Batch Systems
Batch systems processing involves receiving
and aggregating incoming transactions and
distributing the resulting output data
Regularly scheduled applications
Applications are commonly executed on centrally
located computer facilities
Accounts payable, inventory, ledger
Applications commonly use computer scheduling
because of interjob dependencies
Network Systems Management
Networks form the basis for many well
known and emerging businesses
Amazon, eBay
Network technology enables and
encourages restructuring and re-
engineering processes
Web technology adds new dimensions to a
firms systems and management processes
 Network Managements Scope
Network managements focus is broad and
diffuse
Managers are responsible for owned as well as
leased assets
Boundaries are also blurred between data and voice
applications
Network managers must provide seamless
support for customers while tracking and
solving problems across the enterprise as well
as those involving outside vendors
 Managers Expectations of
Networks
Growth in networked applications
demands increased network management
capability
Users expect networks to be capable,
reliable, and cost effective
Unfulfilled expectations are an important
source of difficulty for IT managers;
networks can be a prime source of failure
 Network Management Disciplines
Disciplined techniques are critical for
network management success
SLAs incorporate customer expectations of
reliability, responsiveness, and availability
Managers must focus on problem, change,
and recovery management
Performance planning and analysis, capacity
planning, and configuration management are
also important
The Disciplines of Network
Management
 Network Service Levels
Users view networks as a unified entity, so
the SLAs must treat applications,
computer and network hardware, network
links, and user workstations as an
integrated whole
SLAs must include measures of availability,
service quantities, and reliability
They must include some measures of
workload
 Configuration Management
Configuration management includes a database
containing an accurate record of the networks
physical and logical connections and configurations
Configuration managements scope includes
Physical Connectivity
Logical Topology
Bandwidth
Equipment (inventory and specifications)
User Information
Vendor Data
Fault and Change Management
Fault management is similar in many ways to
problem management
Networks can be created with monitoring to
automatically flag failures and attempt to
reconfigure
Faults can arise from hardware, software, or
configuration failures
Troubleshooting these failures requires the skills
of network engineers and technicians and access
to configuration databases
 Recovery Management
Network managers must plan to recover
from local disasters as well as disasters
affecting vendors
Redundancy in name (using different carriers
for reliability) may not be redundancy in fact
(the carriers use the same physical ROW)
Managers must remain aware of this problem
and explicitly address it when initiating SLAs
with telecom vendors
Network Management Systems
Automated tools that help manage and
operate networks
Gather statistics from routers and switches
SNMP traps
Exist as hardware embedded in the network to
create diagnostic logs
Monitor network usage and performance
Vendors offer integrated monitoring and
management packages
 Performance Management
Techniques for defining, planning,
measuring, analyzing, reporting, and
improving on infrastructure performance
Defining performance
Performance planning
Measuring performance
Analyzing measurements
Reporting results
System tuning
 Defining Performance
System performance is the volume of work
accomplished per unit of time
CPU throughput, network transmission
bandwidth, number of transactions posted
In e-business applications, system response time
is a critical performance measure for end user
satisfaction
With rapidly improving hardware performance,
managers are shifting from increasing HW
efficiency to improving end user satisfaction
 Performance Planning
Establishes objectives for human/ computer
system throughput
Workload characterization is the cornerstone of
all performance and capacity programs
System performance and associated factors
must be well understood prior to system capacity
increases
System tuning (optimization) can also yield
performance increases without capacity
expansion
 Measuring and Analyzing
Performance
Measuring response time and system
throughput under a variety of workloads is
critical
Transaction service time
Transaction rates
Average response time
These measurements are used to judge
delivery of SLAs, capacity trends, and
tuning results
Network Performance Assessment
Network managers must monitor
performance to exceed SLAs
As usage and loading changes, network
bottlenecks occur
Without some system of monitoring, resolution
of these problems is delayed with user
satisfaction declining
Network availability is a calculation derived
from MTBF and MTTR
Availability = (MTBF)/(MTBF + MTTR) X 100
 System Tuning
System tuning or optimization can be used
to create performance increases without
capital expense
Risks of performance tuning include the risk of
change as discussed earlier
Sometimes limiting access to a resource, while
decreasing capacity, improves throughput
Tuning of complex systems can be very time
consuming and tedious
 Capacity Management
Process by which IT managers plan and control
the quantity of system resources needed to
satisfy user needs
The goal is to match available system
resources with those needed to meet service
levels
Must also anticipate future needs and plan for
increased usage
Must also identify obsolete or underutilized
hardware and services
 Capacity Analysis
Managers must perform a detailed analysis
of current system resource requirements
Acts as a benchmark for proposed changes
Needs to identify daily workload peaks as well
as peak loading for weekly and monthly
timeframes
Capacity assessment and monitoring must be a
continuous process in rapidly growing e-
businesses
 Capacity Planning
Managers must anticipate future need and
plan accordingly
Techniques range from simple to complex
Managers must pick the correct metrics to
follow, as technology changes so do needs
Planning must be grounded in fact and logic,
not hunches and guesswork
 Additional Planning Factors
1. Changes in the organizations strategic
directions that might modify or increase
IT services
2. Business volume changes (either
increases or decreases)
3. Organizational changes (always a
potential impact on IT resources)
4. Changes in the number of people using
IT services
 Additional Planning Factors
5. Changing financial conditions within the firm
or industry
6. Changes in service-level agreements or
service-level objectives that might have a
bearing on system performance requirements
7. Portfolio management actions that might
impact system throughput, such as the
addition of new applications or enhancements
to current applications
 Additional Planning Factors
8. Testing new applications or making
modifications to current applications that
require additional system resources
9. Application schedule changes initiated by
operations or user managers
10. Schedule alterations for system backup and
vital records processing
11. System outage data and job rerun times
from the problem management system
Linking Plans to Service Levels
Periodically the performance and capacity
management processes must be reviewed
to assess their effectiveness
Did forecasts agree with actual demand?
Did capacity needs match capacity resources?
Were service levels met?
Were budgets adequate?
Are customers satisfied?
Management Information Reporting
Reporting is an essential role it creates
transparency to IT operations
The intent of reporting is to
Improve operations
Promote organizational learning
Engage customers in dialog that generates results
Communication increases trust and confidence
between participants
Reports are essential not only to providers but
also customers
 The Network Manager
Network managers need to be skilled
generalists
Their duties transcend organizational,
political, cultural, and geographic boundaries
Technology adoption enables and mandates
structural changes
They must be capable tacticians,
understanding where they need to take the
firm and how to get there
 Summary
Centralized batch systems and network
applications depend critically on network
performance and computer resources
There exists a strong link between system
performance and system capacity
Quality IT business processes must be an
overriding consideration in the IT
organization