Value Addition To Your IT Service Deliverables Through Business Service Management

Business Service Management (BSM) is an intrinsic part of IT services, particularly where it is important to measure and gauge the influence of business requirements. BSM helps outline and define the needs from the business development perspective:

> Customer needs
> Expectations from IT services
> Feasibility
> Changes in objectives or requirements

Business Service Management provides a vital link between assessing the scope of technology offerings, and how these technical offerings can impact and influence customers and business strategies and moves. At its core, business service management is an ever-changing, dynamic bridge between the technical capabilities and offerings of a company and its business development goals. Business service management can help IT services monitoring in several ways:

> Tracking whether IT services are actually working around business needs
> Identifying the impact of IT services on the business
> Measuring costs of downtime, if any
> Helping keep IT services customer-centric or business-centric instead of becoming isolated and purely technical

The last point holds immense significance in the way a company or an organization looks at its IT deliverables. Business service management could help the IT services department shift its focus towards customer-centric deliverables that are proactive in nature, rather than kicking into action in the time of crisis. While this is a tightrope at best, the upsides are several:

> Improved understanding of customer needs
> Reduced time in dealing with customer problems
> Value addition to the business deliverables
> Better and improved relations with customers, overall

Fortune-200 Pharmaceuticals Company Selects Tevron for its Application Monitoring Requirements

Nashua, NH. USA - Tevron, the leader in IT performance and availability monitoring solutions, announced today that one of the world's largest Pharmaceutical companies with over 100,000 employees, deployed CitraTest APM (http://www.tevron.com/citratest-apm.asp) across all of their global locations for the monitoring and testing of all of their mission critical business & pharmaceutical applications.

Tevron was selected based on their powerful & flexible IT monitoring technology that fully supports every one of their very complex business applications (Web, Thick Client, Oracle) and environments (VMWare, Windows 7, Windows XP, Citrix, RDP). These business critical applications cover the various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular and metabolism, oncology, neuroscience and ophthalmics, respiratory, and immunology and infectious diseases. Having one enterprise monitoring solution that intelligently supports every application is invaluable. Unlike the products from other vendors, Tevron offers a tightly integrated, simplified and scalable solution that meets the needs of their complex business and their ever changing technologies.

About Tevron (http://www.tevron.com)

Tevron is a global software company that develops and delivers the most powerful and comprehensive suite of End To End performance, Application Monitoring Solutions, SLA (Service Level Agreement) and Automated Testing Solutions available in the world today. Tevron has successfully delivered enterprise APM & Testing solutions that support every IT enterprise application to hundreds of customers worldwide.

Tevron, CitraTest APM, and the Tevron logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Tevron, LLC. All other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

© 2011 Tevron, LLC. all rights reserved.

For more information:
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Tevron, LLC
Phone: +1 702.518.7435

EMEA
Tevron, LLC
Phone: +44 (0) 2089 066 591

Germany
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Phone: +49 (0) 800 664 6695

Thinking of undertaking performance testing for your applications? Some tips to help you out

Performance testing may seem a simple enough task, but it troubles a lot of businesses. When a business owner is asked the reason of undertaking performance testing, he/she might be unable to point to specific reasons. However the main objective of performance testing is to determine application performance in some pre-determined conditions. It helps track the performance of an application, so that the IT department can overcome problems, if any. It can also help IT managers undertake business service management effectively. Performance testing has different purposes for different businesses. They may be:

• Identifying problems in application performance


• Making sure that all applications are of a certain standard


• Comparing application performance of different applications

Some tips for effective performance testing are:

Set specific performance criteria for your applications

Keep your end users in mind when you are setting application performance criteria. You need to meet the expectations of your end users, so keeping them in focus while setting the criteria is very important. Inquire about the problems end users face and the kind of expectations that they have. That way, you will know what your applications need to achieve at the end of performance testing experiments. Most businesses undertaking performance testing have two goals: to meet customer expectations and to meet IT service management goals.

Database is very important for performance testing

Performance testing is usually undertaken by stimulating user sessions and then noting the response times of applications. Load testing is also a part of application performance testing to check the effects and problems, if any, of multiple user sessions. This is especially true in case of businesses which give importance to IT service management. The database has a very high impact on the end user experience. For example, an end user may complete a transaction fast if it is inserted in and empty table, but the response time will be slow once the table grows. The database is hence very important for the performance testing objectives.

Plan for performance testing

If you want the performance testing to be successful, you need to plan in advance. For instance, application performance can be ensured by getting scalable architecture, hardware resources etc. with such strong resources, IT managers can see to it that all applications are performing as per the standards established. A lot of vendors offer custom performance testing solutions, which can help ensure that applications across the organization are working well. Such solutions also help in meeting business service management goals. You should also get to know from end users which applications they use frequently so that you can save time on performance testing of applications which are rarely used.

Thinking of undertaking performance testing? Some objectives to keep in mind

Performance testing helps businesses and IT departments to ensure that their systems perform optimally under particular loads. This is especially useful in cases where the applications are critical to the bottom line of the business. Through performance testing, IT professionals can determine how applications perform in certain pre-determined conditions. They can also solve bottlenecks which hamper business service management goals. Performance testing is hence vital in ensuring that all applications are available, stable and speedy when put under load and that service level agreement conditions are met.

Since testing is vital for IT service management, it is crucial to keep its overall objectives in mind when testing your applications. Various performance testing objectives to keep in mind are:

• Improving application performance


• Solving application bottlenecks


• Ensuring that business applications uphold certain standards


• Comparing application performance for two applications


• Minimizing response times of applications


• Assessing the stability and performance of applications


• Ensuring that end users have a smooth experience


• Conforming to the established service level agreement conditions


• Minimizing organization costs through performance testing

Businesses which depend on various applications for revenue-generating activities have increasingly started using performance testing tools to ensure that all applications are fully functional at all times. Performance testing is also included in the business service management goals of all such businesses. Until recently, a business required many testing solutions in order to cover all applications used by it. However, now many APM vendors provide performance testing solutions which cover each and every application across the organization, which makes the process uncomplicated and affordable.

Keeping the above-mentioned performance testing objectives in mind will not only help you get clarity while testing your applications, it will also help you in selecting a testing solution which meets all your testing goals.

Developing a Service Level Agreement? Some Steps to Ensure it is an Effective One

Service level agreements are an important part of business engagements between a client and a service provider. They establish the levels of services that the client expects and the service provider delivers. A service level agreement is especially important for businesses which use applications for business-critical activities. A single malfunction affecting the application performance can have a direct impact on the bottom line of the business. A SLA basically sets the expectation for quality of service which is deliverable and creates a roadmap on how to achieve it. In the later part of the service contract, a SLA can help in IT Service Management as well.

That said, establishing a service level agreement is a complicated process, which needs to be handled properly. Some steps for developing an effective SLA are as follows:

Get the Basic Info Right

The first step to developing an effective service level agreement is gathering the basic info. This needs to be done by both the client and the service provider. Both parties need to ensure that the client’s expectations and the service provider’s deliverables match. If this basic information is not collected properly, the service level agreement is meaningless.

Define the Process for Working Together

This is the most important step of developing a service level agreement. There are bound to be differences in the communication style, expectations and working methods between the client and the service provider, which need to be solved at this stage. Only when there is a defined process of overcoming differences, can an effective service level agreement be chalked out. On the basis of the agreed terms, the client can then go ahead with Business Service Management for his/her business.

Consensus

In many cases, the clients and service providers may have a varied viewpoint on what the service level agreement can achieve. Don’t let the negotiations break down due to your strong viewpoint; keep the possibilities of discussion open so you can develop an effective SLA and meet IT Service Management goals. At this stage, iron out all differences of opinion and develop the SLA further.

Develop the SLA

Next comes developing the structure and content of the service level agreement. This will take up some time, as it consists of discussions and negotiations regarding the terms and conditions to be included in the SLA. After the first draft is created, the people who are responsible from the client and service provider’s side need to review and offer suggestions for it. After all the required revisions are made, the service level agreement can be finalized.

Apply the SLA

Once the service level agreement has been applied, its management is also an important aspect. The client and the service provider should elect a member each, who can be the point of contact in case of any problems related to the SLA. In addition to this, reviews of the SLA and modifications and enhancement in services provided should also be taken care of.

Why should you undertake performance testing for your business applications?

It might seem as a simple enough question, but many businesses have trouble answering it specifically. So why do we undertake performance testing? The answer to that is “To determine the performance of application in certain pre-determined conditions.” By undertaking performance testing for your applications, you can not only track application performance under certain conditions but can also perform IT service management successfully. With performance testing, IT teams can know how an application performs under a particular workload, and solve bottlenecks, if any. The purpose of performance testing may be:

• Identifying application performance bottlenecks
• Ensuring that all business application meet a certain criteria
• Comparing the performance of two applications

Some things to keep in mind while undertaking performance testing of applications are:

Setting precise application performance criteria

While setting application performance criteria, keep the end users in mind always. Performance testing is undertaken for the main purpose of meeting end users expectations; hence the end users’ perspective is very important for performance testing. Interact with end users regarding the problems they face and what their expectations are. Most businesses which undertake performance testing want to ensure that they meet customer expectations as well as meet their business service management goals.

The importance of database in performance testing

IT teams usually undertake performance testing by having simultaneous user sessions and noting the response times of applications. Load testing is also performed on applications to check the effect of multiple simultaneous user sessions. This is crucial for companies which give importance to IT service management. That said, the database has a drastic effect on the end user experience. As an example, a user can have a transaction very fast if it is inserted in an empty table; however, the response time may be slow once the table grows. IT teams hence need to give importance to the database for performance testing of applications.

Plan it properly

Performance testing needs some planning in advance. For example, you can ensure application performance by getting scalable architecture and strong hardware resources for your business. Only after this is taken care of, IT managers check whether all applications are available and working well. This can be done with a performance testing solutions from a trusted vendor. This will also ensure that business service management goals are met with. Interact with end users to get an idea of the applications they use frequently and the kind of problems they face. That way, you can save the time spent on performance testing of applications that are used rarely by users.

Business Service Management: What It Is And How It Benefits Your Business

All types of businesses today are increasingly becoming reliant on their IT infrastructure to deliver their products and services. However, many times, the business owners and IT managers have a tough time in figuring out how the business's IT infrastructure is performing and how it is affecting business at any given point of time. So how can IT managers ensure that they spot the bottlenecks and know exactly how they are affecting business? The answer to that is business service management (BSM). In this post, we discuss what business service management is and how it can benefit a business.

What Business Service Management Is

Business service management is a methodology of monitoring IT services and understanding its impact on business. Through business service management, IT managers can have an idea where the bottlenecks in IT are and how they are affecting business. They can also understand how IT investment, infrastructure and technology are benefiting the business. It is hence an important element of IT service management. IT managers use BSM solutions to ensure that customer deadlines are met and service level agreement conditions are not breached. BSM solutions hence track, monitor, manage and view the investment and operational part of IT to make sure that they are in the interests of business.

What The Benefits Of Business Service Management Are

Business service management is especially useful to businesses which are dependent on their IT department to provide services to their customers. It is also beneficial to larger companies with huge IT departments and a lot of IT infrastructure. A BSM solution is an integral part of effective IT service management for larger companies. With business service management solution in place, if the system fails, a business owner or IT manager will be able to spot where the error has occurred on a real time basis. He/she will also be able to analyze the reason for the failure later on. With such real-time updates, business managers can analyze the financial aspect of downtime and IT managers can ensure that there is no breach in service level agreements.

The many benefits of using business service management are:

• IT service management becomes easier with a BSM solution
• Ensures that business-critical applications remain available
• IT managers can avoid a breach in service level agreement conditions
• Through business service management, business owners can understand the impact of system failure
• A business service management solution can help reduce losses and improve productivity in business
• With business service management, work can be prioritized according to importance
• A BSM solution helps both business owners and IT managers in figuring out what caused system failure and avoiding such occurrences in the future

Business Service Management and its Benefits

Business Service Management (BSM) helps businesses in understanding how IT services can be used, benefited from and improvised. Through Business Service Management, IT managers can monitor applications so that they can foresee and deal with application outages. In large organizations, in case of an outage, it is important to know exactly which department is going to be affected in order to prevent major impact. IT managers also need to ensure that Service Level Agreement conditions are met by ensuring that all business-critical applications are available and error-free. Business Service Management helps IT managers in doing this by tracking, monitoring and managing the investment and operational part of the information technology to make sure that they are in the interests of business. BSM hence intersects the IT processes with the business processes in order to ensure that the IT infrastructure gives maximum benefit to the business.

Business Service Management solutions are not only useful to IT managers, but also business managers. Business managers can quickly analyze the business impact of downtime and deal with clients accordingly. IT managers can then take action to solve that problem and avoid a breach in Service Level Agreements. Using Business Service Management solutions, IT managers can see on a real time basis, where the problem has occurred and which departments will be impacted by it. With this information, IT managers can then plan on how to resolve the problem and which area to target first. This helps them ensure that conditions of Service Level Agreements are not breached.

Business Service Management helps organizations in many ways:

• Business managers can allocate resources efficiently with the help of BSM
• With a Business Service Management solution, business managers can understand the business impact of system failure
• Service Level Agreement conditions can be met successfully
• The root cause of the problem in any application can be pinpointed and a solution can be found quickly
• A Business Service Management solution can help avoid considerable loss in costs
• Businessmen can alert clients in case there is a critical outage
• IT managers can allot work according to priorities to get the problem solved quickly
• Business Service Management solutions give visibility to IT infrastructure, which can help with better management of business resources