17Dashboard Administration

17-1

Chapter Overview17-2

Chapter OverviewThe purpose of this chapter is to introduce the HP Business Availability Center Dashboard. This chapter explains how to use the Dashboard application to monitor the health of business services and applications from the point of view of the consumers of those services.

Objectives

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Identify the role of Dashboard Administration in the overall BAC workflow.

• Identify the purpose of the Dashboard Administration interface tabs.

• Identify the components used to define a KPI.

• Attach a KPI to CIs in Dashboard Administration.

• Edit KPI properties for a specific CI in Dashboard Administration.

• Identify the types of repositories and repository objects in BAC.

• Create repository objects in Dashboard Administration for a given requirement.

• Modify the properties of existing repository objects in Dashboard Administration.

Overview of Dashboard

Figure 17-1 Dashboard Overview

Dashboard is an interactive digital tool that enables you to assess the real-time performance and availability of an organization’s IT environment from a business perspective. Business users can use Dashboard to view the high-level status of applications and services that support the business. Operations users can use Dashboard to identify and resolve problems in the IT environment.

After you create views in CMDB Administration, you use Dashboard Administration to tune the views to display the information required by BAC users.

Depending on your organizational requirements, you can customize the way a view is displayed in Dashboard. You can:

• Modify the default KPIs attached to the CIs in a view.

• Customize BAC objects, such as KPIs, business rules, context menus, context menuitems, and tooltips.

• Configure a custom map to show the status of CIs on a custom diagram.

• Configure a geographical map to show the location-wise status of CIs in a view.

• Configure status alerts that BAC can trigger if the status of a CI changes.

Overview of Dashboard 17-3

Dashboard Application

Figure 17-2 Dashboard Application

Dashboard is an interactive digital tool that enables you to assess the real-time performance and availability of an organization’s IT environment from a business perspective. Business users can use Dashboard to view the high-level status of applications and services that support the business. Operations users can use Dashboard to identify and resolve problems in the IT environment.

After you create views in UCMDB Administration, you use Dashboard Administration to tune the views to display the information required by BAC users.

Dashboard Application17-4

Dashboard Administration Interface

Figure 17-3 Dashboard Administration

The Dashboard Administration interface enables you to configure the data that users want to view in Dashboard. It enables you to modify the default KPIs set for CIs, configure CI status alerts, configure custom maps and geographical maps and create custom BAC objects. To open the DASHBOARD ADMINISTRATION interface, from the top menu bar, select ADMIN > DASHBOARD.

The following tabs in the Dashboard Administration interface enable you to configure the Dashboard settings for a user:

• KPIs

• Custom Map

• Geographical Map

• KPI Assingments

• RepositoriesInstructor NotesKPI Tab

Dashboard Administration Interface 17-5

KPI Tab

Figure 17-4 KPI Tab

The Dashboard Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) provide quantifiable measurements that help you monitor your business objectives. The KPIs provide real-time status of the CIs that represent business processes and IT infrastructure, enabling you to assess the business impact of problems in the system. For example, suppose we want to monitor the CPU and a port on a server. We decide to use SiteScope to do this, so we deploy a CPU Monitor and a port monitor. So in this case, the server is a CI and CPU usage and port status are the KPIs for that CI.

The KPI tab in Dashboard Administration enables you to manage KPIs attached to CIs. You can view the KPIs attached to a CI, attach KPIs to a CI and edit or delete an existing KPI.

KPI Tab17-6

Custom Map Tab

Figure 17-5 Custom Map Tab

A custom map enables you to visualize real-time data for CIs on a diagram that represents a view. The custom map can be a logical network diagram, business logic, or any other graphical representation of a view. Views represent enterprise lines-of- business, data centers, applications, services, global networks and so on.

Using the CUSTOM MAP tab in Dashboard Administration, you can associate a custom diagram that represents a view with real-time status indicators for CIs. The status indicators enable you to evaluate the health of the components impacting your business. To configure a custom map:

1. From the top menu bar, select ADMIN >DASHBOARD. The DASHBOARD ADMINISTRATION page appears.

2. Click the CUSTOM MAP tab. The CUSTOM MAP ADMINISTRATION page appears.

3. In View Explorer, from the VIEW list, select a view.

4. In the right pane, in the IMAGE URL field, type the URL of the graphical image that you want to use for the view. Click the REFRESH IMAGE button to display thegraphical image. Note: Administrators need access to the URL of the graphical image to add the image to a custom map. Dashboard users need access to the URL to view the graphical image in Dashboard.

Custom Map Tab 17-7

Geographical Map Tab

Figure 17-6 Geographical Map Tab

In Dashboard Administration, you can associate a view with a geographical map to analyze the real-time status of CIs belonging to the view at various geographical locations. Each geographical location in the geographical map may represent one or more CIs from a view. Dashboard uses a map applet, Google Earth, or MSN Virtual Earth to display a geographical map.

Using the GEOGRAPHICAL MAP tab in Dashboard Administration, you can configure a geographical map associated with a view.

Geographical Map Tab17-8

Hands On LabConfiguring the Custom Map and Geographical Map

The Web Tours application has been re-architected due to increased useage and it now runs on three application servers located in Dallas, Texas. In order to monitor each server, Becky will need to create either three different scripts or add two more actions to the existing script. She will then create a Custom Map displaying the status of the four transactions for each of the three servers. She will also configure the KPIs so that the status of each transaction will be visible on the Geographical Map.

Objectives:

In this lab you will use a .png file located on your Access VM as the image to create a Custom Map. Then you will configure the Web Tours KPIs so that both BPMs appear on the Geographical Map.

Part 1: Configure a Custom MapPart 2: Configure a Geographical Map

Part 1: Configure a Custom Map

1. Open BAC and go to Admin > Dashboard > Custom Map tab.

2. In the left pane select the View you created earlier and expand the tree menu until the View_Home_Page business process step becomes visible.

3. Under Custom Map Administration in the right pane, place your cursor in the Image field and Browse to:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\Ch17_CustomMap_1.png

4. If the image does not appear, click the Refresh image button .

5. After the image appears, highlight the View_Home_Page transaction under View

and click .

6. A CI icon with a blue border will appear: .

Hands On Lab 17-9

7. Click and drag the icon into place next to the Dallas01 server, then click Save:

8. Navigate to Applications > Dashboard > Custom Map tab. Verify that the status for View Home Page is visible. Note the change in the CI status icon’s appearance.

9. Return to Custom Map Administration and deploy the remaining icons for Dallas01 only.

10. Suppose the three Web Tours application servers sit behind a load-balancer. Would it be worthwhile to further augment the script to hit this load-balancer? Why or why not?

Answer: Yes, because this would provide a good way to monitor application availability and performance from the user perspective.

_______________________________________________________________

11. Should the script hit both the load-balancer and the three servers or only the load-balancer? Why or why not?

Answer: Both the load-balancer and each server individually, because we still want to be notified if there is a problem with an individual server.

_______________________________________________________________

Hands On Lab17-10

Part 2: Configure a Geographical Map

1. Navigate to Admin > UCMDB > Source Manager tab.

2. Click the pencil Edit button for Business Process Monitoring. The Edit Source popup appears.

3. Change the Hierarchy structure from Regular to Transaction/Location. A popup will appear, warning that changing the structure may delete CIs from the view. However, the change we are making will actually add CIs to the view, so click OK to close the popup, then OK again to apply the new setting. Note that after the new setting takes effect the number of CIs has increased.

4. To view the real-time status indicators corresponding to a view’s CI on the geographical map, you must assign a geographical location to the relevant CIs in the view.

5. Navigate to Admin > Universal CMDB > Modeling > IT Universe Manager.

6. Select your view from the drop-down in the left pane and expand the tree to display individual transactions.

7. Click the View_Home_Page transaction from your Access VM BPM.

8. In the Information Pane at the bottom of the right pane, select the Properties tab and click Edit. The Configuration Item Properties dialog box appears.

9. Using the browse button , select the Country and then the City where your class is being held. Click OK to close the dialog box.

10. Navigate to Applications > Dashboard > Geographical Map tab.

11. Highlight the View_Home_Page transaction you just edited and observe the BPM

“heartbeat” icon that now appears on the Geographical Map. Hover your cursor on the icon and examine the information in the tooltip.

12. Return to IT Universe Manager and add the Country and City for your Web Tours profile.

13. Return to the Geographical Map, highlight the profile under View and observe

that now the Status icon appears on the map instead of the BPM icon. Hover your cursor on the icon and examine the information in the tooltip.

14. Add location information for the remaining CIs, using High Ridge, USA as the location for the BAC-BPM-VM.

Hands On Lab 17-11

KPI Assignments Tab

Figure 17-7 KPI Assignments Tab

KPI assignments are mechanisms that are activated under certain conditions to incorporate specific data into HP Business Availability Center at the monitoring level.

A KPI assignment includes a condition and a task. The condition describes a CI or sets conditions on the attributes of a CI. The task describes the context menus, KPIs, and rules that are automatically assigned to the CI when the condition occurs and the assignment is running. Those elements are added to the UCMDB.

Factory KPI assignment groups are pre-defined sets of KPI assignments. They work together to cover all the sets of conditions for monitoring level CIs needed to incorporate data from the corresponding monitored system into HP Business Availability Center.

KPI Assignments Tab17-12

Repositories Tab

Figure 17-8 Repositories Tab

The definitions for various BAC objects, such as KPIs, business rules, context menus, and tooltips, are stored in repositories. You can customize the object definitions to suit your requirement. For example, to monitor the BPM installed in London for the Online Banking application, you can create custom KPIs.

The REPOSITORIES tab in Dashboard Administration enables you to view and customize the object definitions in the repositories.

Repositories Tab 17-13

Dashboard KPIsBAC provides a set of predefined KPIs, such as AVAILABILITY, BANDWIDTH, and PERFORMANCE, to work with Dashboard. The definitions for the KPIs are included in an XML file, which contains the default parameters for creating each KPI instance. You can edit the KPI definitions or create customized KPI definitions in the KPIs repository.

When a KPI is attached to a CI, a KPI instance is created specifically for the CI, based on the default parameters in the KPI definition. The KPI instance generally defines:

• The source for the metrics to be used for the KPI; either from data samples for monitoring CIs or from other KPIs.

• The business rule to be used with the collected metrics, to calculate a measurement for the KPI.

• The objective values that the calculated measurement is compared against.

• The status and color allocated to the KPI, depending on how well the measurementmet the objectives.

• Where and how to display the status indicator for the KPI in Dashboard, and where to store the KPI measurement.

For most KPI types, the KPIs propagate up to all parent CIs. For example, if you attach a VOLUME KPI to a child CI, then a VOLUME KPI is also added to each parent CI for that child, up to the top of the subtree.

Each KPI added by propagation has its own KPI instance definition, with its own business rule and properties. For example, the VOLUME KPI for a child CI may use RUM PAGE MONITOR VOLUME RULE, while the VOLUME KPI for the parent CI added by propagation from the child CI may use WORST CHILD RULE. Business Logic Engine performs the calculations required by a business rule.

In summary, a KPI definition for a CI includes the following components:

• Business rule and business rule parameters used to measure the KPI.

• Objective values against which the KPI measurement is compared and a status allocated to the KPI.

• Selector for the KPI.

Dashboard KPIs17-14

Business Rules

Figure 17-9 Business Rules

A business rule defines the logic for calculating the status of a KPI. Each KPI is assigned a default business rule at the time of its creation. BAC provides several predefined business rules. The worst child rule is an example of a business rule. This rule calculates the status of a KPI for a CI based on the worst status held by any of the child CIs. If the status of a child CI is critical, the status of the parent CI will also be critical.

Some business rules can be used with a variety of KPIs while others can only be used with a specific KPI. For example, BEST CHILD RULE can be used with KPIs such as BANDWIDTH, AVAILABILITY, and CUSTOMER. However, DIAGNOSTICS FOR J2EE/.NET GENERAL can be used only with the Application KPI.

Each business rule has a set of parameters defined for it. The business rule parameters define the input for the business rule.

Business Rules 17-15

Business Logic EngineBusiness Logic Engine performs the calculations defined in business rules. When a data sample for a specific monitoring CI arrives on the data bus, the required metrics are passed to the relevant KPI instance for the CI. Business Logic Engine recalculates the measurement for the KPI using the metrics received for the KPI after the last calculation.

If the new measurement causes a change in the status of the KPI, the new status is passed to the parent CIs. Business Logic Engine then recalculates the measurement for the corresponding KPI of each parent CI, using the new status information. If the new measurement causes a change in the status for the KPI associated with the parent CI, the new status is again passed up the hierarchy to the corresponding KPI instances for the parent CIs, and so forth.

Note: Business Logic Engine can be online or offline. Online Business Logic Engine evaluates real-time data synchronously, whereas Offline Business Logic Engine works asynchronously on historical data.

The status calculation made or the status displayed for a parent CI in a view in Dashboard does not depend on the child CIs displayed in the view. Business Logic Engine calculates status from all child CIs attached to the parent CI across all views. The calculation is based on all relationships defined for the CI in CMDB.

Business Logic Engine17-16

Types of Business RulesBusiness rules can be of two types, monitor and group. Most KPIs work with at least one rule of each type.

Monitor Rules: Monitor rules are business rules that are applied to leaf CIs of monitoring type. The leaf CIs that form the lowest level of the hierarchy in a tree are monitoring CIs. A monitoring CI receives data through a data collector, such as SiteScope, Business Process Monitor, or Real User Monitor. It also receives data from Diagnostics and external data collectors.

Note: Monitor rules are also called leaf rules because these rules are applied to leaf CIs.

Monitor rules are used to calculate a measurement for a KPI based on sample data. For example, AVAILABILITY RULE calculates the AVAILABILITY KPI for BPM Transaction from Location CIs, based on the sample data received from the BPM.

Group Rules: Group rules are business rules that determine the KPI status based on data received from other KPIs, rather than from original sample data. The received data may come from the KPIs of child CIs, or from another KPI associated with the same CI. Group rules are applied to parent CIs.

Note: Some group rules are also applicable to monitoring CIs. For example, you can use IMPACT OVER TIME RULE with a group CI or a monitoring CI.

The group rules vary in the type of logic they use to arrive at a status result. For example:

• The rule may select a KPI status held by one of the child CIs and apply that status to the parent, as done by WORST CHILD RULE.

• The rule may aggregate the received data to calculate a measurement and compare the measurement with defined objectives, as done by SUM OF VALUES RULE.

• The rule may calculate a measurement based on the status of another KPI for the CI, and compare the measurement with defined objectives, as done by REAL TIME IMPACT RULE when receiving status from the AVAILABILITY KPI.

Types of Business Rules 17-17

KPI Objectives and Status

Figure 17-10 KPI Objectives

KPI objectives define the standards for allocating business status to a KPI. The values for the KPI objectives include all possible measurements for the KPI. After a business rule for a KPI calculates the KPI measurement, the measurement is evaluated against the defined objective values. The KPI is assigned a status depending on the range in which the KPI measurement falls within the defined objective values. For example, if a KPI measurement of 30 percent falls within the definition for the WARNING status, the KPI is assigned the WARNING status.

The status displayed for a KPI in Dashboard indicates whether a business process or system is meeting its business objectives. The statuses, each representing a different level of business performance, are displayed in Dashboard using colored indicators.

The range for each KPI objective is defined by using the <, <=, >, and >= operators. To determine the status of a KPI, the measurement of the KPI is evaluated against each level, starting from OK to CRITICAL. The process stops at the first range in which the KPI measurement falls. It is not mandatory to set all statuses for a KPI. For example, the OT IMPACT KPI by default uses only OK and CRITICAL status.

When a business rule is added to a KPI, objective values for the KPI are specified by default. If required, you can change the default values while adding or editing a KPI in the KPI tab in Dashboard Administration.

KPI Objectives and Status17-18

Logical Operators and Units of Measurement

Figure 17-11 KPI Logical Operators

Each objective from OK to MAJOR is associated with an operator to define the boundaries of the objective values. When defining the KPI objectives, you can select >, >=, <, or <= as the logical operator.

You must ensure that the KPI objectives contain logical values according to the type of data. In addition, you must order the objectives correctly and use a logical operator. For example, if the measurement for a KPI is expected to fall in the range of 90 to 30, use descending values, such as 90, 70, 50, and 30, and use the > and >= operators.

If you define objective values as OK for >=90, WARNING for >=70, MINOR for >=50, and MAJOR for >=30, any value less than 30 falls in the OTHERWISE category and is assigned the CRITICAL status.

Each objective has a unit of measurement, such as milliseconds, dollars, or percentage. This unit of measurement is defined by the business rule and indicates the format of the data on which the KPI measurement is based. For example, the unit of measurement for TRANSACTION AVAILABILITY RULE is percentage.

Logical Operators and Units of Measurement 17-19

Selector for the KPIA selector is a filter definition that specifies the data samples that are relevant for measuring a KPI. Business Logic Engine uses selectors to filter the data samples relevant to a particular KPI.

Selectors are defined only for the KPIs that are attached to monitoring CIs because only monitoring CIs receive real-time data from the data samples sent by a monitoring system. Each KPI with an associated monitor rule may use a different selector, enabling the use of different data samples.

When a monitoring CI is added to CMDB by a monitoring adapter, a selector is automatically defined for the default KPIs for the CI. If required, you can edit the default KPI selector or manually define the selector in the KPIS tab in Dashboard Administration.

Selector for the KPI17-20

Attaching a New KPI to a Single CIAll CIs created by source adapters in Source Managers are assigned default KPIs according to the nature of the CI. For example, a CI for a Business Process Monitor profile has default KPIs for availability and performance attached to it. KPIs may be attached to a CI as a result of propagation from child CIs. KPIs are not attached by default to CIs that are added to the CMDB manually or by using Discovery Manager.

You can manually attach new KPIs to CIs in addition to the default or propagated KPIs in the KPIs tab in Dashboard Administration. When you attach a KPI to a CI, an instance of the KPI is created for the CI. The KPI instance has a specific set of properties, such as business rule and selector. For example, one instance of the AVAILABILITY KPI may have WORST CHILD RULE applied to it and another instance of the same KPI may have PERCENTAGE RULE applied to it.

When you attach a KPI to a child CI, the KPI propagates to all parent CIs for most KPI types. For example, if you attach an AVAILABILITY KPI to a child CI, an AVAILABILITY KPI is also added to each parent CI for the child CI up to the top of the subtree.

To attach a new KPI to a CI in Dashboard Administration:

1. Open the NEW KPI window.

2. Select a KPI and a business rule.

3. Enter the required business rule parameters.

4. Enter the required values for objectives. Set a selector for the KPI.

Note: For most default KPIs, the selector is preset.

Attaching a New KPI to a Single CI 17-21

Open a New KPI Window

Figure 17-12 New KPI Window

To open the NEW KPI window:

1. Open the KPIs tab in DASHBOARD ADMINISTRATION.

2. In VIEW EXPLORER, select the CI to which you want to attach a new KPI.

3. In the right pane, click NEW KPI. The NEW KPI window appears.

Open a New KPI Window17-22

Selecting a KPI and a New Business Rule

Figure 17-13 KPI Business Rule

To select a KPI and a business rule for the CI:

1. In the KPI section, from the KPI list, select a KPI. The KPI list contains the names of all available KPIs except the ones already attached to the selected CI. The BUSINESS RULE list is automatically updated to display all business rules that are relevant for the selected KPI.

2. From the BUSINESS RULE list, select a rule for the KPI. When you select a rule, the NEW KPI window is automatically updated to display the sections, such as BUSINESS RULE PARAMETERS, OBJECTIVES and SELECTOR, which are relevant for the selected rule.

Selecting a KPI and a New Business Rule 17-23

Entering the Business Rule Parameters

Figure 17-14 Business Rule Parameters

The BUSINESS RULE PARAMETERS section in the NEW KPI window lists all parameters relevant for the selected business rule. The parameters contain default values.

To modify the parameters for a business rule:

1. Expand the BUSINESS RULE PARAMETERS section to view the parameters relevant for the selected business rule.

2. Modify the values for the parameters, if required, by typing new values in the appropriate fields. The type of the value that you can specify in the fields is indicated by labels for each field, such as ANY NUMBER, TEXT, or BOOLEAN.

Entering the Business Rule Parameters17-24

Entering the Objectives Values

Figure 17-15 Objectives Value

The OBJECTIVES section in the NEW KPI window defines value ranges against which a KPI measurement is assessed to determine KPI status. The value ranges are defined in a unit of measurement appropriate to the type of data used by the rule. The unit is indicated after the objective value fields.

If required, you can modify the default values for the objectives. To modify the default values:

1. From the OPERATOR list, select the required operator. This operator is applied to all objectives.

2. Type the required objective value for each objective in the appropriate field.

Entering the Objectives Values 17-25

Setting a Selector for a KPI

Figure 17-16 Setting Selector for KPIs

In the SELECTOR section, you define a filter criterion for the data samples used to calculate the measurement for a KPI. Based on the filter criteria, the selector extracts data samples from the incoming data. A selector is required for all KPIs that calculate a measurement based on data samples. You can choose a predefined filter for the KPI or create a filter manually if the existing filters do not fulfill your requirement.

To create a filter for a KPI:

1. In the SELECTOR section of the NEW KPI window, from the list, select a sample type from which you want the selector to extract data.

2. In the FILTER section, specify values for the following parameters to create a selector expression:

Setting a Selector for a KPI17-26

– FIELD: The name of the reference field that is part of the sample data.

– OPERATOR: The relational operator that the selector uses to filter data from the reference field values.

– VALUE: The property value against which the selector compares the data sample.

3. Click one of the following to define additional selector expressions:

– AND: To create an expression block that narrows the filter.

– ADD `OR' EXPRESSION: To create an expression block that widens the filter.

4. Click OK to close the NEW KPI window. The new KPI is added to the KPI list for the CI.

Setting a Selector for a KPI 17-27

Saving KPI Data Over Time

Figure 17-17 Save KPI Data Over Time

You can save data on status and measurements over time for the KPIs attached to a CI in the database. Saving data for the KPIs enables you to generate KPIs OVER TIME reports for CIs.

You can save data for KPIs attached to a CI by checking the SAVE KPI DATA OVER TIME FOR THIS CI check box. The SAVE KPI DATA OVER TIME FOR THIS CI check box is checked by default for the following types of CIs:

• Business process

• Business process group

• Line of business

• Logical application

• EUM group

Saving KPI Data Over Time17-28

Attaching a New KPI to Multiple CIs

Figure 17-18 Attaching New KPIs

In a real-world scenario, you may need to monitor the availability of all transactions. For this purpose, you may need to attach the AVAILABILITY KPI to all transaction CIs. You can attach the same KPI to multiple CIs in a single operation using the KPIs tab in Dashboard Administration.

To attach a KPI to multiple CIs:

1. In VIEW EXPLORER, select multiple CIs by using the CTRL key.

2. Right-click a selected CI and select the ADD KPI option to attach a KPI to the selected CIs.

3. In the NEW KPI window, specify details for the new KPI and click OK. An instance of the KPI is attached to all the selected CIs.

Attaching a New KPI to Multiple CIs 17-29

Editing KPI Properties for a CI

Figure 17-19 Edit KPI Page

Due to changes in business requirements, you may need to change KPI properties, such as business rule parameter values and objective values for a KPI. For example, you may need to redefine the objective value that you use to define the WARNING status for the TRANSACTIONS KPI.

You can edit the properties of all KPIs, including the default KPIs, by using the KPIs tab in Dashboard Administration. To edit KPI properties for a specific CI:

1. In View Explorer, select the CI for which you want to edit KPI properties.

2. In the right pane, click the EDIT KPI button corresponding to the KPI that you wantto edit. The EDIT KPI window appears.

3. In the EDIT KPI window, edit KPI properties, such as business rule, business rule parameters, and objective values.

4. Click OK to close the window.

Editing KPI Properties for a CI17-30

Editing KPI Properties for Multiple Transactions

Figure 17-20 Edit KPIO Properties for Child Transactions

You may need to change the KPI properties for all instances of a KPI to align the KPI to new business requirements. You can change KPI properties, such as business rule parameter values and objective values, for all child transactions of CIs that appear in a subtree of a view, in one operation. To edit KPI properties simultaneously for all child transactions of CIs:

1. In View Explorer, select the required parent CI.

2. Click the EDIT KPI FOR CHILD TRANSACTIONS button corresponding to the KPI that you want to edit. The EDIT KPI FOR CHILD TRANSACTIONS window appears.

3. Edit the required property values. Each property value that you update replaces the previous property value for each CI in the subtree.

4. Click OK to close the EDIT KPI FOR CHILD TRANSACTION window. A message appears confirming that the changes have been successfully made to the selected group of CIs.

Editing KPI Properties for Multiple Transactions 17-31

Limitations of Editing KPI Properties forMultiple Transactions

Editing KPI properties for multiple transactions in a single edit operation has the following limitations:

• The EDIT KPI FOR CHILD TRANSACTIONS button is enabled for all KPIs, but works only for the TRANSACTION and AVAILABILITY KPIs. If you make changes in the EDIT KPI FOR CHILD TRANSACTION window for any other KPI, an error message is displayed.

• The option of editing KPI properties for multiple transactions is valid only if monitor CIs exist in the subtree of the selected CI.

• If a CI in the subtree uses a business rule other than the default monitor rule for the KPI, the existing rule is replaced with the default rule when you close the EDIT KPI FOR CHILD TRANSACTIONS window. This modifies the rule used to calculate the KPI measurement and may lead to an inaccurate KPI measurement.

Limitations of Editing KPI Properties for Multiple Transactions17-32

Overview of Dashboard RepositoriesBAC repositories store the definitions of all objects used in BAC. The object definitions are stored in XML definition files. As a BAC administrator, you can create new object definitions if you want to create new objects in the BAC repositories to suit your requirement. You can modify the existing properties of the objects if you want to customize the existing repository objects and present information differently.

You can create new object definitions or modify the existing object definitions in the repositories to customize the way information is presented in Dashboard. For example, if you want to modify the objectives of the default AVAILABILITY KPI for a specific monitoring CI, you can create a customized AVAILABILITY KPI.

BAC provides the following types of repositories:

KPIs: Includes definitions for the KPIs used in Dashboard.

Business Rules: Includes definitions for the business rules associated with the KPIs.

Context Menus: Includes definitions for the CI menus used in Dashboard.

Context Menu Items: Includes definitions for the CI menu items used in context menus.

Tooltips: Includes definitions for the tooltips used to display information about CIs in Dashboard.

The repositories store both predefined repository objects and user-defined repository objects. The following principles apply to all the repositories.

• The repositories include a number of out-of-the-box objects called factory objects.

The factory objects can be either cloned or overridden.

– Cloning an object means that a copy of the object is created with a new ID.You can change the properties of the new object to suit your needs.

– Overriding an object means that a copy of the object is created with the sameID. You can change the properties of the new object to suit your needs. The new object is used wherever the original factory object was used because it has the same identifier. An overridden factory object is hidden.

• Factory objects cannot be deleted.

Overview of Dashboard Repositories 17-33

• The user-defined objects can be deleted when not needed.

– When an overridden object is deleted, the object is restored to its factory setting.

– When deleted, cloned objects are removed from the system.

You use the REPOSITORIES tab in Dashboard Administration to create or modify the object definitions in BAC repositories.

To display a repository:

1. From the top menu bar, select ADMIN → DASHBOARD. The DASHBOARD ADMINISTRATION interface appears.

2. Click the REPOSITORIES tab to display the tab main menu.

3. Click the repository type that you want to display.

Note: The KPI, CONTEXT MENUS, and TOOLTIPS repositories also include definitions for the KPIs, CI menus, and CI tooltips used in SLM.

Overview of Dashboard Repositories17-34

KPI Repository

Figure 17-21 KPI Repository

The KPIs repository provides the predefined KPIs used in Dashboard. Examples of predefined KPIs are APPLICATION, AVAILABILITY, BANDWIDTH and LATENCY KPIs. The KPIs repository also contains user-defined Dashboard KPIs.

You can view the predefined and user-defined Dashboard KPIs in the following sections of the KPIs repository page:

• Factory KPIs: Provides details such as ID and DISPLAY LABEL for the predefined Dashboard KPIs. In addition, the section provides details of the default business rule attached to each KPI.

• Custom KPIs: Provides details such as ID and DISPLAY LABEL for the user-defined KPIs.

On the KPIs repository page, you can customize the KPIs repository by creating new KPIs, cloning the existing KPIs, or editing the existing KPIs.

KPI Repository 17-35

Creating a New KPI

Figure 17-22 KPI Details Window

You create a new KPI if the existing KPIs do not meet business requirements. To create a new Dashboard KPI:

1. In the REPOSITORIES tab main menu, click KPIs. The KPIs repository page appears.

2. In the Custom KPIs section, click NEW ITEM. The KPI DETAILS window appears.

3. Specify the details for the new KPI in the various fields, such as DISPLAY LABEL, DISPLAY ORDER and APPLICABLE RULES.

4. Click OK to close the KPI DETAILS window. The new KPI appears in the CUSTOM KPIS section.

Creating a New KPI17-36

Cloning an Existing KPI

Figure 17-23 Cloning KPIs

You can create a new Dashboard KPI by creating a clone of an existing Dashboard KPI. An existing KPI can be either a factory KPI or a custom KPI. You clone a KPI when you want to modify a few properties of an existing KPI. For example, you can clone the AVAILABILITY KPI and modify its properties, such as DISPLAY LABEL and DEFAULT GROUP RULE, to create a version of the AVAILABILITY KPI that has a new default business rule.

When you create a new KPI by cloning, a new ID is assigned to the cloned KPI and the original KPI remains unaffected. To create a new Dashboard KPI by cloning:

1. On the KPIs REPOSITORY PAGE, in the FACTORY KPIs section, check the KPI you want to clone and click CLONE. The cloned KPI appears in the CUSTOM KPIs section.

2. In the CUSTOM KPIs section, click the EDIT ENTITY button to modify the details of the cloned KPI. The KPI DETAILS window appears.

3. Specify the details for the cloned KPI, and click OK.

Cloning an Existing KPI 17-37

Editing an Existing KPI

Figure 17-24 Edit KPI Details

You can edit a predefined Dashboard KPI on the KPIs REPOSITORY PAGE by overriding the KPI. When you override a Dashboard KPI, BAC:

• Creates a copy of the overridden KPI with the same ID in the CUSTOM KPIs section and disables the predefined KPI in the FACTORY KPIs section.

• Marks the KPI as overridden in the FACTORY KPIs section.

To override a KPI:

1. On the KPIs repository page, in the FACTORY KPIs section, check the KPI that you want to override, and click OVERRIDE. A copy of the overridden KPI appears in the CUSTOM KPIs section.

2. In the CUSTOM KPIs section, click the EDIT ENTITY button to modify the details of the overridden KPI. The KPI DETAILS window appears.

3. Specify the details for the KPI, and click OK.

Editing an Existing KPI17-38

Business Rules Repository

Figure 17-25 Business Rules Repository

The Business Rules repository provides details of the predefined business rules that are associated with the Dashboard KPIs. It also provides the details of the user-defined business rules.

You can view the predefined and user-defined business rules in the FACTORY BUSINESS RULES and CUSTOM BUSINESS RULES sections, respectively.

You use a Business Rules repository to:

• Create new business rules.

• Clone existing business rules.

• Edit existing business rules.

You can enable BAC to save measurement data for a KPI on the BUSINESS RULES repository page. For this, click the EDIT GLOBALS button and set the SAVE VALUES TO PERSISTENCY global attribute to YES.

Business Rules Repository 17-39

Creating a New Business Rule

Figure 17-26 Rules Details

You create a new business rule if the existing business rules do not suit your business purposes. To create a new business rule:

1. In the REPOSITORIES tab main menu, click BUSINESS RULES. The Business Rules repository page appears.

2. In the CUSTOM BUSINESS RULES section, click NEW ITEM. The RULE DETAILS window appears.

3. Specify the details for the new business rule in the various fields, such as DISPLAY NAME, RULE TYPE and RELEVANT RESULT TYPE.

4. Click OK to close the RULE DETAILS window. The new business rule appears in the CUSTOM BUSINESS RULES section.

Creating a New Business Rule17-40

Cloning an Existing Business Rule

Figure 17-27 Cloning Business Rules

You can create a new business rule by creating a clone of an existing business rule and modifying its details, such as DISPLAY NAME and RULE TYPE. When you clone a business rule, a new business rule ID is assigned to the cloned business rule and the original business rule remains unaffected. To create a new business rule by cloning:

1. On the BUSINESS RULES REPOSITORY page, in the FACTORY BUSINESS RULES section, check the business rule that you want to clone and click CLONE.

2. In the CUSTOM BUSINESS RULES section, click the EDIT ENTITY button to modify the details of the cloned business rule. The RULE DETAILS window appears.

3. Specify the details for the cloned business rule, and click OK.

Note: You change the name of a cloned business rule to uniquely identify it.

Cloning an Existing Business Rule 17-41

Editing an Existing Business Rule

Figure 17-28 Edit Business Rules

You can edit a predefined business rule on the Business Rules repository page by overriding the business rule. To override a business rule:

1. On the Business Rules repository page, in the FACTORY BUSINESS RULES section, check the business rule that you want to override, and click OVERRIDE. In the CUSTOM BUSINESS RULES section, a copy of the overridden business rule appears.

2. In the CUSTOM BUSINESS RULES section, click the EDIT ENTITY button for the overridden business rule to modify the details of the business rule. The RULES DETAILS window appears.

3. Specify the details for the business rule, and click OK.

Editing an Existing Business Rule17-42

Chapter 17 Review ExercisesINSTRUCTOR NOTES: Please go through these verbally with the class – ask the students

individually or as a group, as you see fit.

1. Name the two default KPIs attached to a BPM Transaction.Answer: Availability and Performance.

2. Classify the following as a CI or a KPI.

a) The OnlineBanking application

b) The availability of the OnlineBanking application

c) The CPU on the AustProd01 server

d) The percent utilization of the CPU on the AustProd01 serverAnswers: a. CI, b. KPI, c. CI, d. KPI

3. Which component of a KPI definition defines the logic for calculating the measurement for the KPI?

Answer: The business rule associated with the KPI.

4. What is the default Business Rule for the Availability and Performance KPIs?Answer: The Worst Child Rule.

5. In terms of propagation, how is a parent CI impacted when you attach a KPI to a child CI?

Answer: When you attach a KPI to a child CI, the KPI propagates to the parent CI for most KPI types - this is why the top-level CI in a view can have many more KPIs than its child CIs.

6. Explain why a higher level CI could be red when all its underlying CIs are green.Answer: The higher-level CI has hidden child CIs that are red.

7. Explain how you would identify the hidden CIs in a view.Answer: In the Dashboard’s Console view, click the small Open Menu icon at the far right end

of a CI and select “Find Visible and Hidden Child CIs”.

Chapter 17 Review Exercises 17-43

Hands On LabAttach a KPI to a CI, Edit KPI Properties and Generate KPI Reports

As you have seen, the default KPIs for a BPM Transaction are Availability and Performance. Although these will suffice for most circumstances, BAC gives us the option of attaching additional KPIs if needed.

In order to better measure the business impact of Web Tours, Susan (the IT Services Manager) has asked Becky to add a KPI to the Web Tours profile that will measure the dollar amount of the application’s unavailability - that is, a KPI that measures the monetary impact to xyzTravel if Web Tours is not available. She also asks her to enable BAC to display reports on the status of all KPIs.

Finally, the Application Team would like Becky to reschedule the script so it runs less frequently.

Objectives:

In this lab you will attach the RT (or Real Time) Impact KPI to the Make_Reservation transaction. This KPI displays information relating to the financial loss caused to the organization in real time; the calculation is based on the Availability KPI. You will also enable BAC to save KPI data so it can be displayed in a report. Finally, you will reschedule the Web Tours profile and make adjustments to the KPI’s “data timeout” setting so that the KPI information persists in Dashboard.

Part 1: Attach RT Impact KPI to Make_Reservation TransactionPart 2: Enable the Save KPI Data Over Time SettingPart 3: Verify KPI Data is Visible in BACPart 4: Reschedule Profile and Verify Data Timeout Setting Update

Hands On Lab17-44

Part 1: Attach RT Impact KPI to Make_Reservation Transaction

1. Open BAC and go to Admin > Dashboard > KPIs tab.

2. Select your Web Tours view from View Explorer, expand to either of the Make_Reservation transactions and click on it

3. In the right pane click and the New KPI popup appears.

4. Select RT Impact from the KPI drop down.

5. Select Real Time Impact as the Business Rule, instead of the default Sum of Values Rule (later we’ll see when to use the Sum of Values Rule).

6. Notice that a new section titled Business Rule Parameters appears after you select Real Time Impact as the Business Rule. Expand this section to see or edit the four parameters:

a) DollarImpactFactor:The financial loss factor per hour. The financial loss factor is used to calculate the financial impact of a CI non-availability.

b) CalculateTrend: Determines whether or not the KPI trend will be calculated and displayed.

c) StatusDimension: Defines the ID of the KPI for which the other rule parameters apply when you want to use KPIs other than Availability.

d) HistoryType: Defines the type of history calculation to be used when calculating history status. Values can be Worst, Average, or None (no history status displayed).

7. Based on Susan’s assessment that xyzTravel will lose $1000 of revenue per hour if Web Tours is unavailable, change the DollarImpactFactor to $1000. Leave the other parameters unchanged.

Understand that the non-availability period for Web Tours starts when the status of the Availability KPI changes to Critical (red) status. If the Availability KPI status is anything other than red, then the real time impact is $0.

8. Under Objectives, note the default OK threshold of $100. This means that if the business is losing $100 or less per hour then the RT Impact status will be green. Leaving the remaining thresholds blank means that any loss of over $100 per hour produces a red status for RT Impact. Change this value to $0.

Although the status of RT Impact depends on the status for Availability, make sure you understand the difference between the two.

Hands On Lab 17-45

9. Click OK and note that the RT Impact KPI has been attached to the Make_Reservation Transaction CI.

10. Click on the Make_Reservation Business Process Step just above the Transaction CI and you should see the RT Impact KPI attached to this CI, as well. The new KPI is also attached to the Profile CI. This is because the KPIs propagate up to their parent CIs.

Also, if you navigate to the Top View tab in Dashboard you will see that the new RT Impact KPI appears alongside the Availability and Performance CIs - its icon is a flat disk . Notice how it propogates upward in the profile tree.

However, there is an important configuration difference between the RT Impact KPI for the Transaction CI and the other CIs. Can you spot it? Hint: look at the Business Rules.

Answer: The KPI for the Transaction CI uses the “Real Time Impact” Business Rule but the other CIs use the “Sum of Values Rule” Business Rule.

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Why the difference?Answer: The difference is that the higher-level CIs use a different Business Rule than the

Transaction CI. The higher-level CIs must sum the contributions of their child CIs in order to correctly propagate the overall value. So the higher-level CIs use the Sum of Values Rule, which has been auto-configured for them by BAC, as you can see.

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

11. Now add the RT Impact KPI to the other Make_Reservation transaction.

Hands On Lab17-46

Part 2: Enable the Save KPI Data Over Time Setting

1. Go to Admin > Dashboard > KPIs tab.

2. Expand the tree for your view until each Business Process Step is visible. Click on the top-most step.

3. In the right pane, put a checkmark in the box in front of Save KPI data over time for this CI.

4. In the top-right corner of the page you should see a message confirming success: Save KPI data over time for this CI option set successfully.

5. Repeat for the other Business Process Steps.

Part 3: Verify KPI Data is Visible in BAC

1. Go to Applications > Dashboard > Reports tab.

2. View the KPIs Over Time report to verify that the KPI data is, in fact, being reported to BAC. You will need to wait until the script runs at least once before you are able to see any data, so you may want to proceed with Part 4 of this lab and then return to this part.

Hands On Lab 17-47

Part 4: Reschedule Profile and Verify Data Timeout Setting Update

1. Go to Admin > End User Management and highlight your profile in the left pane on the Monitors tab.

2. In the right pane go to the Data Collectors tab and put a checkmark in fron of both Locations.

3. Click Edit Schedule and the Profile Schedules dialog box opens.

4. Click the pencil icon and the Edit Schedule popup appears.

5. Change the Frequency to every 30 minutes and click OK.

6. Click OK on the Profiles Schedule to save your edit. The new schedule will appear on the Data Collectors tab.

7. Go to Admin > Dashboard > KPIs tab.

8. In the left pane expand your profile to the point where you can highlight one of the transactions. In the right pane, click the pencil Edit icon for any of the KPIs - the Edit KPI dialog box opens.

9. Expand Business Rules and you will see two entries, for No data timeout and duration:

10. The No data timeout property defines the number of seconds from the time the last sample was received for the KPI, until the KPI is timed out. At that point the KPI changes to decay status and appears gray in color.

Hands On Lab17-48

11. The duration parameter is the amount of time, in seconds, over which the status is calculated. For example, a duration of 120 seconds means that the status of the KPI will be calculated over the last two minutes. As a general rule, duration should be equal to No data timeout.

12. By default, BAC takes the frequency of the profile run (10 minutes, or 600 seconds in our case) and adds 90 seconds to this value as a cushion in case the profile run is delayed. So the figures of 690 that you see apply to the former schedule that you just changed - the figures have not yet updated.

13. To force the update, go to Admin > Universal CMDB > Source Manager tab and

do a hard synch of the BPMs.

14. Return to the Edit KPI screen and examine the entries. Each should now be 1890 (30 minutes = 1800 seconds, plus the 90 second cushion).

End of Lab

Hands On Lab 17-49

Chapter SummaryThe key points in this chapter are as follows:

• Dashboard provides different methods to view the status of an organization’s IT environment from various perspectives.

• BAC provides the following types of repositories:

– KPIs

– Business Rules

– Context Menus

– Context Menu Items

– Tooltips

Chapter Summary17-50