Interesting Links for August 19th

Links that I have found interesting for August 19th:

• ZenPack – Powerware UPS – Commercial Open Source Network, Systems and Application Monitoring – Zenoss – This ZenPack provides voltages stats, load, ambient temperature, battery capacity and more for Powerware UPS products. UPS status is found through the the SNMP oids.
• Converting TDW Timestamps to DateTime in BIRT – We have previously published articles on how to convert TDW timestamps to "regular" timestamps in DB2. In BIRT, you may need to tackle the same problem again. The TDW timestamps can not be used for DateTime arithmetic and Charting functions in BIRT and has to be converted to regular DateTime. Though you can use the SQL to convert these timestamps to regular, in some cases, you may want to use the JavaScript integration of BIRT to convert them as well. Here is how to do it.

  ** Important for creating custom TCR Reports based on TDW data!! **

• Firm snubs IBM, HP, CA and BMC, picks Nimsoft for network monitoring – "We don't feel like we've been put into some box," he said. "We feel like they're highly interested in us and believe they will be there to work with us. I think that's important for companies that are small- to medium-sized and growing." "To get bigger, we need a software provider that's willing to roll up their shirtsleeves and work with us."

  Callaghan said Melillo's perspective is on target. Smaller providers will tend to be more responsive to new requests for functionality to be added. Meanwhile, with a behemoth like IBM or HP, a smaller company like Diversified could make a recommendation, but until several companies ask for the same thing, it's doubtful the change will be implemented.

  Another benefit of Nimsoft is the agility that comes with being small. "No pun intended," Callaghan said, "but Nimsoft can be a little more nimble in embracing new technologies. With IBM, HP and BMC, it can take a little bit longer to get it out of the labs. There's more bureaucracy to deal with."

• Data Synapse Utility and Cloud Computing Monitoring – Trying to get your infrastructure working effectively within a Cloud Computing model can be a difficult task. All the new tools and people required to administer this innovation can cause serious cost-inefficiency and unnecessary complexity, cancelling out the benefits of shifting services to least cost infrastructure in your network cloud.

  The DataSynapse Dynamic Application Service Management (DASM) platform standardizes the management of enterprise cloud services across your cloud, ensuring that mission-critical business applications are uniformly provisioned, activated and scaled onto least cost infrastructure. The platform delivers:

  * Effective management of service delivery across your network cloud
  * Cost reductions through services sourced from least cost providers
  * Guaranteed service performance and scalability

  If you want to deliver on the promise of Cloud Computing, think DataSynapse.

• BMC's own CMDB figures – The IT Skeptic | The IT Skeptic – A podcast of the original post a back-of-an-envelope re-analysis of Forrester and BMC's own CMDB research

  Several readers argue well that ROI is not the right measure for a CMDB, but nevertheless management want to know what they get for their money, and BMC's own research suggests "not much".

  ** A must listen – just to hear Rob's voice and style if anything! **

• Tivoli Service Request Manager Integration with Netcool/OMNIbus – OMNIbus is a central event management console for enterprises. TSRM is a service request platform. To better leverage TSRM functions like incident management, service request management, they can be integrated together. Incidents or service requests can be automatically created based on TSRM and OMNIbus integration package, and events in OMNIbus can be closed automatically by synchronizing with TSRM.