NEW! Hints Database
Loudwater Systems Management supports clients implementing the IBM/Tivoli product Tivoli Decision Support for z/OS
(The new base product number is now 5698-B06. The associated Subscription and Support (S&S) product, also new, is 5698-R06.
These new product numbers will replace 5698-A07 and 5698-S41 respectively)
also known as TDS
aka Tivoli Decision Support for OS/390
aka Performance Reporter for MVS
aka Performance Reporter for OS/390
aka EPDM (Enterprise Performance Data Manager).
(This product has had its name changed with every Release!).
For detail of the product, see the IBM Product Data Sheet or the Announcement Letter.
NB The link takes you to the US letter; you may need to search IBM iSource for the relevant regional version using the Letter number ZP070446 dated October 2, 2007.
Contents of this page:
Short Description of the Product
Competitor Products
Implementation Plan
Estimate of Effort
What We Have to Offer
Experience Profile
Extensions We Have Built
Some More TDS Links
Description of the product
From the IBM Announcement Letter: "Tivoli Decision Support consolidates, transforms, and presents enterprise management data in ways you can easily use. With this valuable tool, your enterprise gains the following systems management advantages:
- Performance management across multiple platforms -- host-based and distributed
- A comprehensive repository for systems management data
- Easy-to-use, graphical access to enterprise-wide data
- Complete administrative control and security
- Customized report creation to meet your specific
needs
Our description: this is IBM and Tivoli's product for monitoring systems at MANAGEMENT level. It has two functions:
- collect and summarize system logs into a database (DB/2)
- report on data in the database
The areas covered are: mainframe MVS and VM/CMS,TSO, BATCH, started tasks, EREP, DFSMS, Syslog, DB2, IMS, CICS, AS/400, RS/6000 and AIX, Sun Solaris, network (SNA, TCP/IP, X.25, LAN, Token Ring, etc etc) and anything else the user wants to define.
For examples of extensions to TDS, see below.
Competitor Products
Not in any particular order:
Frankly, TDS is better value for money, and we've got good reason to say that.
Intrigued? Talk to us
here
Implementation Plan
The major sections of the implementation effort are likely to include:
- Preparation of a Project Plan
- Fully Automated Production Process
- Implementing capacity planning or chargeout
- Designing, building, and validating extensions
- Implementing a process to manage database space
- Implementing procedures for promoting TDS code to live environment safely
- Training of administrators, developers, users
Estimate of Effort to Complete (and Assumptions)
It is very easy and quick to implement TDS's IBM-supplied functions, and it can begin producing useful data in days.
Customising the product to take into account your naming standards and operational setup need not take much longer.
And then you can go on to implement bespoke tailored extensions, which will still be easier and quicker to implement than the equivalent programming (for instance, in SAS).
With proper design, these extensions need not be a major burden when you need to upgrade (say, when the next release of TDS comes)- and in any case, TDS-390 now includes a tool to help you migrate your upgrades to the next release.
We offer to provide a complete project plan, and manage it through to completion, according to your project objectives. We estimate the effort (both yours and ours) and tell you up front. We base these figures on follow-up of previous project plans.
What We Have to Offer
Experienced consultants
- Capable of being immediately productive
- Offering project management skills and experience
- Offering project and technical leadership
- With special expertise in MVS usage charging detail
Consultants completely familiar with TDS
- Can short-circuit difficulties to prevent delays
Consultants familiar with the IBM environment, processes
- Able to use IBM online support effectively to prevent
delays
Library of productivity software tools from previous projects
- For automating data collection and processing
- For managing disk space and database growth
- For providing easy fast report access, for non-expert users
- For promoting code from development to live
environment
Experience Profile - Loudwater Systems Management Ltd
Loudwater Systems Management Ltd is happy to provide implementation services in support of clients for Tivoli Decision Support for z/OS (aka Performance Reporter aka EPDM).
After a very large number of previous implementations of SLR (IBM Service Level Reporter, a predecessor product), we have now performed three successful implementations of TDS, two of which were conversions from SLR.
All involved extensive customisation, project leadership, and supply of training to client personnel. In each case, the client was satisfied with the results achieved.
The clients were a major British insurance company based in the North, a major British airline, and the most trusted household name in UK retail.
Extensions We Have Built
Some examples of IBM and non-IBM extensions we have built: VSAM datasets (tracking CI- and CA-splits), charging for DB2 cpu usage, correct attribution of CICS cpu usage in multi-region systems, tracking HSM Recalls, charging for tape usage via TMS Tape Management System (CA-1), measuring UNIX usage via BMC Patrol, Teradata, MXG Tape Mount Monitor, StorageTek Automated Tape Library (Silos), charging for DB2 access from a PC either via Shadow or via DDF
