Tivoli Global User Group Community Newsletter
	February 2005

In this issue Tivoli User Group Community What's new on tivoli-ug.org? HOT News Benefits Events "In Our Own Words": Candle Acquisition Update Tivoli Users Group Home www.tivoli-ug.org General Inquiries info@tivoli-ug.org Council Email gtug-council@tivoli-ug.org Council Home http://www.tivoli-ug.org/gtug GTUG Council Mission To extend the effectiveness of Tivoli user groups - as well as expanding Tivoli user group networking capabilities globally.

Greetings! This bimonthly newsletter is sent to you on behalf of the Global Tivoli User Group (GTUG) council and as a registered member of the Tivoli Global User Group Community. Tivoli User Group Community    The community is continuing to grow; with the addition of seven new TUGs since November, customers are better able to network and solve problems. Please welcome and check out the new TUGs that have recently joined the Tivoli User Group community. North America Tivoli Access Manager South New England User Group Tivoli Mid South User's Group Asia Pacific Chennai Tivoli User Group Hyderabad Tivoli User Group Kolcutta Tivoli User Group Mumbai Tivoli User Group EMEA Tivoli Africa user group Hints and Tips - Tivoli Monitoring Tivoli Ideas: To enhance the monitoring of your Tivoli infrastructure, consider the following examples: I know my endpoints, gateways, Tivoli Servers are running because: I count Heartbeats received from each endpoint every 15 minutes. I monitor Tivoli Servers via SNMP every 30 minutes for up/down status. I use one Tivoli environment to monitor the other. I monitor capacity for the Tivoli environment. I periodically run Tivoli health check utilities on Tivoli components. I periodically restore my Tivoli database backup to a test environment and perform verification tests. I regularly observe Gateway Fail-over and know it to be reliable. I put Tivoli Servers on High Availability server environments with fail-over. I run TEC Rules that create a Trouble Ticket if Endpoint Heartbeats are missed. I know my Resource Models are working properly because: I monitor Tivoli Error Logs I have a Resource Model that checks the status of the other Resource Models every 30 minutes. I thoroughly test Resource Models before deployment. I randomly take servers out of production, run load simulations, and verify the monitors go off as expected. I know my Error Log forwarding is working because: Application owners periodically audit their error logs against Help Desk tickets, to be sure they are forwarding the correct entries. Tivoli utilities allow ad hoc testing of the event forwarding mechanism with test messages. You'll find 65 technical Tivoli Field Guides on the Support Web Site. Download Tivoli Field Guides from: http://www- 306.ibm.com/software/sysmgmt/products/support/Field_ Guides_Technical.html Back to Top What's new on tivoli-ug.org?    IBM Tivoli: Storage Network Manager: Currently featured is Dave Murray's Application Spotlight on tivoli- ug.org. Do you want your specific use of a Tivoli Application to be highlighted on the Global Tivoli Community home page? Periodically, Tivoli-ug.org will highlight Tivoli applications on the home page. By entering in highlights of your application into the Tivoli Software Application Spotlight Input Form you can have the chance to showcase your solution to the Global Tivoli UG Community. Please submit the highlights of your application here: info@tivoli-ug.org Tivoli Executive Corner: Read important issues and topics from Tivoli Executives. Each month, a new Tivoli Executive will be featured on http://www.tivoli-ug.org/execcorner.php Past Executive Corner feature: December 2004: Al Zollar, General Manager, Tivoli Software NOW featuring: Bill Kribbs, Vice President, WW Support Services, Tivoli Software, IBM Software Group Coming in March: Nancy Pearson, Vice President, Tivoli Marketing Check out: the new Certification Zone and the newly revised Education Zone on tivoli-ug.org. NEW POLL QUESTION Every month on the front page of our website we will be posting a new polling question. These questions help with the community at large and Tivoli to better understand your thoughts on topics. Take the time to VOTE as your opinion matters! GTUG Requirements UPDATE The GTUG council has agreed to set terms to their requirements to allow for better tracking and closing of their issues. The following are their new terms: Define a set of criteria for the "term" of a requirement. For example; that we actively track requests for 3 months (90 days, 3 GTUG sessions, which ever comes last?). At which time either the requirement has been accepted by IBM and is in FITS (or has a committed IBM champion) or it isn't. The GTUG to remain available after the 3 months for questions, feedback, demonstrations of progress in meeting the requirements or (best!) the resolution from IBM. However, GTUG does not actively track it anymore. At years end, the GTUG can look back and see how many of the requirements made it into FITS -vs- how many were dropped because they weren't accepted. This statistic would then guide conversations on how well we are representing our user groups and getting support from IBM. For more information check out the GTUG council page. Back to Top HOT News    IBM News Q&A: IBM security chief puts focus on compliance, cyberattacks Stuart McIrvine says he's working to better align the company's various IT security offerings. Business Partner News Byte and Switch (US) - 1/18/2005 - Neartek Gets IBM Rating WESTBOROUGH, Mass. -- Neartek, Inc., a leading provider of software-based virtual tape solutions enabling seamless integration of disk in the tape backup process, today announced that it has successfully completed interoperability testing of its Virtual Storage Engine (VSE), the industry's highest performance and most scalable virtual tape solution product, with IBM's TotalStorage FAStT, Enterprise 3494 Tape Library, Enterprise Tape Drive 3592, Enterprise 3583 Tape Library, and 2105 Enterprise Storage Server, SAN Volume Controller, 2109-F32 SAN Fibre Channel Switch, Neartek received a comprehensive level rating from IBM's TotalStorage Proven program, which denotes a more thorough level of testing. End User News Network World (US) - 2/7/2005 - Firms Bank on Identity Management Financial services companies look to automate and protect information accessed by employees, partners and customers. IBM Tivoli's Vision: Al Zollar recently articulated Tivoli's vision for 2005 as follows: As we continue to integrate technologies from our recent Candle and Cyanea acquisitions into Tivoli software, we are committed to doing the following: Improve the effectiveness and reduce the operational costs of IT processes by leading the charge in IT automation Protect our clients' IT investments and align their application portfolios with business needs through leading end-to-end application lifecycle management solutions Make our products easier to install and use, thus reducing time-to-value Maintain on-going, bidirectional communication with our customers Back to Top Benefits    Discount to the 2005 Tivoli Technical User Conference in Dallas, TX (May 10 - 13, 2005) 10% User Group Member Discount from the listed price of $1100. For all Tivoli User Group members the fee would only be $990 for 3.5 day conference. For more info go to: http://www.tivoli-ug.org/benefits.php A chance to attend the 2005 Tivoli Technical User Conference in Dallas, TX for FREE. Drawing for 3 FREE Admission fees/tickets: For every contribution one makes to the TUG community your name will go into a drawing. One entry for each of these items: Contribution to the Newsletter Submission to the Application Spotlight Attend a local meeting in Feb, March or April Leader: Plan a meeting for Feb, March or April Be a member of the GTUG council Your company hosts a meeting in Feb, March or April Give a customer presentation at a user group meeting You take on a requirement for the GTUG council Contribute to the TIE with posting a document for exchange To participate in the drawing please send an email to info@tivoli-ug.org with the following information: Your name, company, email address and phone number. Free REDI Training CDs From Tivoli Education The distribution of free REDI Training CDs at Tivoli User Group meetings has proven to be very popular. If you are not familiar with REDI Training, here is a brief description: REDI Training is "delta" training. It is designed to teach what is new or changed in a product release. The intended audience is people familiar with the previous release of a product who want to learn what is new or changed in the next release. Each REDI NoteBook includes information gathered from the product developers and other experts as well as recorded demonstrations, presentations, lab exercises and question and answer sessions with the product developers. Each NoteBook is a Lotus Notes database. If you do not have Lotus Notes installed, the install file is included on the first CD of each CD set. In an effort to distribute these free REDI Training CDs to User Group members in a fair and equitable manner, Tivoli Education - in cooperation with the Global Tivoli User Group Council - is piloting a new process for the distribution of REDI Training CDs. The pilot is for the first half of 2005 and if successful will continue - with appropriate modification as necessary. In brief, the new process allows you to order the specific REDI Training CDs you want and have those CDs delivered to you at the next meeting of your Tivoli User Group. Look for an email from your Tivoli User Group Leader with details and the REDI Training CD order form. Can't wait for the CDs???? REDI Training is also available on-line for free. Go to http:// www.cgselearning.com/tivoliskills/ and select "New Release Differences Training" Free certification testing at Tivoli User Group meetings Tivoli Certifications are an important way for your customers and business partners to distinguish their skills and earn recognition from IBM for the investment they have made in Tivoli skills. The Tivoli Certification Program has agreed to allow TUG members to take Tivoli Certification exam free of charge at TUG meetings - as a benefit for participating in a local TUG. Test setup is much easier now than it has ever been in the past. The only tools you will need are PCs or laptops that have a browser and an Internet connection. The testing itself is 100% web based but to insure the integrity of the program, all testing is done in the presence of an authorized certification proctor. IBM employees who manage TUGs are invited to become certification proctors and deliver Tivoli exams at their TUG meetings. The process is quite simple and can be arranged quickly. To request details, please send an email to Kimberly Arceneaux/Austin/IBM@IBMUS ( karcenea@us.ibm.com ). Back to Top Events    Tivoli Technical User Conferences in Dallas, Texas and Munich, Germany The Tivoli Technical Conference will provide a leading, up-to-date technical education on Tivoli products and applications. Gain insights, implementation specifics, and key advice from Tivoli product developers and technical experts. Meet with other IBM Tivoli users, participate in in-depth discussions and get the latest on new solutions to pressing IT challenges today. This conference will allow you to network with IBM Tivoli executives and product experts, as well as provide you with an excellent opportunity to network, learn and share experiences with your peers. You will be offered a Tivoli general session, Tivoli breakout sessions, certification testing and a Solutions Center. Support Technical Exchange Conference Calls Support Technical Exchange (STE) web conferences provide important technical information to help you install, configure, troubleshoot and support your Tivoli products. These technical presentations are developed and presented by top engineers, consultants developers from the Tivoli Customer Support, Tivoli Services and Tivoli Development organizations. The target audience is customers, IBM Business Partners, and IBM employees with a working knowledge of Tivoli products who wish to enhance their technical skills. 02/28/2005 Topic:TBSM Failover A TBSM Failover Process overview together with a troubleshooting section showing the most common error scenarios and the related root cause. 03/01/2005 Topic: TBSM Integration with Prob. Manag. Apps. Integrating IBM Tivoli Business Systems Manager (ITBSM) with Problem Management Systems to allow ITBSM Operators to easily Raise, Update, Track and Close problem tickets. How it worked and what's new in TBSM 3.1. 03/15/2005 Topic: TBSM Automated Business Systems (ABS) ABS is a complex tool used to build business systems for TBSM. 03/21/2005 Topic: TBSM Preventive Maintenance of the DB An explanation of the processes and tools available to maintain a healthy DataBase. 03/29/2005 Topic: NetView Discovery Seedfile, discovery settings and good discovery procedures, identifiers, settings, and automatic discovery. Get information to join new STE web conferences and obtain archived STE materials at http://www- 306.ibm.com/software/sysmgmt/products/support/supp_ tech_exch.html Back to Top "In Our Own Words": Candle Acquisition Update    Comments by Zaven Anbarchian, GTUG council member As you know, IBM acquired Candle in the middle of last year to strengthen their monitoring portfolio, especially mainframe arena. Since the majority of us have implemented the Tivoli suite of products to monitor distributed systems, I have included some information from an IBM product direction presentation to consolidate ITM and Candle products. The slide represents the new consolidated portfolio for the distributed environment. In addition, ITM 6.1, customers can look forward to having the flexibility to protect existing investments and leverage the value of new technologies. This release is currently planned for the September timeframe. ITM 5.1 customers can continue to use their existing implementations along with ITM 6.1 for expanded support and flexibility via the new Tivoli portal presentation layer. DM 3.7 customers will have automated tools to help them migrate to ITM 6.1. Current OMEGAMON XE on distributed customers will have expanded support for environments such as Citrix, as well as continuing to benefit from their existing implementation. Phase II, planned for middle of 2006, will converge all products into ITM 6.2, including Tivoli Availability Portal that consolidates views from TEC, Omegamon/XE, Z- series, Web Health Console and Tivoli Data Warehouse. Back to Top If you have been forwarded this Newsletter and would like to subscribe please click here.

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