We’ve identified 5 reasons why you should attend this year’s TeamQuest Technology Summit in Savannah, Georgia, April 28 – 29.

Your Data Center is Sprawling with Virtual Machines

Managing virtual machines can be a mess. The virtual machines need to meet service levels. You need to be able to handle upgrades and maintenance and you also need to accurately predict application performance running on virtual servers.Attend one of the sessions below for more on managing virtual machines.

• Planning and Monitoring of Desktop Virtualization on VMware ESX
• Modeling VMware Systems
• Enhanced VMware Data Collection

You’re concerned about the health of IT Operations

Even though Wall Street, the economy and business operations are sick, it doesn’t mean the sickness has to spread to IT operations. Processes such as IT Service Optimization (ITSO), initiatives to align IT with business goals, and service level management can help IT operations run efficiently in today’s economic environment. Find out how you can keep IT fit.Plan to attend one of these sessions: 

• TeamQuest Model: Your Systems Health Practitioner
• Diagnostic Calisthenics
• Stay Out of the IT ER Using Automated Alarming adn Preventative Processes

Cost of attending an event is a deal breaker

This year, more than ever, companies are tightening their belts. This action is similar to over-provisioning hardware. You still need to learn, network and bring back new ideas to help the company move forward. You still need to do your due diligence to discover if new hardware is needed. TTS sessions are free. The only costs to you are air and hotel. After TTS, we offer training courses are offered at $300 per day!

Valuable training offered after TTS

Got a systems management headache? Take two days of training classes for quick relief. Following TTS, April 30 and May 1, you can train with TeamQuest Performance Software – hands on. The offered classes include:

• Administrator Training
• Introduction to TeamQuest Model
• Analyst Training
• TeamQuest Model Training

Registration for classes is part of the TTS registration process. Get training information here. Training courses are a low $300 investment in the health and management of your IT infrastructure. 

Need to increase productivity and cut costs

TTS sessions can show you how to boost response time and reduce down time by keeping your systems tuned and ready. Learn how to increase efficiency while at the same time dodging costly outages and slowdowns. Know which users or business entities are responsible for using IT resources, by accurately allocating IT resource consumption to the right people or organizations.

Register for TTS today before it’s too late!I hope to see you in Savannah, Georgia.

Craig

One of the frequently asked questions I receive is regarding queuing theory and how it applies to computing infrastructures. I think a good way to explain how computer systems have evolved to address queuing issues is through a burger joint analogy.When I was a kid, there were numerous “mom and pop” burger joints along the roads.  If you wanted a burger, you drove in, went up to the window, placed your order and paid your money.  The people inside cooked up what you requested while you stood there. 

At more popular burger joints, too many people had to wait because it was a one-in, one-out business model.  The busier ones came up with the idea that they would have an “order” window and a “pick-up” window.  This permitted multiple orders to be processed concurrently, reducing the line waiting to be served. The problem was that the order went in quickly, but during busy periods, people queued up at the “pick-up” window instead of the “order” window.

Then large chains used analysis tools (some computer-based) to determine the distribution of orders based on time-of-day and day-of-week.  Based on their analyses, management adjusted manpower schedules and scheduled making up orders in advance. Heat lamps kept the food hot. At peak times, the burger joints could quickly satisfy demand, keeping order and pick-up queues low. Even if there was wasted food, it was acceptable because they were providing faster service and attracting a greater number of customers. The additional volume and associated profits more than offset the rare losses.

Computer technology addressing queuing issues has matured in similar fashion. Old computers using the DOS operating system could only process one job at a time. Then Multiple Virtual operating systems came about. Multiple jobs could be run, however they would vie for the same resources, causing queuing (thus elongated wait times). 

With the advent of cheap memory in data storage (disk) controllers, you could fix data in storage at different points in time so that it was readily available and sped the execution of jobs.  Read-ahead technology was developed at the same time, further reducing job execution times. Current technologies use a wide variety of the above solutions to speed execution of jobs and transactions.  So as you can see, burger joints and computer queuing have a lot in common!

Until the next time

Ron

Just about everyone has access to a dictionary these days. Just because you bought one and put it on your shelf doesn’t mean you have to read every definition and use every word in the book. That’s time consuming and provides limited value. My apologies if you’re a lexicographer.

I’ve read the ITIL tomes – versions 1 through 3 – and while they provide value, I don’t believe that every person in the organization should read them from cover to cover. Just like a dictionary, you should use what’s best for your situation.

ITSO and ITIL are comprehensive sets of processes and best practices. Since every IT shop is different, they have different needs. Since IT professionals have their strengths and weaknesses, the best action is to winnow through the best practices and select the disciplines that fit your circumstances, and provide measureable and meaningful value.

If one of your organization’s shortcomings is in the Capacity Management or IT Service Management arena, I urge you to take a look at TeamQuest IT Service Optimization (ITSO). Just like a dictionary, there may be components of the framework that can provide immediate value.

In these tough business times, every little step you take to improve service quality and reduce costs is important to your organization’s survival. Find out more – ITSO. 

Remember, ITSO and ITIL are frameworks. They are collections of processes and best practices. It’s up to you to determine which components provide value to your organization and then implement them; fill in the blanks in the framework.

By the way, I found some words in my dictionary that best describe this process - “flexibility” and “customization.”

I’m putting my dictionary back on the shelf for now.

Until the next time…

Best Regards,

Ron

Pop quiz hot shot!

What type of data is needed to build capacity plans? Better yet, what is the difference between trending and modeling? And while you’re thinking about it, can you explain Little’s Law?

Answer these questions correctly and you might have what it takes to move your IT team toward a more mature IT Operations environment.

If you’re looking for answers, visit our website for more information on Capacity Management. If  you know these answers, take the 16-question quiz and test your Capacity Management knowledge.  

Post your results and tell us what you think of the Capacity Management quiz.