Service management measures and reports are a key tool IT managers can use to demonstrate value delivered to the organization and also to maintain competitive cost structures. Service providers use Service Level Agreements (SLAs), that typically establish availability and performance objectives, to document provider-customer contractual expectations.

Demonstrating SLA compliance requires constant monitoring and periodic reporting to show whether SLA expectations have been met. Data Protector, out of the box has monitoring, notification, and reporting tools to document backup and recovery operations. Integration with other service management products consolidates service views, service performance data, and other capabilities into one console, giving you better information and insight into overall IT service delivery.

Data Protector provides IT service managers with key data to enable operative monitoring and planning of backup and data recovery operations. This data can be used in service availability and recovery planning activities that are key if service agreements are to be adhered to. In addition, Data Protector information can be used to implement cost management and chargeback models for true IT financial management.

Data Protector and service management

Data Protector provides service management supports and can be integrated with service management applications, such as Operations Manager Windows, Performance Agent (formerly MeasureWare Agent), Reporter, and Service Information Portal.

Data Protector service management falls into two categories: native (or out-of-the-box) and application integrations. The items in each category are described in more detail later in this chapter.

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Service management