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Systems management refers to enterprise-wide
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
of distributed systems including (and commonly in practice)
computer system A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These progr ...
s. Systems management is strongly influenced by
network management Network management is the process of administering and managing computer networks. Services provided by this discipline include fault analysis, performance management, provisioning of networks and maintaining quality of service. Network managemen ...
initiatives in
telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
s. The
application performance management In the fields of information technology and systems management, application performance management (APM) is the monitoring and management of the performance and availability of software applications. APM strives to detect and diagnose complex appli ...
(APM) technologies are now a subset of Systems management. Maximum productivity can be achieved more efficiently through event correlation, system automation and predictive analysis which is now all part of APM. Centralized management has a time and effort trade-off that is related to the size of the company, the expertise of the IT staff, and the amount of technology being used: * For a
small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...
startup with ten computers, automated centralized processes may take more time to learn how to use and implement than just doing the management work manually on each computer. * A very large business with thousands of similar employee computers may clearly be able to save time and money, by having IT staff learn to do systems management automation. * A small branch office of a large corporation may have access to a central IT staff, with the experience to set up automated management of the systems in the branch office, without need for local staff in the branch office to do the work. Systems management may involve one or more of the following tasks: * Hardware inventories. * Server availability monitoring and metrics. * Software inventory and installation. * Anti-virus and anti-malware. * User's activities monitoring. * Capacity monitoring. * Security management. * Storage management. * Network capacity and utilization monitoring. * Anti-manipulation management


Functions

Functional groups are provided according to
International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T)
Common management information protocol The Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) is the OSI specified network management protocol. Defined iITU-T Recommendation X.711, ISO/IEC International Standard 9596-1 It provides an implementation for the services defined by the Common ...
(X.700) standard. This framework is also known as Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, Security (FCAPS). ;
Fault management In network management, fault management is the set of functions that detect, isolate, and correct malfunctions in a telecommunications network, compensate for environmental changes, and include maintaining and examining error logs, accepting and ...
:*
Troubleshooting Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem in order to solve it, and make the product or process ope ...
, error
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
and data recovery ;
Configuration management Configuration management (CM) is a process for establishing and maintaining consistency of a product's performance, functional, and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. The CM proc ...
; Hardware and software inventory ::* ''As we begin the process of automating the management of our technology, what equipment and resources do we have already?'' ::* ''How can this inventorying information be gathered and updated automatically, without direct hands-on examination of each device, and without hand-documenting with a pen and notepad?'' ::* ''What do we need to upgrade or repair?'' ::* ''What can we consolidate to reduce complexity or reduce energy use?'' ::* ''What resources would be better reused somewhere else?'' ::* ''What commercial software are we using that is improperly licensed, and either needs to be removed or more licenses purchased?'' :*
Provisioning In telecommunication, provisioning involves the process of preparing and equipping a network to allow it to provide new services to its users. In National Security/Emergency Preparedness telecommunications services, ''"provisioning"'' equates to ...
::* ''What software will we need to use in the future?'' ::* ''What training will need to be provided to use the software effectively?'' :*
Software deployment Software deployment is all of the activities that make a software system available for use. The general deployment process consists of several interrelated activities with possible transitions between them. These activities can occur on the S ...
::* ''What steps are necessary to install it on perhaps hundreds or thousands of computers?'' :*
Package management A package manager or package-management system is a collection of software tools that automates the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing computer programs for a computer in a consistent manner. A package manager deals wi ...
::* ''How do we maintain and update the software we are using, possibly through automated update mechanisms?'' ;
Accounting management In management accounting or managerial accounting, managers use accounting information in decision-making and to assist in the management and performance of their control functions. Definition One simple definition of management accounting is t ...
:*
Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
ing and statistics gathering ;
Performance management Performance management (PM) is the process of ensuring that a set of activities and outputs meets an organization's goals in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of a whole organization, a d ...
:*
Software metering Software metering refers to several areas: *Tracking and maintaining software licenses. One needs to make sure that only the allowed number of licenses are in use, and at the same time, that there are enough licenses for everyone using it. This c ...
:* ''Who is using the software and how often?'' ::* ''If the license says only so many copies may be in use at any one time but may be installed in many more places than licensed, then track usage of those licenses.'' ::* ''If the licensed user limit is reached, either prevent more people from using it, or allow overflow and notify accounting that more licenses need to be purchased.'' :* Event and metric monitoring ::* ''How reliable are the computers and software?'' ::* ''What errors or software bugs are preventing staff from doing their job?'' ::* ''What trends are we seeing for hardware failure and life expectancy?'' ;
Security management Security management is the identification of an organization's assets (including people, buildings, machines, systems and information assets), followed by the development, documentation, and implementation of policies and procedures for protec ...
:* Identity management :* Policy management However this standard should not be treated as comprehensive, there are obvious omissions. Some are recently emerging sectors, some are implied and some are just not listed. The primary ones are: * Business Impact functions (also known as
Business Systems Management Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separat ...
) *
Capacity management Capacity management's goal is to ensure that information technology resources are sufficient to meet upcoming business requirements cost-effectively. One common interpretation of capacity management is described in the ITIL framework. ITIL vers ...
* Real-time Application Relationship Discovery (which supports Configuration Management) *
Security Information and Event Management Security information and event management (SIEM) is a field within the field of computer security, where software products and services combine security information management (SIM) and security event management (SEM). They provide real-time ana ...
functions (SIEM) * Workload scheduling
Performance management Performance management (PM) is the process of ensuring that a set of activities and outputs meets an organization's goals in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of a whole organization, a d ...
functions can also be split into end-to-end performance measuring and infrastructure component measuring functions. Another recently emerging sector is
operational intelligence Operational intelligence (OI) is a category of real-time dynamic, business analytics that delivers visibility and insight into data, streaming events and business operations. OI solutions run queries against streaming data feeds and event data to ...
(OI) which focuses on real-time monitoring of business events that relate to business processes, not unlike
business activity monitoring Business activity monitoring (BAM) is software that aids the monitoring of business activities which are implemented in computer systems. The term was originally coined by analysts at Gartner, Inc. and refers to the aggregation, analysis, and pr ...
(BAM).


Standards

;
Distributed Management Task Force Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit industry standards organization that creates open manageability standards spanning diverse emerging and traditional IT infrastructures including cloud, virtualization, network, s ...
(DMTF) :
Alert Standard Format Alert Standard Format (ASF) (also sometimes referred to as ''Alert Standard Forum'', ''Alerting Specifications Forum'', ''Alert Specification Function'', etc.) is a DMTF standard for remote monitoring, management and control of computer systems ...
(ASF) : Common Information Model (CIM) :
Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware (DASH) is a Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) standard. Description In April 2007 the Desktop and Mobile Working Group (DMWG) of the DMTF started work on an implementation requirements ...
(DASH) :
Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware The Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) is a suite of specifications that deliver industry standard protocols to increase productivity of the management of a data center. Distributed Management Task Force Distributed ...
(SMASH) :
Java Management Extensions Java Management Extensions (JMX) is a Java technology that supplies tools for managing and monitoring applications, system objects, devices (such as printers) and service-oriented networks. Those resources are represented by objects called MBeans ...
(JMX)


Academic preparation

Schools that offer or have offered degrees in the field of systems management include the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
, the
University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
,
Capitol Technology University Capitol Technology University (formerly Capitol College) is a private university in South Laurel, Maryland near Washington, DC. The university was founded in 1927 as the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute by a former US Navy Radioman. CREI c ...
, and
Florida Institute of Technology The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. Appr ...
.


See also

*
List of systems management systems This is a list of notable systems management systems. __TOC__ Overview {, class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; font-size: smaller; text-align: center" , - ! style="text-align: left" rowspan="2" , System ! rowspan="2" , Creator ! ...
*
Application service management Application service management (ASM) is an emerging discipline within systems management that focuses on monitoring and managing the performance and quality of service of business transactions. ASM can be defined as a well-defined process and use ...
*
Enterprise service management Service governance is a means of achieving good corporate governance through managing internal corporate services across and throughout an enterprise. It engages stakeholders and delivery channels for the purpose of effectively managing risk, as ...
*
Business activity monitoring Business activity monitoring (BAM) is software that aids the monitoring of business activities which are implemented in computer systems. The term was originally coined by analysts at Gartner, Inc. and refers to the aggregation, analysis, and pr ...
*
Business transaction management Business transaction management (BTM), also known as business transaction monitoring, application transaction profiling or user defined transaction profiling, is the practice of managing information technology (IT) from a business transaction per ...
*
Computer Measurement Group The Computer Measurement Group (CMG), founded in 1974, is a worldwide non-profit organization of data processing professionals whose work involves measuring and managing the performance of computing systems. In this context, ''performance'' is und ...
*
Event correlation Event correlation is a technique for making sense of a large number of events and pinpointing the few events that are really important in that mass of information. This is accomplished by looking for and analyzing relationships between events. Hi ...
*
Network management Network management is the process of administering and managing computer networks. Services provided by this discipline include fault analysis, performance management, provisioning of networks and maintaining quality of service. Network managemen ...
*
Operational intelligence Operational intelligence (OI) is a category of real-time dynamic, business analytics that delivers visibility and insight into data, streaming events and business operations. OI solutions run queries against streaming data feeds and event data to ...
*
System administration A system administrator, or sysadmin, or admin is a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems, especially multi-user computers, such as servers. The system administrator seeks to ensu ...
*
Service governance Service governance is a means of achieving good corporate governance through managing internal corporate services across and throughout an enterprise. It engages stakeholders and delivery channels for the purpose of effectively managing risk, as ...


References


Bibliography

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External links


Standards for Automated Resource Management

IT Systems management Forum Nederland
{{Management Computer systems System administration