Introduction to NonStop Operations Management

Overview of NonStop Operations Management
Introduction to NonStop Operations Management–125507
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Service-Level Agreements
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Optimizing the features of Tandem NonStop systems and software. Through the
optimal use of Tandem NonStop systems’ fault-tolerant, scalable, distributed
processing, and many other features, you will be able to meet your operations
management objectives.
Service-Level Agreements
Every operations organization should consider developing service-level agreements.
Service-level agreements specify the level of service that operations should provide and
are usually developed through negotiations between the operations organization and the
organization’s users (or those representing the users). The agreements serve three
functions:
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They specify the company’s business goals.
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They specify the end-users’ requirements.
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They determine operations management objectives, requirements, and standards,
with the intention of aligning operations goals with the goals of the company and the
requirements of end users.
For more information on service-level agreements and for guidelines on creating
service-level agreements, refer to Section 4, “Operations Documentation.”
Specifying Business Goals
Specifying the business goals of your company in your service-level agreements can
help you make the correct trade-offs between hardware, software, cost, performance,
response time, availability, and personnel training costs. Some common business goals
might include:
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Increasing customer satisfaction by providing system availability 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 365 days a year
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Accommodating the company’s geographically distributed operations
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Reducing the cost of providing services by downsizing transaction processing to a
distributed computing environment
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Increasing staff efficiency through the use of automated operations.
Specifying End-Users’ Requirements
In most companies, the end users—not the business—determine when, where, and how
services should be provided. Specifying end-user requirements in your service-level
agreements can help to ensure that your organization supports the requirements.
Depending on the type of business your company provides, end users might demand
requirements for:
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Availability
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Data integrity
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Response times and throughput rates