PATROL® Explorer
- Data Sheet
PATROL® Explorer
PATROL® by BMC Software
Key features
- Increases application availability and operator productivity with a powerful Web-enabled GUI
- Simplifies monitoring and management of enterprise availability with an easy-to-use GUI that improves productivity
- Uses Windows Explorer-like displays to portray the enterprise hierarchically and topical maps to display the enterprise geographically or logically
- Allows users to drill down to the finest details of a managed element or object to go directly to the affected component
- Provides full integration with PATROL Enterprise Manager and PATROL Operations Manager and displays information based on user requirements
- Installs within minutes
Business challenge
Each business unit or management discipline within an organization requires a unique view of availability management information. A CIO might be interested in a high-level view of critical business services, while an operator requires real-time information on specific systems and components. A custom view of the enterprise status needs to be presented to various groups in the most effective manner.
The BMC Software solution
The entire enterprise can now be managed from an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI), accessible directly from Microsoft Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows 98 desktops and Web browsers.
The PATROL Explorer product from BMC Software uses leading-edge technology with a standard interface to deliver business service and geographical views, powerful event management and automation capabilities for all enterprise management needs.
A highly customizable interface makes it applicable to all levels in the enterprise: operators, help-desk personnel, network support and system programmers, application managers, CIOs and other management staff. Information can be sorted and represented by specific criteria – such as date, time, severity or frequency – literally at the click of a button.
Using the latest state-of-the-art technology, PATROL Explorer improves productivity management through an intuitive operator interface. PATROL Explorer provides the following capabilities:
- Provides high-level views for CIOs and real-time information on specific systems for operators
- Uses powerful "selector" functionality to provide customization for each user based on system type, severity, business service, application, date/time and more than 20 other variables
- Includes flexible and easy-to-use reports and charts that are integrated with Microsoft Office
- PATROL Explorer provides a flexible, graphical view of your service or enterprise.
- Provides active alert displays for immediate event management
- Displays alerts in user-definable colors based on severity
- Highlights, assigns, reassigns, accepts and closes alerts at the operator and supervisor levels
- Uses an integrated emulator suite to access and issue commands directly back to the managed systems
- Launches consoles for displays directly from the PATROL Explorer workstation and launches automation with the click of a button
- Features state-of-the-art technology, based on leading-edge ActiveX technology and fully supporting DCOM
Key functions and benefits
- Versatile and comprehensive service level management displays
- Familiar Windows-based interface
- Increased operator productivity and rapid implementation
- Web-enabled access
- Easily customized for reporting requirements
Versatile and comprehensive service-level management displays
- Allows users to simplify monitoring and management of enterprise availability based on their requirements
- Enables views to be quickly and easily tailored to a specific user, using a combination of alert displays, geographical maps and business service icons, as well as access to historical service-level information
- Allows service level views to be automatically created and updated providing up-to-the-minute displays of your managed services
- Allows users to see only the information they are interested in or authorized to see, and view it in their format of choice
- Further customizes views by importing images such as photographs, company logos and videos
- Sorts and represents information by specific criteria, such as device, type, application or service
- Allows access to these features and capabilities either from an active Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows 98 workstation or via Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator
Familiar interface
- Uses an easy graphical user interface for users to manage the IT environment according to the views of their choice
- Deploys quickly on existing equipment and presents the user with the familiar Windows-based interface that provides information in a format that is easy to comprehend
Advanced integration is provided for Microsoft Office applications, allowing service-level management information to be easily and automatically included in Microsoft Word documents or Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and graphs.
Increased operator productivity and rapid implementation
- Gives operators access to all the information they require, right at their fingertips, using an intuitive GUI
- Allows operators to view the status of all elements in the enterprise at a glance, as well as access status and detailed alert information
- Installs quickly and easily, allowing users to be up-and-running within minutes
- Allows operators, through the click of a mouse, to access detailed event information and assign the event to themselves
- Operators can take actions to resolve alerts, automatically open trouble tickets on popular help-desk packages, or start automation routines to resolve the problems.
- Operators can access historical information to create powerful graphs and reports for the various components they manage.
- Provides comprehensive online help for information on desktop objects and actions
- Includes pop-up panels displaying detailed information for the associated alert
- Lets operators drag and drop objects, move and sort alerts, and rely on visual clues (such as color) to quickly spot and resolve problems
- Uses multimedia capabilities, such as video and sound, to ensure the most effective communication of problem situations and resolution
Web-enabled access
- Provides support for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator (on Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows 98)
- Allows authorized users to access the enterprise status information – including alert displays and maps – directly from their network-connected or dial-up workstations
- Uses Microsoft DCOM, which provides a true, object-oriented enterprise management capability and allows desktop components to be reusable in other DCOM-compliant applications
- Uses ActiveX technologies throughout, allowing the desktop to be Web-enabled
- Uses multithreading, OLE and ODBC access
Easily customized for reporting requirements
- Allows for the quick and easy creation of graphs, charts and reports of managed systems through advanced integration with Microsoft Office applications, such as Microsoft Excel
- Enables updates of graphs and reports in real time for up-to-the-second service-level monitoring
- Shows how business applications are running from anywhere in the world via a corporate intranet
Installation
- Installs quickly and easily
- Allows new users to be up-and-running, accessing enterprise management information within a few minutes
- Creates service view graphical displays in seconds
Customers are recommended to run the Explorer client on a leading supplier of Windows-compliant hardware.
Security
Security is controlled from the PATROL server and access to information and actions is limited by user ID and password.
Server
- PATROL Enterprise Manager V4.2 or later
- PATROL Operations Manager V1.1 or later (not all functions of PATROL Explorer apply)
Helping you maintain advantage
BMC Software Professional Services helps companies maintain their advantage through a comprehensive suite of consulting services and education offerings designed to ensure ongoing business availability of critical applications. Our packaged and custom service offerings maximize product potential, reduce project risk, accelerate the time to value, and improve operations. The Service Assurance Center™ by BMC Software is our premier custom solution, helping customers achieve service-level management. In addition, our Support organization provides the crucial documentation and responsive problem resolution to keep your business on track.