Product overview

IBM Netcool Agile Service Manager provides operations teams with complete up-to-date visibility and control over dynamic infrastructure and services. Agile Service Manager lets you query a specific networked resource, and then presents a configurable topology view of it within its ecosystem of relationships and states, both in real time and within a definable time window. Agile Service Manager is available as both on-prem and IBM Cloud Private versions.

Benefits of Netcool Agile Service Manager

Services and applications are increasingly deployed in environments that take advantage of distributed and often virtualized infrastructure. For example, parts of a network might be cloud-based, with other connected elements contained within, or tethered to, legacy systems that exploit tried and tested on-prem capability. The result is often a highly distributed and increasingly complex hybrid network that requires an agile and dynamic operations management solution in order to leverage and exploit its rapidly evolving technologies.

Netcool Agile Service Manager allows the real-time view, support and management of highly dynamic infrastructures and services. By visualizing complex network topologies in real-time, updated dynamically or on-demand, and allowing further investigation of events, incidents and performance, operational efficiency is improved, problems are detected and solved faster, false alarms are reduced, and automation and collaboration between operational teams is improved. Also, data can be leveraged more efficiently both in real time and historically, thereby empowering teams and systems to create and nurture differentiated services for different customers.

IBM Netcool Agile Service Manager is cloud-born, and built on secure, robust and proven technologies. It is designed to be flexible and can be extended as needed using plug-in components and micro-services to cater for highly specific environments.

Basic deployment

Netcool Agile Service Manager is deployed with IBM Tivoli Netcool Operations Insight as part of an integrated solution. This figure depicts the basic Agile Service Manager on-prem architecture.

Deployment scenarios

Network Manager: You want to use Netcool Agile Service Manager to analyze the resource data discovered by Network Manager.; You configure the ITNM Observer to load topology data, and then monitor Network Manager for updates.; You define a seed resource in the Agile Service Manager UI, and then dynamically render a topology view centered around that resource, which can display linked resources up to four hops away.; You use this visualization to delve into the states, histories and relationships of the resources displayed.; New data is harvested continuously, which you can then analyze further.
Netcool/OMNIbus: You want to extend your analysis of Netcool/OMNIbus events.; You configure the Event Observer and the Netcool/OMNIbus XML Gateway and Message Bus to monitor the Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer for new events.; You configure the IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus Probe for Message Bus to synchronize event views across the Netcool Agile Service Topology Viewer and the Netcool/OMNIbus Event Viewer.; You display a topology based on a specific resource (event), and then exploit Netcool Agile Service Manager's functionality to gain further insights into the displayed events.
OpenStack: You use the OpenStack Observer to render detailed OpenStack topologies, and delve further into their states, histories and relationships.
Bespoke topologies using the REST APIs: You want to load resource data from your own source in order to use the Netcool Agile Service Manager functionality to render topologies for analysis.; You use the REST APIs to configure a data source, load your data, and then use the Netcool Agile Service Manager UI to focus on a specific seed resource, before extending your topology outward.