Overview of Distributed Data Manager


Overview

Included with

Tivoli Problem Management administration

Overview

Overview of Distributed Data Manager

Distributed Data Manager is a feature of Tivoli Problem Management. When you enable Distributed Data Manager, you can transfer calls, problems, and solutions to other Tivoli Problem Management sites. A site is a specific Tivoli Problem Management database and the client workstations and application servers that access it. Sites can be in the same building or on different continents.

Distributed Data Manager enables you to transfer calls, problems, and solutions to other sites even if they use different databases. For example, a site running an Oracle database can transfer a problem to another site that runs an Informix database. That site can then transfer the same problem to a third site, which runs a Microsoft SQL Server database. All these sites have the capability to view or retrieve the transferred problem.

Analysts can dispatch or forward single calls, problems, and solutions. Or they can send multiple problems or solutions in batch mode, or bulk problem transfer and bulk solution transfer, respectively. For example, if it is 5:00 pm in Atlanta and the help desk is closing, the analysts in Atlanta can transfer open problems to the San Francisco site, where it is 2:00 pm. This capability enables the help desk to provide uninterrupted support.

The Tivoli Problem Management enterprise

An enterprise is comprised of two or more Tivoli Problem Management sites that are connected to one another. A site in the enterprise uses the Tivoli Problem Management 3-tier architecture, which includes a database server, one or more application servers, and client workstations. The application servers process the remote transactions. The application server you specify to receive remote transactions is called the primary host. You can also define a secondary host. If the primary host is unavailable, the secondary host automatically processes transactions from remote sites.

Each site contains a site ID record of every site in your enterprise. In addition, each site has database records of the people IDs and group IDs at the other sites in your enterprise. Tivoli Problem Management with Distributed Data Manager enabled automatically updates people ID, group ID, organization, and location information at every site whenever new IDs are added or existing IDs are changed. The site, user, and group ID information is used when an analyst transfers a call, problem, or solution to a remote site.

At any point in the life cycle of a call or problem, an analyst can dispatch or transfer the call, problem, or solution to an analyst at any other site within an enterprise, as follows:

  1. An analyst registers a call or problem in Tivoli Problem Management.
  2. The analyst initiates the transfer of the call or problem to a remote site by selecting a remote site ID and a people or group ID at the remote site.
  3. The application server transfers the call or problem to the application server at the remote site.
  4. The remote application server completes the transaction by notifying the recipient of the transfer. The process is the same whether the analyst is transferring to a remote site across town or across a continent.

Even though the problem has been transferred to a remote site, the analyst who transferred the problem can continue to do the following:

  • View the status of the problem as it exists at the remote site
  • View the entire problem and its associated data as it exists at the remote site
  • Attach calls to the problem at the remote site
  • Retrieve the problem from the remote site to resume work on it
Before you begin Before you use Tivoli Problem Management with Distributed Data Manager to transfer calls, problems, and solutions to remote sites for the first time, you must do the following:
  1. Configure Distributed Data Manager options. For more information, see Configuring Distributed Data Manager.
  2. Add data about each of the remote sites in your enterprise to the database at your site. For more information, see Configuring Sites for Distributed Data Manager.
  3. Copy data about the users and groups at your site to all remote sites in your enterprise.
    Note: You need to do this only if you enabled Distributed Data Manager after installing Tivoli Problem Management. For more information, see Configuring User IDs and Groups IDs for Distributed Data Manager.

Tip: Consider designating an individual as the Distributed Data Manager administrator for your enterprise. This person can coordinate site IDs, site numbers, and assign unique user IDs.

Data transferred with a problem When an analyst transfers a problem to a remote site, Tivoli Problem Management with Distributed Data Manager enabled sends a copy of the following database record to the remote site, along with the problem:
  • Problem

Tivoli Problem Management with Distributed Data Manager enabled also sends a copy of all of the following database records that are associated with the problem:

  • Call
  • Location
  • People
  • Problem History
  • Session
  • Solution
  • Work History

Note: Tivoli Problem Management with Distributed Data Manager enabled does not send a copy of the following database records with a transferred problem:

  • Database records associated with other Tivoli Service Desk products
  • Inventory
Data transferred with a call When an analyst transfers a call to a remote site, Tivoli Problem Management with Distributed Data Manager enabled sends a copy of the following database records to the remote site, along with the call:
  • Call
  • Location
  • People
  • Session
Data transferred with a solution When an analyst transfers a solution to a remote site, Tivoli Problem Management with Distributed Data Manager enabled sends a copy of the following database record to the remote site, along with the solution:
  • Solution