SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence Reviews

SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence is used for monitoring CICS and z/OS, and it is also used to monitor metrics and trigger events to OPS/MVS for automation triggering.

SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence's real-time monitoring is used to diagnose resources, and most of the time, it is used to diagnose the slow response time of a transaction. The tool identifies the resource that is being used and what it is waiting for, which might be potential causes of the slow response time or the root cause of the slow response time.

SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence's real-time monitoring is utilized.

SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence's data integration and visualization capabilities have helped improve operational outcomes by reducing the time to respond to incidents because it is a real-time monitor. It is also used to send an alarm to a tool that opens a ticket for the incident.

A long-term performance database in SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence would be beneficial to see historical performance for the long term and observe trends. Currently, a program must be created to gather data, and it should be part of the product with a built-in database inside SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence so that a custom program to gather data and keep it somewhere is not necessary.

Prediction capability is not available in SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence—the kind of machine learning intelligence desired, such as the ability to predict patterns or seasonality or month-end behavior. However, if there is a chance to use WatchTower, this ability might be gained.

SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence has been in use for almost two years.

Technical support by Broadcom is rated as seven out of ten.

I do not open tickets to CA that often, so the response time or first-level support quality cannot be assessed.

Positive

CA SYSVIEW is currently in use, and OMEGAMON was used a long time ago.

MainView, BMC MainView, and OMEGAMON were used before using SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence.

Changing the company is one reason for switching, and the team was seeking something that consumed less CPU, which led them to turn to SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence.

A vendor implemented SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence.

The price of SYSVIEW Performance Intelligence is unknown as I am a user and do not have access to pricing information. I have provided this review with a rating of seven out of ten.

System monitoring and issue alerting. Problem investigation and resolution. System status and configuration details.

It pulls together a lot of utilities provided by other tools/products into one consistent umbrella.

CICS, JES, and MVS aren't necessarily valuable, just very useful. SYSVIEW provides information that supports our duties in problem alerts, problem investigation, and performance monitoring and management.

For one particular environment, the capturing, recording and presentation of IBM CPUMF data would be useful.

IBM Mainframes now produce data on processor cache performance. There is a mechanism for capturing that data within z/OS. It is useful for comparing machines and the impact of the number of partitions and logical to physical processors ratios.

We've had no issues with the stability.

It's been able to scale for our needs.

They're very good.

We switched due to a corporate directive.

It wasn't very difficult to implement.

I am not involved with licensing, as this is done at a corporate level.

I was not involved in the decision to purchase this product.

It is a very powerful and reliable tool with a relatively easy to follow interface.

When we changed to JES3, the programmers didn't have to know anything. The product provided the same interface with the same look and feel.

I use most of the SMS space management extensively, but also the features that enable me to look at dumps and different dataset allocations to the system, and performance data from the queueing and delays.

I also really appreciated all the work that everybody did to get it functional for JES3, and they continue to do so, even though IBM said they are going to do away with JES3.

I've really appreciated that, as MBS and z/OS have expanded features, SYSVIEW has been right there in step, providing updates and access to those features. It gives the commands the front-end through the product.

The things that I would think about would be in relation to JES3. However, I don't know if they'll be able to do much more with that because I don't know how much longer IBM is going to be supporting JES3. So I can understand not doing additional development. But if I were to suggest something it would be the JES3 initiators, the JES3 queues.

It confuses a lot of people because there are so many features, but when they see me bouncing around they say, "I didn't know it did that, I didn't know it did that." It takes a long time to find all the different features that are available. 

I give stability a nine out of 10. Anytime I've had a problem, they've been right on top of it.

Scalability is a 10 out of 10. I've worked directly with the product manager, and they've been very open to scale to whatever. They jumped on adding JES3 when I asked for it. I thought that was a big thing.

I rate tech support at 10 out of 10. They've always been very friendly. They look to find what my problem is and try to help me get through it.

IBM has SDSS, the closest thing to competition.

SYSVIEW just has more features. When I first started, SYSVIEW gave me an interface to VSE/Power and the queues, the JOBSUM feature; access to Java output. I've grown to use a lot of the functions, SMS group, SMS data, SMS management, all the things to look at the SMS stuff.

I chose it because it covers a lot of different product all in one. Flasher and DADS for the CICS people; SDSF for SPOOL; and lots of MVS tools that I don't need by having this one product.

One of their other products is called CSM, Chorus Software Manager. I was involved with that since beta two. It helps with the download so getting it up and running is very easy.

It's a very complex product, it's got its finger in a lot of things, but it comes up really quick. 

It's a little steep, but there are a lot of other functions that it brings together. It gives you one window to look through to get to a lot of different features.

The more products you have from CA, the better pricing they have, the more you can get them doing more things for you.

CA offers technical advice. They'll come in and they'll show you all the bells and whistles. I think that's a really good thing. They'll come in and help you tweak the product to get the most use out of it. You have to ask the sales team, and they'll schedule somebody.

This is probably their best product. I look at this product and I think it is the best in their fleet. It's hard to say what I would want them to do better, other than, as I said, JES3.

I've been using it since the 80s. I've always found it to be very helpful, so anytime I get the chance, I recommend that we implement SYSVIEW.

• IOF/SDSF compatible commands and displays
• MVS displays and commands
• DB2
• USS CICS displays

Thresholds with alerts are valuable, enabling us to fix a problem before it has an impact.

The MVS commands, because we have a lot of new, inexperienced users on the mainframe who don’t know the commands.

The documentation. I noticed with the last release that all of the manuals were bundled into one. It used to have a separate installation guide, user guide, etc.

No stability issues, it has always been reliable.

No issues with scalability.

Excellent.

SDSF and IOF. We didn’t switch, we have both products.

Very straightforward, with excellent installation documentation.

I am not involved with pricing or licensing.

SYSVIEW has been here since I started working here.

Follow the manual and you won’t have any problems. If you do come across any installation issues, instead of spending lots of time trying to resolve it, open up a question with support and they will resolve it very quickly.

This is our primary performance monitor. It replaced BMC Mainview and is much easier to install and maintain.  Most of what we need is all in this single product.  We monitor z/OS, JES2, MQ, IMS, CICS and TCPIP with this product over 3 lpars.  It's very easy to switch from lpar to lpar without even leaving the product.  This is very helpful to us.

It's beneficial because it also ties into other CA products that we have. It makes it a really good fit.

It's an all in one monitoring solution because of the different subsystems we have such as JZ2, MQ, CICS and being the fact that it's an all inclusive and an all single install really helps us out.

I guess really just kind of expansion. We specifically use IMS as our database. I think really in the line of IMS and what it can provide needs to be expanded a little bit for some of our purposes.

It's been really stable. We're on probably at least our fourth or fifth different version. I've actually taken part in some other betas of different versions and I've been really happy with the stability, especially with the latest one which is 14.1, which just came out.

We haven't had any kind of performance issues regarding the product. Scales well for the number of users being the fact that it uses specialty engines also is a help because we do run specialty engines on our machine.

Customer Service:

Customer service has been excellent

Technical Support:

I've always had really good luck with CA technical support. I've opened a lot of problems over the years and always gotten a really good, quick response time and always gotten a solution that I needed.

It was very straight forward being the fact that I've installed it a number of times actually made this latest installation very easy.

Implemented via an in-house team

A solution has to be, one, user friendly. It needs to be easy to install and maintain. It does need to interface into the things that we want it to. Really just being able to play nicely in the field that we're working in and along with the other products. Those are some of the biggest things we look for.

I would probably rate it a 9/10. I'll be honest, not a ten because I'm very particular and I would always have difficulty no matter how much I liked a product to give it a ten.

Make sure you set thresholds. The out of the box thresholds are okay, but because each site is different it's really important to be able to get the right kind of reporting and alerts that you do need and want to utilize. It's important that the thresholds are set correctly, otherwise you end up getting a lot of false positives and then you end up tend to ignoring the alerts instead of actually paying attention to them.

We use it to surveillance our mainframe system to see if it is behaving fine or if anything is wrong, and it is perfect. It is a very good product.

We have not had any major issues in approximately 15 years.

It is easy to see if anything is wrong. The queues on the system are fast, and it is very intuitive to locate something.

We are using Datacom as the database system, so maybe a little bit more integration with that.

It can also be a little bit more better, but it is very good. I do not any products that can do all the things that it is doing.

It is very stable. We have small bugs now and then, but normally we just open a case at CA and it gets solved very quickly.

The scalability is absolutely fine.

Technical support is very good. I would rate them an eight out of 10. Sometimes you think they should be a little bit faster to solve the issues, but it is also difficult sometimes to duplicate what the issue is.

I was not involved in the initial setup.

I was only involved with the testing of the upgrade. We have some assistant programmers to do the upgrade.

I think it is quite good. Absolutely, get it. It is a great tool.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: I'm not sure it is about the vendor. Maybe it is about the product. Of course, you have to coach your support, but it is mostly how the product is. 

For UPS, we are trying to match up end-to-end between distributive and the mainframe. So far, the AutoSys view, it looks good on a mainframe. We are just having trouble matching it up on the distributive side, but the data collection and everything looks fine to us mainframe folks.

The benefits are kind of what we are looking for. We are not there yet, and end-to-end, we are trying to tie it up with our distributive apps to match them up with the mainframe apps. Therefore, everything is tied through one single pane of glass.

Like a Megamind does, it provides CPU contention batch job information. We are looking more for our kicks regions and stuff, which it self discovers, then they have some work to do. However, it has been very valuable so far.

The product itself seems very good. The documentation, like installation guides and stuff, put it all in one place.

We are still in early stages. Right now, it looks fine from what I see of it. We have only really put the CISS regions on it. We have not pushed out anymore online or anything yet.

Yet to be determined.

Between the tech support and the person I was working with, they have been extraordinary.

I was surprised at how easy it was to work with them. I have worked with them in the past and I did not always find it that way. In the past, I am going back about 10 years. Now, they seem to have come a long way.

We were and still are using Megamind. We still are because it has been customized for our online regions, but it does not give us the end-to-end. So, that is the reason we are going for the SYSVIEW and the APM, as well.

It was dictated to me from upper management. Apparently someone from CA spoke to one of our upper management. It was the end-to-end solution to what we have been looking for at UPS.

It was a little tedious, but it was brand new to us. The documentation kind of jumps around because there are all different parts. However, the support has been outstanding.

There was a lot to do and different multiple pieces to it. It is not just one piece because of the way a SYSVIEW operates, touching almost every part of the operating system.

We knew it was coming like that. Just being the only person, it takes a lot of time. We do not really have a direction set for what we are trying to accomplish, so that makes it a little tougher.

So far, I am the in-house team.

Compuware and another vendor, but CA came in with the best deal.

You need to be partnered with CA. Work alongside of them. It makes it a lot easier because of the amount that goes into installing this product. You will need a little help.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: usability and scalability.

SYSVIEW is a performance analysis tool. It is used to analyze various transaction-based subsystems and evaluate when there are problems that need to be addressed, and it is also looking for trends over time.

The areas which it covers, CICS and DB2, are primarily the best for identifying problems which need to be resolved.

Having spoken with the product owner, we discussed the interests of being able to identify the unit of work ID giving us the ability to correlate transactions that cross technologies. For example, if a unit of work ID is associated with a CICS, a DB2, and a MQ transaction, and having that capability correlate to those different technologies via one business application transaction which would be beneficial.

The stability is very reliable. We have not had any issues.

It definitely scales. I have had no issues in terms of performance of the software.

Give it a try. Do not deny it because of other possible influences that may or may not be valid with this particular solution.

I am mainly the installer, subject-matter expert for my company. So, making sure it is in, working, and available for others to use. It has performed great so far. 

Ultimately, the prevention of money loss for missing SOAs and stuff like that on our systems, if we miss something. 

Anybody has the ability to be able to find something that might be wrong, and look through it.

• Ease of use
• Ability for system diagnostics

System troubleshooting and diagnostics are the biggest thing for us. We need to make sure our system is up and running and at peak performing. Also, it helps us troubleshoot if something does go wrong that we did not happen to see. 

They are already working on improvements. One of them is the operational intelligence, which is a lot of stuff I am trying to learn and work on right now, which SYSVIEW reports to that all the system things which are going on. 

It is good. We do not have any issues with it. I have been able to install and keep up with the latest versions of it without any issues. 

It scales pretty nice. I am running it on more than 60 systems.

Technical support is good, always responsive, pretty quick to get back to me with answers, and/or always willing to help. That is the biggest thing.

In the past, we have used TeamOn.

It was straightforward. I was not there for the initial setup for our system, but I have maintained it since then. So, I have done all the upgrades and maintenance on it. So, it is pretty easy and seamless to put it in. 

We have a global license, so I can't provide much info.

We have looked at using BMC MainView. IBM was also considered.

SYSVIEW is the main one we use. MainView is available on our systems, and it is used as a secondary backup to what might be found in SYSVIEW, or what might not have found. 

In comparison with product of MainView, SYSVIEW is pretty simple, easy to install, and easy to upgrade compared to MainView, as the other product I work with. Every time I need to do something new in MainView, I have to put up a new task and new configuration, so it gets very complicated versus the simplicity of SYSVIEW to do the same thing. 

Just try it. See if you like it or not.

I have to work with other products that are its competition, and so far, SYSVIEW is one of the best out of there. 

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: The response from their technical team is the most important for me. Also, a product that is stable and works

We use it to control everything that's going on in the system. It's a very good tool to use for a system programmer and for a normal programmer.

As a system programmer I can see deep into the system, where nearly everything is at, so it's a very good tool for us to use.

It's quicker to get information, it saves time.

From the demo I attended it looks like all the features I would want are coming.

Very good, no downtime.

It's very good.

I haven't used technical support for SYSVIEW but I have used CA support and it's very good.

We were using SDS from IBM. We switched because SYSVIEW is a better product.

Straightforward.

You have this and you have SDS from IBM. You can compare the two products. We have an agreement with CA so we took SYSVIEW and it's good.

When selecting a vendor it comes down to the price.

I would recommend SYSVIEW. Use it.