3.2 Customizing Properties

The SLA metric catalog defines the custom properties of an element captured for the purpose of computing metrics to determine compliance with Service Level Agreements (SLAs). A SLA metric catalog is typically established for elements based on data from an external data source. This data source can be any data schema in any database that stores SLA metric data. It is common practice to establish a connection to an SQL Server 2005 database or Oracle 10g database that is already used to store business data.

In Operations Center, behavior models, classes, and property pages define attributes for elements and relationships between elements. Property pages are associated with elements through behavior models via class.

To capture properties for the SLA metric catalog involves the following new components:

  • SLA Metric Model

  • SLA Metric Class

  • SLA Metric Computed property page

  • SLA Metric Catalog properties for an element

You cannot create custom behavior models, classes, or property pages to define properties of elements based on data from an external data source.

Behavior models, classes, and property pages are defined in the Operations Center console under Enterprise > Administration > Metamodel. It is possible to view and use the new behavior model, class, and property page only if you have a license for Business Service Level Manager (SLM). For more information about licensing, contact Technical Support.

3.2.1 Viewing SLA Metric Model and Class

The SLA Metric Model is a new system type behavior model that associates all elements of the SLA Metric Class to the SLA Metric Computed property page. This model cannot be edited.

Viewing the Properties of the SLA Metric Model

  1. Expand Enterprise > Administration > Metamodel > Behavior Models > System, right-click _SLA_Metric_Model, then select Properties > Model:

    The SLA Metric Class is a new system type class represented by the icon . All elements assigned to this class are assigned to the SLA Metric Model and have the SLA Metric Computed property page. This new class cannot be edited.

Viewing the Properties of the SLA Metric Class

Expand Enterprise > Administration > Metamodel > Classes > System, right-click _SLA_Metric_Class, then select Properties > Class.

3.2.2 Using the SLA Metric Computed Property Page

The SLA Metric Computed property page is a new system property page that is assigned to all elements in the SLA Metric Model.

Accessing the SLA Computed Property Page

To access the SLA Computed property page:

  1. In the Explorer pane, expand Enterprise > Administration > Metamodel > Property Pages > System, right-click _SLA_Metric_Computed, then select Properties to open the properties page.

  2. In the left pane, click Property Page.

    Property names for all properties on the SLA Metric Computed property page are reserved and must be unique. All these property names begin with “SLA_” If you create a different property with the same name as a property in the SLA metric catalog, Operations Center does not behave as expected.

    Properties cannot be added to this page, but they might be modified.

Adding a Property

  1. Click (Edit the Selected Property).

    When this page is assigned to an element, the values for each of these properties appear on the SLA Metric Catalog properties for an element. The SQL Monitor property shows the SQL Monitor option on the SLA Metric Catalog properties page of an element.

    For more information on property pages, see Viewing Element Properties the Operations Center User Guide.

3.2.3 Managing the SLA Metric Catalog Properties

The SLA Metric Catalog properties create an SQL statement that Operations Center uses to acquire custom properties for the element from an external data source and evaluate the properties to determine a key metric. The key metric can then be used to determine SLA compliance by defining a calculation objective for the element based on the SLA Metric Catalog properties.

Property pages are not inherited, so each element for which you want to set a calculation objective based on the SLA Metric Catalog properties must have the SLA Metric Catalog properties assigned to it.

Accessing the SLA Metric Catalog Properties

To access the SLA Metric Catalog properties for an element:

  1. Locate that element in the hierarchy in the Operations Center console, right-click it, then select Properties.

  2. In the left pane of the properties page, click SLA Metric Catalog.

    The SLA Metric Catalog properties are defined as follows by default:

    Property Field

    Definition

    Data Source

    The data source for calculating the metric.

    Select a value from the drop-down list, which includes all databases connections defined in Operations Center, such as all the Database Definitions listed under Administration in the hierarchy in the Operations Center console.

    This field is required.

    View

    The view or table for accessing the data for calculating the metric.

    This field is required.

    Metric Computation

    A text description of how the metric is calculated.

    This field is required.

    Metric Description

    A text description of what the metric is calculating.

    This field is required.

    Aggregate

    Computation rule for aggregating metric values for intervals larger than the objective interval, which is monthly.

    This field is required.

    Minimum Observations

    Number of values required before the metric can be calculated.

    For example:

    [property name COUNT] > 3
    

    Leave empty if no minimum is required.

    Include Where

    The columns and sets of values that must be met in order to include the data in the metric calculation.

    Leave empty if there are no inclusions.

    Exclude Where

    The columns and sets of values that must be met in order to exclude the data in the metric calculation.

    Leave empty if there are no exclusions.

    Customer Where

    The columns and sets of values that determine the relevant customer (for example, organization or business unit).

    Leave empty if there are no inclusions.

    Time Where

    The columns that should be used to select metric data for calculating results during a time period.

    For example, the calculation might be performed based on the time that a trouble ticket is closed or a transaction completes.

    Between is not supported.

    This field is required.

    Good Where

    The set of values that are considered good or successful.

    Bad Where

    The set of values that are considered bad or failures.

    Used to determine Root Cause failures.

    This field is required.

    Total Where

    All the values (good and bad) that are included in the metric calculation.

    Compute As

    Computational algorithm for the actual metric calculation.

    It can reference other properties on the page and combine those properties with standard SQL functions to perform a calculation.

    Use {property} with SQL computations, such as {Good COUNT}.

    This field is required.

    Expected Threshold

    Computational algorithm that defines the expected threshold that the computed results must meet or exceed or the metric is breached.

    Use {property} with SQL computations, such as {Good COUNT}.

    This field supports multiple values over time.

    Minimum Threshold

    Minimum acceptable value for this metric.

    If not met, the objective fails.

    This field supports multiple values over time.

    This field is required.

    Root Cause

    Root cause detailed list of failures for this metric.

    Specify column values to include.

    This field is required.

    For fields that support multiple values over time (such as Expected Threshold and Minimum Threshold), the field displayed in the SLA Metric Catalog properties is the current value of that property.

  3. To set additional values, click to the right of the property field to open a dialog box.

  4. To define a new interval value and specify in which objective interval the new value is applicable, click (New).

    For example, specify one threshold to apply for the first objective interval or month and a second threshold to apply after the first interval completes. When defining a new interval value, enter either a number to indicate the month or an actual date in the format of mm/dd/yyyy. The system calendar is referenced to determine the start of the interval.

  5. After defining SLA Metric Catalog properties, review the SQL code that Operations Center created to determine if there are any errors.

    Also view the results that Operations Center receives from the SQL query.

Viewing the SQL Statement and Results

To view the SQL statement and results, click Show SQL.

The Show SQL button is available by default and is specified as the SQL Monitor property on the SLA Metric Computed property page.

The SQL tab of the SQL Console dialog box shows the SQL statement. Any errors in the statement appear in red. The amount of time the query took is also stated.

Executing the SQL Statement

  1. To execute the SQL statement, select one of the following for the time frame:

    • Today

    • Yesterday

    • This Week

    • Last Week

    • This Month

    • 3 Months (includes the current month)

    • 6 Months (includes the current month)

    • Custom, then select a start date and end date

  2. On the Rows tab, specify the number of rows to be displayed.

    The default is 100. The rows display the good, bad, and total values returned from the query.

    The display of all numeric data is precise to 8 digits to the right of the decimal place. However, the calculation is precise down to the full data precision. Therefore, sometimes the results might not look correct because the display shows numbers that have been rounded.