1.2 Major Features

The major features of the IMS Analyzer can be grouped into
four categories:

o Report facilities

o Use of IMS data

o General product flexibility

o Integration capabilities


Report Facilities

The IMS Analyzer provides the following reports:

o  Management Reports are run on a daily, weekly, and/or
   monthly basis as part of the standard CA MICS processing.
   These reports summarize the activities of the IS
   organization and can help you track IMS service and
   performance, monitor the operations configuration, and
   plan for future resource requirements.

o  Standard Analysis Reports provide concise information in
   the form of graphs, tables, charts or plots.  Typically,
   they are run on an as-needed basis and provide information
   that you can use to explore performance problems, analyze
   workloads, or examine resource consumption issues.

o  Exception Analyzer Reports allow you to define, capture,
   and report on conditions that deviate from the expected
   norm.

o  Ad Hoc Reporting Facilities allow you to access
   information in the CA MICS database either interactively
   or in batch via the CA MICS Information Center Facility
   (MICF), a panel-oriented productivity tool.  The CA MICS
   Workstation Facility (MWF) allows those familiar with the
   advanced analysis language provided as part of the SAS
   program product to use SAS directly either interactively
   or in batch mode.


Use of IMS Data

Another feature of the IMS Analyzer is its comprehensive
handling of IMS data.

o  It accepts input from the IMS log, and processes both IMS
   and BMC MAINVIEW for IMS Online data.

o  It consolidates data from multiple IMS systems into the
   CA MICS database and then provides a common access method
   for reporting on IMS activity.

o  It collects event data to build an incident file, which
   allows you to examine exceptions.

o  It uses checkpoint and statistical records to present a
   systems view of IMS performance.

o  It interprets encoded values in the IMS input data so that
   information is immediately usable in a logical form
   without further conversion or translation.

o  It enables each organization to set its own account codes
   to link individual IMS activities with the responsible
   cost center or organizational unit.  This account code
   structure lets you produce IMS activity reports by user
   area (e.g., engineering, payroll, manufacturing, etc.), or
   by any other applicable section or category.

o  It allows you to invoke IMS data collection through the
   IMS Archive Exit, as a stand alone job, or as a separate
   step within the daily CA MICS processing.


General Product Flexibility

Flexibility features of the IMS Analyzer include:

o  Usage guidelines for applying IMS management information

o  A wide range of standard exits that allow you to tailor
   the product to your needs

o  A data dictionary that describes the information found
   in the IMS Information Area of the CA MICS database and
   how that information was derived

o  Flexibility in defining criteria for exception reporting
   on response time


Integration Capabilities

The IMS Analyzer integrates IMS data into the CA MICS Data
Base, thus providing integration with a number of other
CA MICS Management Support Applications:

o  CA MICS Accounting and Chargeback - The IMS Analyzer
   provides data to CA MICS Accounting and Chargeback that
   supports accounting for consumed resources in terms of
   such resource utilization measures as CPU time, database
   accesses, and terminal messages.

o  CA MICS Capacity Planner - The IMS Analyzer maintains a
   database of both detailed and summarized information
   about IMS usage and performance.  The CA MICS Capacity
   Planner can use that data for historical growth/trend
   projections at the system, transaction, application, or
   organizational structure levels.