Application Performance Management (APM)

APM involves profiling and analysis of software applications to identify how they work and how well or otherwise they are performing in terms of successful and timely execution of user or batch transactions.

Initial application profiling involves information capture via network and/or server traces and analysis of these data to identify the discrete transactions occurring within a particular application.

Detailed analysis of transaction execution flows and delivery paths allows any inefficiencies and bottlenecks within software or supporting infrastructures to be identified and mitigated through software redesign and/or tuning and optimization of server and network hardware, databases, webservers and so on. Capacity management for applications can be facilitated by APM tools which allow “what if” projections and analyses to be performed to forecast how performance will be impacted as user and transaction volumes vary.

Enterprise Systems Management (ESM)

ESM comprises a range of disciplines involved in management and control of IT systems. Most important are server, network and application monitoring which allow a smaller number of people to support more systems than would otherwise be possible and rapidly identify faults so that these can be resolved quickly with minimal business impact.

I have extensive ESM skills and experience developed in major multinational organisations with some of the biggest and most complex infrastructures around. I am an expert in the implementation and customization of ESM software and appliances and their integration into comprehensive end-to-end monitoring solutions for infrastructure, applications and IT services.

I also have access to some of the top ESM people in the UK and around the world, a comprehensive understanding of the products available in the marketplace and excellent relationships and contacts with vendors and other solution providers in this specialist field.

Above all I ensure that ESM solutions deliver true business benefit by doing what is needed of them, namely to deliver accurate, timely and targeted information to the right people so that prompt action can be taken to avoid or minimize business impact. Get in touch to find out how I can help you implement the best possible ESM solution for your business.

I.T. Project Management

Effective management of IT projects helps ensure successful completion and delivery on time, on specification and on budget. Even relatively small IT projects benefit from “light touch” project management to ensure that objectives, requirements and budgets are set and managed so that the delivered solution actually does what is needed and delivers maximum business benefit.

For larger projects I am PRINCE II qualified and can apply a more structured and rigorous approach to project governance, financial and supplier management as well as ensure that appropriate quality assurance and testing activities are carried out.

I have extensive experience of IT supplier management for both projects and business as usual activities. I can run requests for information (RFI) invitations to tender (ITT/RFP) and assist with negotiations around pricing, product licensing and contracts.