PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER...

Abstract

While there are many vendors which supply quality capacity and performance planning products, few vendors provide the necessary information to implement the technology in an effective way. To address this, the author describes an implementation approach from his personal experience, including unsuccessful as well as successful tactics. The focus of the paper is a two year capacity and performance planning document, which describes the format, nature, developmental steps, and intent of the information provided to management. Further information is provided on how the base data of the document is used for monthly management reporting, and as a reference throughout the useful life of the document. Emphasis is placed upon the need to track and report actual as well as forecasted data in order to maintain credibility, isolate areas which require refined approaches, and answer key management questions. Additional information is provided on anomalies which appear to occur when host computing resources are upgraded.