ERP Monitoring to Deliver High Availability SAP Services

AGA Linde Gas, part of The Linde Group, is the world-leading manufacturer and distributor of gas with more than 49 000 employees and covering 70 countries worldwide. Their key business application is SAP and as such, the need for high availability and service control is eminent for their global business.

“When we were reorganized from the earlier IT organization to our new IS organization the focus and demand from the company shifted.

Industry:
Industrial gas
The challenge:
AGA Linde Gas, part of The Linde Group, is the world-leading manufacturer and distributor of of gas with more than 49 000 employees and covering 70 countries worldwide. Their key business application is SAP and as such the need for high availability and service control is eminent for their global business.
The solution:
A four level monitoring approach using op5 Monitor SAP solution. It is based on a specific plugin that generates a full series of tests covering the database, hardware and OS, DBMCLI control and important processes.
The result:
“The op5 Monitor with the SAP plugin has enabled us to create a fully functional 24×7 SAP service on call duty, assuring direct support and incident handling and reporting for all our users. This is a key function when evolving from an IT centric to a IS centric function”
Having great control on vertical technologies is good but having the same control on our IS services is a must”,
says Vesa Kuparinen –Head of systems engineering and service delivery, Aga Northern region.

The Linde Group started using op5 Monitor in Germany two years ago focusing on availability and fault management for their global wide area network. This system is today actively managing more than six hundred sites and growing across the world.

When the time came to implement active service monitoring on all their systems in order to fully support the internal and external SLA’s they evaluated four solutions including the existing IBM Tivoli solution installed at the time. The decision was made to go with op5 Monitoring for direct SAP monitoring.

SAP monitoring

The key business application for AGA Linde is their ERP SAP system. The SAP system runs on an IBM AIX platform using an Oracle database. The system currently supports two thousand users in four different countries.

Before op5 Monitor was installed AGA Linde performed direct and manual monitoring via the standard console screens available in SAP. This work was very time consuming, 100% reactive, resource dependent and hence not scalable.

Four level approach

The op5 Monitor SAP solution focus on a four level monitoring approach. The overall objective is to secure high availability through automatic direct problem analysis and alarms. The solution is based upon a specific plugin installed in the SAP system. This plugin generates a full series of test covering four levels:

1. The database: Tablespace usage, buffer cache checking, executing PL/SQL checking scripts, read and write check etc.
2. DBMCLI control: Check log data fill, Control of auto-save status, back progress and history. This control also includes automatic monitoring of all infoSTATE data with configurable alarm levels.
3. Important processes: The plugin allows the user to specify any number of processes in the SAP application and verify that they are in operation. Obviously the exact processes can vary depending on the individual system.
4. Hardware and OS: control of system hardware such as disc, CPU, RAM etc.

One view monitoring

The solution enables AGA Linde Gas to generate an initial helicopter view of their complete SAP system down to its to detailed functionality by clicking directly in the web-based application. A small problem such as a buffer overload or a slow data base query is automatically detected and the support personnel are instantly notified so that it can be resolved before a larger problem develops.

“The op5 Monitor with the SAP plugin has enabled us to create a fully functional 24×7 SAP on-call service, assuring direct support and incident handling and reporting for all our users. This is a key function when evolving from an IT- centric to an IS-centric function”, continued Vesa Kuparinen.

The Future

The work of moving forward has already begun, with all AGA’s adding nearly three hundred additional servers into the op5 Monitor system. It is a big mix of hardware, operating systems and applications that will be monitored and SLA reported through the system. Most of the systems are based on the industry standard such as Microsoft applications, etc. But it also includes custom-made applications such as AGA Liquid Control System, a specific application controlling the levels of gas in the distribution.

“The ease of use, flexibility and access to source code are the key reasons to why we like op5 Monitor. Our IT systems are many and our demands changes faster today than just a few years ago. The ability to add new functionality or modify existing without access to proprietary and many times very expensive consultancy is a key success factor for our future IS services”
said Vesa Kuparinen.

About The Linde-group

The Linde Group is a leading global supplier of industrial- and specialty gases and is one of the most profitable manufacturing companies. Linde products and services can be found in almost all industries, in over 100 countries. It is a success story that began with the separation of air. AGA Linde is the leading gas company in northern Europe and a member of the Linde Group.