Method for supporting on-demand performance

A method for reacting to a change request to avoid negative performance effects in a shared computing system, the process comprising the steps of:

• determining if the change request impacts the shared computing system;
• responsive to determining that the change request impacts the shared computing system, obtaining change approval status, and minimizing the impact of the change request;
• and
• responsive to determining that the change request does not impact the shared computing system,
• approving the change request, and
• updating and documenting any change report that includes the change request.

A method for reacting to an alert in a shared computing system, the process comprising the steps of:

• determining if the alert is a performance alert;
• responsive to determining the alert is not a performance alert,
• identifying a service group that should receive the alert, and
• routing the alert to the service group;
• responsive to determining that the alert is a performance alert, determining if the performance alert is valid;
• responsive to determining the performance alert is invalid, documenting an alert change that corrects the invalid performance alert;
• and
• responsive to determining the performance alert is valid,
• determining if additional data is required to evaluate the performance alert,
• responsive to determining that additional data is required to evaluate the performance alert, generating an ad hoc report containing the additional data,
• identifying a component of the shared computing system that caused the performance alert,
• identifying a variable in the component that caused the performance alert,
• modifying the variable to resolve the performance alert,
• monitoring the component to ensure the performance alert is resolved, and
• documenting the modification to the variable.

A process for managing the performance of resources in a shared computing system to meet requirements of a contract governing a service level agreement, the process comprising the steps of:

• reviewing the contract, the service level agreement, and a technology strategy;
• identifying a performance parameter to be monitored for ensuring that the service level agreement is satisfied;
• establishing a performance baseline for the performance parameter;
• defining a performance threshold, based on the performance parameter and the performance baseline, for alerting a Performance Analyst when a performance parameter crosses the performance threshold;
• gaining approval for the performance threshold from an account team to ensure the service level agreement satisfies the requirements of the contract;
• defining a performance alert and a response to the performance alert;
• incorporating the defined performance alert, the performance threshold, and the response into the service level agreement;
• and
• monitoring the system performance to ensure the requirements of the service level agreement are satisfied.

A method for managing the performance of a shared computing system, the method comprising:

• a step for evaluating and monitoring performance data and predicting performance problems;
• a step for reviewing a planned event and preventing performance problems;
• a step for reacting to a performance alert;
• and
• a step for establishing performance measurements, thresholds, and alerts so that the requirements of a service level agreement are satisfied.