Partner Corner: TeamQuest Corporation
By Edsar Calaguas, TeamQuest Director of Global Business Development

There’s not a data center on the planet that doesn’t need all the help it can get when it comes to managing limited resources and ensuring the best possible performance – while maximizing ROI. So, chances are very good that if you’re an OS 2200 shop, you’re using tools like Baseline, SIMAN, OSAM, PAR, MSAR, and LA. And if your favorite mainframe runs the ClearPath MCP operating system, it’s a good bet you rely on such tools as SMFII and Online.

Meet TeamQuest – The IT Service Optimization Company

Here’s something you may not know – all of these tools come from TeamQuest. Founded 19 years ago, TeamQuest lays claim to a much longer history, having once been a part of Unisys. Based in Clear Lake, Iowa, the company is a global leader in IT Service Optimization (ITSO) and dedicated to helping IT organizations consistently meet service levels while minimizing infrastructure costs and mitigating risks. TeamQuest specializes in capacity-planning techniques, including analytic modeling, simulation modeling, and trending. And, historically, many of our products came to you directly from Unisys as a part of the IOE (standard system software bundle). But starting in 2009, TeamQuest products became separately licensed – so we thought it was time you learned more about us.

“TeamQuest Baseline has made my job much easier. I can access the information I need on a continual, real-time basis without having to dig through system logs. I can react to events as they happen and not after the fact. In addition, it allows me to produce history reports that make detecting and following system trends a very easily accomplished task. I have been incredibly pleased with TeamQuest Baseline and do not feel I could do my job adequately without it.”

– Kathy Tenges, Lead Operating Systems Analyst, EMC Insurance Companies

In Step with Unisys

TeamQuest solutions are ready from “day one” to support new hardware platforms, new features, and new levels of the OS. And, Unisys Engineering uses a variety of tools to help ensure its new and updated products continue to meet performance expectations, including TeamQuest products.

Here’s just one example of how TeamQuest products have stayed in step with advances in ClearPath technology. The introduction of Pay-for-Use business models and metering technology for ClearPath mainframes caused a paradigm shift in how customers purchase processing power. But, the flexibility of being able to dial-up processing power when and where needed doesn’t eliminate the need for sound capacity measurement and projection processes. In fact, measurement and projection become more important than ever. You must estimate the MIPS you’ll need over the life of the contract – and track/analyze usage over time to ensure you are staying within your overall budget. This is where our tools can help.

For example, TeamQuest Baseline or TeamQuest SMFII allows you to graphically monitor and track your MIPS usage in real time down to a granularity of one minute or less. Then you can use this historical data to easily and accurately trend MIPS usage out into the future. Determining whether you are on target or over budget for your monthly MIPS usage is also simple, as these same products can be used to perform correlation analysis between performance statistics to identify “cause and effect” relationships. What’s more, thresholds can be defined on performance data and alarms sent when predetermined limits are exceeded and SLAs aren’t met.

100% Committed to ClearPath – and ClearPath Customers

TeamQuest is fully committed to ClearPath mainframes – with more than 23 products that not only keep pace with Unisys software releases, but are routinely enhanced to provide new capabilities. What's more, we provide capacity and performance management tools for a range of platforms and operating environments, including Microsoft® Windows®, Sun™ Solaris™, Linux®, AIX, VMware®, and many others. Visit the TeamQuest web site for more information on OS 2200, MCP, and other open systems products.

Finally, our support for the Unisys mainframe community goes beyond simply being a vendor – with many senior TeamQuest staff participating in UNITE, including chairing working groups and delivering presentations at the annual Technology Conference. Stop by our booth or attend a performance or capacity management presentation when you come to UNITE 2010, which runs May 23-26, 2010, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel.

To learn more about TeamQuest, visit our web site: www.teamquest.com. And should you have questions or need additional information, please email us at info@teamquest.com.