Number of questions: 64
Number of questions to pass: 45
Time allowed: 90 mins
Status: Live
This exam consists of 4 sections described below.
Section 1: Current Architecture and Environment
Given primary and secondary customer points of contact and internal points
of contact, create contact list document so that a list of contacts is
available.
Given the contact information for project management personnel, arrange a
discussion with project management personnel so that the identities and contact
information of the stakeholders are identified and documented.
Given access to the customer stakeholder and the operational owner of current
network management tools, determine products currently in use so that a list of
network management products that the customer is using is available.
Given organization charts and the group responsibilities, schedule meetings with
management and document the groups who input/output information from the current
network and service assurance solutions so that the groups impacted by potential
changes to the current methodologies are documented.
Given data collected from historical reports, current monitoring processes and
customer input create analyze the types, patterns and methods of events so that
a document outlining customer events is available.
Given the technical customer point of contact, review network technologies and
protocols the customer currently uses so that documents describing
topology/protocols identifying elements, connections and usage is available.
Given a list of all locations as well as a description of connectivity between
locations, document the customer's current geography so that a document of the
customer's current geography is available.
Given the contact information for stakeholders, arrange a meeting to identify
the needs of the stakeholders so that a document of understanding is available.
Given access to the customer financial and managerial stakeholders, determine
roles and responsibilities within the organization so that a description of the
organizational arrangement of the technical stakeholders in the project is
available as well as a list of contact for these technical stakeholders: system
administrators, network administrators, tools administrators, and end users.
Given the customer's current network and service assurance processes and tools,
list the current software packages, support software, monitoring, and problem
tracking tools so that an AS-IS document of the current solution is created.
Given customer vendor information and vendor input, create a document so that a
complete list of network equipment vendors is available.
Given customer technical point of contact, IBM project manager, vendor
documentation, current customer tools documentation, determine the current tool
adoption and user satisfaction so that survey results with customer's current
tool adoption and user satisfaction are available.
Given adequate access to relevant documentation and personnel, review existing
workflow so that a document outlining sequence of operations is produced.
Given the scope of support as well as the operational support personnel contact
information, responsibilities, knowledge, and availability of the current
operational support personnel identify strengths and weaknesses of the current
operational support and promote business partner value add where needed so that
a document of comprehensive contact list of operational support personnel
including emergency and off hours contacts, Scope of support documented,
Personnel knowledge and responsibilities is available.
Given access to the customer stakeholder and systems/security administrator,
identify the user access security concerns so that a description of the current
user authentication methods and secure connection techniques is available. Also,
gauge customer interest in changing their user authentication methods and secure
connection techniques.
Given the wide possible security requirements for a solution, gather the
customer current security measures and exceptions and future security plans to
develop a security requirements document specific to the software being
considered.
Given access to the customer technical contact and knowledge of the
administrative ownership of the customer's network, determine the administrative
boundaries within the customer's network so that a document that lists the
network resources that the customer has administrative control over is
available.
Given the customer technical point of contact, IBM project manager, and vendor
documentation determine what method are systems are being monitored by (i.e.
SNMP, Juniper, sys logs, Cisco, databases) so that a report with customer's
current and future monitoring needs is available.
Given information on operations output and external users, analyze data
collected so that information can be correctly delivered to appropriate end
users.
Given the contact information of project management and IT personnel as well as
any available topology documents, meet with project management to identify any
areas of existing or potential latency and its cause so that a report
identifying areas of existing or potential latency and its cause.
Given access to the customer stakeholder and the operational owner of current
network management tools, determine the customer's historical requirements for
data archiving and housekeeping so that a description of how to archive the data
artifacts that are produced by the network management products is available.
Given the groups that receive reports from Operation Support System (OSS), list
and prioritize the current and potentially new reports in order to document the
reporting requirements for the customer.
Given the customer technical points of contact and change management methods for
network alterations, determine how many changes have occurred in the physical
network hardware and their associated configurations so that the number, types,
and accuracy of changes can be documented.
Given the customer technical point of contact, IBM project manager, vendor
documentation, and current customer tools documentation determine the end-user
connectivity so that a report with the customer's available end-user
connectivity variables is available.
Given detailed information on network assets, classify network elements so that
network management can be extended to the environment.
Given the contact information of project management and IT personnel as well as
any available topology documents, meet with project management and IT personnel
identify all hardware currently available so that a report identifying all
hardware currently available including notation on which hardware elements meet
requirements and which do not.
Given the proposed IBM products, the size of customer network, and a complete
description of network resources that will be monitored/managed, determine
system resources required and the specifications of those resources so that a
list of resource recommendations is available.
Given the customer's approved/preferred operating systems, hardware and hosting
plans, list all software needed for proposed solutions and create a statement
defining which items are out of scope for IBM support.
Given the contact information for project management and topology documentation,
determine the number of network resources available so a document detailing the
size of the customer's network can be written.
Section 2: Business Drivers
Given customer technical management point of contact, IBM project manager,
vendor documentation, current customer tools documentation clearly describe the
customer's business and how the processes can be improved with IBM products so
that a report with customer's business processes before and after being improved
by IBM products is available.
Given access to stakeholders, undertake extensive interviews so that a clear
outline of the customer expectation is captured.
Given the contact information for project management and the stakeholders,
document of business problem(s) and recommended solution(s), availability of
hardware, number of seats required, list of required licenses and their costs,
identify the licensing needs to implement the recommended solution(s) so that a
document identifying number of licenses required is available.
Given the list of proposed IBM products, a completed sizing activity, an effort
estimate, a list of implementation Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), and a list of
customer constraints, determine the timeline for implementation so that
implementation start and end dates are available.
Given the size and activity of network to be managed, list the customer success
criteria and the proposed management software, create use cases that stress the
solution, and determine the impacts of scenarios on important functions so that
there is a key understanding of the metrics that impact solution performance and
service level agreements.
Given customers Service Level Agreement (SLA), internal quality metrics,
documented current performance, anticipated performance and SLA's Identify
quality metrics so that a document containing current and future SLA's and
current performance parameters is available.
Given customer management point of contact, IBM project manager, IBM and
customer legal approval clearly define the regulatory needs that may impact any
IBM network management project so that a report with regulatory needs and
potential project issues is available.
Given information or access to what is currently being monitored, review
monitoring targets, methods and dependencies so that relevant information is
captured.
Given the contact information for project management and stakeholders as well as
a list of Netcool applications used in the monitoring environment, Determine
monitoring of Tivoli/Netcool environment so that a self monitoring solution can
be developed.
Given IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus (Netcool/OMNIbus ) core and peripheral
capabilities, knowledge of event lifecycles and Netcool/OMNIbus product
integrations, articulate Netcool/OMNIbus capabilities to a customer so that
OMNIbus capabilities have been described.
Given Tivoli Netcool Configuration Manager, network device management and
compliance capabilities, articulate to a customer the details of it capabilities
so that customer understands what the software is capable of and the value it
adds to a network and service assurance solution.
Given Tivoli Netcool Performance Manager for Wireline documentation, enablement
assets, and self-study guides, understand the Tivoli Netcool Performance Manager
product so that it can be explained to the customer.
Given access to product documentation, product management/ business partners
point of contacts and formal enablement sessions, describe the Tivoli Netcool
Performance Manager for Wireline product to a technical audience so that Tivoli
Netcool Performance Manager for Wireline capabilities are described.
Given IBM Tivoli Network Manager (ITNM) for IP Edition documentation, enablement
assets, and self-study, understand the ITNM product so that it can be
communicated to the customer.
Given current suppliers of cloud hardware and service solutions, describe how
network and service assurance solutions can be hosted on cloud technology and
its ROI so that a cloud utilization strategy is documented.
Given access to project management and stakeholders and labor costs, determine
payback criteria so that a document demonstrating return on investment is
available.
Given customer technical management point of contact, IBM project manager,
vendor documentation, current customer tools documentation de4termine growth
opportunities so that a report with the customer's process improvement points
supported by IBM products is available.
Section 3: Architecting the Solution
Given information on the users expected to work with the solution, determine the
number of users so that the solution can be designed appropriately.
Given the contact information for project management, document of available
hardware, document of business problem(s) and suggested solutions, determine
what products will deployed and to what hardware so that the personnel that will
be involved in the deployment and their availability, the amount of downtime
that will be required, and the impact of downtime is understood.
Given access to the customer technical stakeholder and available
hardware/software, evaluate hardware and failover/redundancy requirements so
that a decision can be made whether to use a virtualized environment.
Given the goals of the implementation and impacts of downtime, document and
estimate the costs associated with application down time in order to document
the disaster recovery requirements.
Given the customers current and desired backup procedures, data retention
policies, available and projected equipment allocations and cost of data loss
create a multi-solution proposal so that customer's data backup concerns are
addressed.
Given customer technical point of contact, IBM project manager, vendor
documentation, current customer tools documentation Determine which variables
may impact on the software integration project so that a report with the
customer's current and future integration variables is available.
Given the need to design a robust solution, review customer redundancy policy,
understand high availability features within the Tivoli products so that a fully
redundant solution is developed.
Given the contact information for project management as well as documents of
available hardware, identified network latency issues, business problem(s) and
suggested solutions, number of operators, and load of monitoring environment,
identify the architecture that best meets the needs of the customer and best
utilizes available resources so that a document of architecture is available
Given access to the customer technical stakeholder, the list of proposed IBM
products, and the list of customer requirements, compare the proposed products
to the customer requirements so that you can compile a list of any non-network
and service assurance products to include in the solution.
Given an understanding of the key performance drivers for network and service
assurance software, determine the planned high/medium/low utilization by the
customer in order to document the maximum performance use cases that can be
expected from the solution
Given the contact information for project management and IBM documentation for
fix pack strategies and recommendations, Discuss planning for fix packs and
upgrades so the customer understands the benefits of keeping the business
solution up to date.
Given Customer technical point of contact, IBM project manager, vendor
documentation, solution architects develop a solution design document so that a
solution design document is available.
Section 4: Apply Solution
Given the opportunity to demonstrate the solution, define and design a working
solution so that the customer understands the solution's value.
Given the contact information for project management, stakeholders, and key
operators as well as access to sufficient resources, perform a successful
demonstration showing how recommended solution resolves the business problem(s)
while also proposing a dev environment for future use.
Given the user requirements for each product in the proposed solution, determine
the features, views, reports, and tools to make available to the users based on
their user roles so that a document that describes the best process to use the
product is available.
Given the selected network and service assurance software, implementation plan,
end-user roles, and success criteria, determine the groups and the method of
training these organizations need in order to document a training plan and its
requirements
Given NOC users (end users), technical leads, management (stakeholders), point
of contact, development environment, Document and analyze user acceptance so
that an opinion survey of end users rating the qualitative (it's easier to do
because__) and quantitative (I can get it done faster with__)
benefits/detractors associated with proposed product(s) implementation is
available.
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format of the questions that will be on the certification exam. Performance on
the sample test is NOT an indicator of performance on the certification exam.
This should not be considered an assessment too
Sample Test for Test C9560-576
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This exam has an Assessment Exam option: A9560-576 Assessment: Fundamentals of
Applying Tivoli Network and Service Assurance Solutions V1
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Product Documentation
IBM Network and Service Assurance
IBM Network and Service Assurance Products - Achieve greater efficiency in asset
management by managing all your asset types on a single platform
Network and Service Assurance Solution
In today's smart world, applications and services rule. Need to reset your
password? Don't call tech support. Log on and do it yourself. Is a building
across town running hot? Check the air conditioning remotely–before you send a
service crew.
But who rules the applications? Who is the power behind the throne?
Somewhere, somebody's network is running those applications. And behind the
network lies network management software.
The questions for the modern network administrator, then, become not only how to
use the network to advance business but also whether the network can deliver the
applications users expect. And whether the network management team has the
insight and control they need to make network applications dependable and
valuable.
The challenge now lies in how well organisations can integrate these network
systems, how well they can manage the entire network life cycle, and how well
they can use network management software to support services that create
marketplace innovation and advantages.
You've heard the buzzwords – Cloud (US), Triple Play (VoIP, IPTV) (US), MPLS,
MetroEthernet, 4G (LTE & WIMAX). They're as pervasive as networking itself. Each
brings a different element to the networking experience, and each plays a role
in making the world a smarter planet.
Highly scalable and rapidly deployable, Tivoli Netcool network management
software delivers end-to-end integrated network management, problem isolation,
automation and analytics to help Communication Service Providers (CSPs),
Enterprise Customers, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and SMBs improve
flexibility and adaptability of business models, respond to new technologies,
reduce operating expenditures and increase customer satisfaction.
Overview
PartnerWorld Code: 24014301
Replaces PW Code: Not Applicable
Status: Live
An IBM Certified Solution Advisor - Tivoli Network and Service Assurance
Solutions V1 determines business critical issues within a customer environment
and identifies the appropriate IBM Tivoli Network and Service Assurance
Solution. This person is able to perform hardware and software solutions
analysis and recommend high-level IBM Tivoli design scenarios and the basics of
implementation. The role and responsibilities also include architecting,
documenting, and presenting a solution that fits the business needs and
integrates with existing systems.
Key Areas of Competency:
Map customer business requirements to IBM Tivoli Network and Service
Assurance solutions.
Assess customer's current processes relating to the IBM Tivoli Network and
Service Assurance solution.
Assess the environment for IBM Tivoli Network and Service Assurance
opportunities.
Estimate the size of the customer's network.
Align IBM products, specifically Tivoli and cross-brand products, and
third-party products to IBM Tivoli Network and Service Assurance opportunities.
Assess requirements and document a high-level solution design overview
recommendation.
Describe business/technical advantages of IBM Tivoli Network and Service
Assurance solutions.
Apply IBM Tivoli Network and Service Assurance concepts to the solution design.
Recommend education opportunities to customer, based on the IBM Tivoli Network
and Service Assurance solution.
Understand hardware and software solution analysis.
Recommended Prerequisite Skills
Required Prerequisite Skills:
Skill Level 3 - Substantial experience with functionality or concepts, can teach
others how to use functionality or explain concepts.
Knowledge of Network and Service Assurance tasks (for example, monitoring Web
services or database services and how they integrate; monitoring middleware;
network performance and configuration, tuning, etc.).
Capability to assess and analyze customer's Network and Service Assurance
expertise.
Capability to design a solution.
Skill Level 2 - Working knowledge of functionality and concepts, can use
product or explain concepts with little or no assistance.
Knowledge of Network and Service Assurance aspects of key IBM products (WebSphere,
InfoSphere, etc.).
Knowledge of IBM Network and Service Assurance education and product
certification.
Knowledge with IBM Software Management Library Web site and its Network and
Service Assurance offerings.
Knowledge of IT process framework and practices (for example, ITIL).
Knowledge of IBM hardware.
Knowledge of common network services (DNS, DHCP, SNMP)
Knowledge of IBM Tiivoli Network and Service Assurance solution portfolio.
Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus
Tivoli Netcool Configuration Manager
Tivoli Netcool Performance Manager
Tivoli Netcool Performance Manager for Wireless
Tivoli Network Manager for IP Edition
Ability to analyze customer's IT processes (Entity Relation diagrams, System
Development Life Cycle, architecture diagrams)
Skill Level 1 - Familiarity with basic functionality and concepts, may need
to rely on assistance from documentation or other resources.
Knowledge of non-Network and Service Assurance products that will integrate
with the solution:
Impact
TBSM
ITCAM
ITM
Knowledge of networking environments, operating systems, relational databases,
application environments (Java, .NET, etc.), key vendor environments.
Knowledge of Network and Service Assurance standards (government and civil),
regulations, and certifications such as eTOM and ITIL.
Knowledge of non-IBM Network and Service Assurance products.
Knowledge of network and IP domain.
Knowledge of network operating system such as Cisco IOS.
