Synthetic Monitoring for a major utility’s SAP Platform
Case Study
About Our Client
Overview
Our client is a prominent Australian water utility widely recognised for its scale and efficiency in managing water resources. To maintain their high standards of service, their SAP system plays a pivotal role in customer billing, infrastructure planning, and maintenance – requiring robust monitoring.
The Challenge – overcoming complexity in the IT environment
Our client faced increased challenges with their SAP platform. The utility needed to monitor their SAP platform’s availability and performance, including customer-facing components. Complicating matters, they were amidst an IT services audit that restricted the deployment of new commercial tools like Powerconnect and ITSI. This constraint demanded an interim solution that could provide comprehensive visibility into the SAP platform without violating audit restrictions.
Services:
- End User Experience
- Application Performance Monitoring
- Business Intelligence
Sector
Utilities
”Avocado’s creative approach delivered cost-effective, efficient monitoring, exemplifying the power of tailored solutions and strategic partnerships in overcoming complex challenges.
A tailored approach was devised using Selenium, an open-source tool, for synthetic monitoring. This solution simulated user interactions with the SAP platform, accurately measuring system performance without costly integrations. Selenium was seamlessly integrated with the utility’s existing Splunk platform. Avocado collaborated closely with the utility’s internal SAP developers to design precise synthetic transactions and click paths, ensuring accurate mapping of user interactions to critical back-end systems. Real-time dashboards were configured within Splunk, offering detailed insights into each transaction, complemented by historical reports and alerts for comprehensive monitoring.
The Approach
Avocado’s approach involved:
– Employing Selenium’s synthetic monitoring capabilities to emulate user interactions with the SAP platform.
– Collaborating closely with the utility’s internal SAP developers to map user interactions accurately.
– Integrating Selenium with Splunk for real-time dashboards, reporting, and alerting functionalities.
– Implementing historic reports and alerts for a robust monitoring solution.
The Outcome – Realtime visibility
Avocado successfully deployed a synthetic monitoring solution using Selenium and Splunk, gaining real-time visibility into the SAP system’s performance. The tailored Splunk dashboards and alerts, powered by the Selenium solution, were utilised by SAP developers, support teams, and managers to ensure the SAP platform’s uninterrupted availability and optimal performance.
Despite the challenges posed by audit restrictions and commercial constraints, the utility now enjoys a cost-effective, efficient monitoring solution, guaranteeing seamless operation of critical SAP platform functions.
Key outcomes include:
– Achieved real-time visibility into SAP platform performance.
– Utilisation of Splunk dashboards and alerts by internal teams.
– Compliance with audit restrictions and commercial constraints while delivering an effective monitoring solution.
