Drag And Drop To Info On Network PerformanceDrag And Drop To Info On Network Performance

An upgrade of Advanced Systems Concepts Inc.'s ActiveBatch performance-management software, set to ship this week, will let network managers give database and other administrators, and even users, direct access to information about network activity, so they can check on a job's status or use their familiarity with business operations to help solve system glitches.

The software's object-oriented code, which makes it easy for users to drag and drop their way to the desired information, gives Dennis Bell, director of technical operations at electronics company Cypress Semiconductor Corp., greater comfort in turning over tasks to these users. With version 4, when supply-chain problems occur, for example, "we can detect a data problem, zero in on it, [show] it to the people who know the data, so they can fix it," he says.

The software offers other advantages for Cypress, Bell says, including cross-platform support for Microsoft Windows, Sun Solaris, HP-UX, IBM AIX, and Linux. And Bell says that at $995 per seat, it's much cheaper than competing products. Operators will be able to work across a broader range of databases, too, so users can monitor the performance of multiple databases at one time.