Q:
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What is IT Analytics and why is it included in Symantec Products?
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A:
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IT Analytics complements and expands upon the reporting and analytics offered by Symantec products. The capabilities provided within IT Analytics allow customers to extract maximum value from the data contained within their Symantec solutions. By implementing IT Analytics, customers attain the following benefits:
- Unified view of data from multiple Symantec CMDB databases
- Powerful on-the-fly forensic analysis through ad-hoc reports and charts, with pivot tables
- Out-of-the-box visually informative KPI scorecards, dashboards, and reports
- Replace time-consuming & complex custom reporting
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Which Symantec products is IT Analytics included with?
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IT Analytics Content Packs are currently available for the following Symantec solutions:
- Data Loss Prevention
- Symantec Endpoint Protection
- Altiris IT Management Suite
- Critical System Protection
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Is IT Analytics included in my Symantec purchase of DLP, CSP, SEP or ITMS?
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Yes, when any of these products are purchased from Symantec, the IT Analytics licenses are included. |
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I’m new to IT Analytics. Are there resources available that will help me get training on IT Analytics? |
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Yes, there are many resources available which include Connect articles and videos, as well as the user guide. |
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How do I know if I have an IT Analytics license and where can I download it?
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IT Analytics is included in DLP, ITMS, CSP and SEP. When these products are purchased from Symantec, the customer has the necessary license to install IT Analytics. |
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Should IT Analytics be implemented with every installation of Symantec’s DLP, CSP, SEP or ITMS Solutions? |
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Absolutely. With IT Analytics now included in every purchase of Symantec’s DLP, CSP, SEP and ITMS solutions, and minimal effort required to implement the product, IT Analytics advanced reporting and analytics capabilities, allows you to extract maximum value from your software purchase. |
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What are some examples of out-of-the-box reporting that I will have access to upon installation? |
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IT Analytics provides over 80+ out-of-the-box reports, as well as dozens of pre-defined cubes and key performance indicators (KPIs) to allow customers the ability to immediately start analyzing data within their environment. For a complete list of reports, see the appropriate IT Analytics Users Guide. |
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What does it mean when someone refers to “custom report”? |
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IT Analytics offers customers unparalleled flexibility in the way they visualize, analyze, and consume their business critical data. In addition to providing comprehensive out-of-the-box reporting, IT Analytics’ flexible architecture and use of standard technologies gives users several options for custom report creation which can be broken down into the following categories:
- Pivot Tables - Provides easy drag and drop capabilities for generating reports from within the IT Analytics Console.
- Exporting - Pivot tables or chart views can be exported from one of the out-of-the-box cubes into a supported third party tool such as Excel. This method is generally used for further data exploration or for distribution.
- Third Party Authoring – Creation of custom cubes and dashboards using third party tools such as Microsoft Report Builder, Microsoft Business Intelligence Development Studio, Cognos, etc.
Any report created that is not one of the “out-of-the-box” reports is considered a “custom report”. |
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Are custom reports supportable through Symantec Technical Support? |
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Yes. Reports that are generated from the IT Analytics console using pivot tables and have not required any modification to the out-of-the-box cubes or data sets are supportable solutions and should be treated within Symantec like any other common technical support incident.
Reports exported to excel or created with other 3rd Party Authoring tools are typically not supported through Symantec Support. Support for this type of customization is generally covered under a services engagement by the consulting organization that created the original report. The report should be called out as “custom” in the Statement of Work.
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What does it mean when someone refers to “custom cubes”? |
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Custom Cubes can generally be placed into one of 2 categories:
- Cube Extension - While IT Analytics provides pre-defined cubes for extracting data from the CMDB database, in some situations there may be a need to extend an ITMS related cube by adding new dimensions from the CMDB derived from custom data classes. This can be done through the use of the Custom Data Class Dimension Creation Utility which will be available late 2012.
- New Cube Creation - In the instance that a customer needs to extract data from external (non-Symantec) data sources, a new cube would be required. These cubes are created using Microsoft Business Intelligence Development Studio. New cube creation is generally done by trained and qualified consultants.
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Are Custom Cubes supportable?
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Yes, cubes that are being extended by extracting data from the CMDB database using Custom Data Class Dimension Creation Utility are a supportable feature of IT Analytics.
New Cubes created in Microsoft’s Business Intelligence Development Studio for the purpose of extracting data from an external data source are generally not supported by Symantec Support. Much like third party report authoring, support for this type of customization is generally supported through a service engagement by the consulting organization the created the original report. The cube created should be called out as “custom” in the Statement of Work. |
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What else is considered “supportable” functionality? |
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Issues related to any of the following should be considered out of the box functionality and supportable:
- Installation and Configuration
- Dashboard - Viewing and Exporting
- Report - Viewing and Exporting
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – Viewing
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – Native Creation through the SMP console
- Pivot Tables and Charts – Creating
- Pivot Tables and Charts – Saving and Sharing
- Pivot Tables and Charts – Exporting
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Are there any unique hardware requirements or scalability concerns that I should consider before installing IT Analytics?
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There are no specific hardware requirements for installing IT Analytics on SMP other than those outlined in the Symantec Management Platform Installation Guide. |
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When preparing to install and configure IT Analytics are there resources available to walk me through the process? |
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Yes, there are a number of resources available to go step by step through the installation process including:
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Where can I get Support for IT Analytics?
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IT Analytics is supported through Symantec Technical Support.
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