Auto Immune Systems: computers help computers in real time

Munich ,Fujitsu Siemens Computers extends its service offering for high-availability IT operations and introduces the second generation of Auto Immune Systems®. The innovative solution architecture automatically protects companies against system failure and is now extended to include the new Service Engine. This component makes corrections to the IT infrastructure before downtimes reduce system availability. Even the users are unaware of the fault elimination. The new Service Engine has a knowledge database and is constantly learning during ongoing operations. As soon as a fault has been successfully eliminated and stored, all other infrastructures - regardless of whether they are in client or server environments - can be supplied with the successful solution. This proactive immunization not only results in an increase in availability, but also reduces IT Service Management costs. Experience gained from projects shows that use of the Service Engine allows 25 of the most frequently occurring faults and user errors to be automated to such a degree that the number of service calls can be reduced by up to 40 percent.

With the new generation of Auto Immune Systems Fujitsu Siemens Computers enhances its offer for Managed Services as well as high-availability and secure IT operations. In addition to automatic error detection, which remains unnoticed by the user and initiates service processes on a self-controlling basis, users can also eliminate faults themselves without having to involve the service desk.

Due to the automated and increased availability of IT, critical business processes and applications are also considerably better protected as regards real-time operation. Christoph König, Project Manager of Auto Immune Systems with Fujitsu Siemens Computers, explains: “The approaches of today’s IT industry do not meet the requirements a real-time enterprise places on the security and availability of business processes. We are therefore offering a new paradigm in service management that not only takes the availability of individual systems into account, but also the result of an entire business process. With Auto Immune Systems and the newly available Service Engine we are helping companies on their way to increasingly reliable and at the same time economic business processes.”

In its primary configuration Auto Immune Systems (AIS) has proved itself during customer deployment. For example, the Landesbank Rheinland Pfalz in Germany successfully uses the patch management component to proactively distribute software to 2,000 clients. Only two hours are needed for this job. At Siemens Enterprise Communication the Auto Immune Systems application is also used in the HiPath product family. Operation of this IP-based telecommunications system for corporate networks is made more secure and more available by AIS. And the new Service Engine is currently in use with Fujitsu Siemens Computers itself. In a multi-phase rollout the IT infrastructure for the 11,000 employee clients is being equipped with the latest version of Auto Immune Systems. Instead of placing a call for each fault, employees are asked to report errors directly to the Service Engine. This not only initiates the automatic error elimination process, but also fills the AIS knowledge database and thus increases its value added. Users are also able to reset their password themselves. Without Auto Immune Systems, this is one of the most frequent reasons for calling the service desk.