mqattach_whitepaper

7/28/2019 MQAttach_Whitepaper

1/5

How MQAttach provides support, integration for IBM WebSphere MQ

A Q&A with Steve Redding, Managing Director of MQAttach

Abstract:

For any company that uses IBM WebSphere MQ Managed File Transfer (MQ/MFT) or is considering an

implementation, IBM Business Partner MQAttach has developed software that specifically works with

IBMs MFT solution to aid customers. The software is designed to maximize the utility of MQ, allowing

file transfers across platforms and networks, with comprehensive event management, monitoring,

customized reporting, routing capability and more. In this whitepaper, Steve Redding, Managing

Director of MQAttach, discusses the benefits of MQAttach for customers, including the software

features, potential return on investment and upcoming improvements to the software.

Whitepaper:

The world of WebSphere software isnt just the products offered by IBM; it also includes IBM BusinessPartners like MQAttach, who have developed software that specifically works with WebSphere MQ

solutions to aid customers.

MQAttach was founded in South Africa in 2009 with the sole aim of developing a technical solution that

supports, compliments, and integrates with IBMs WebSphere MQ Managed File Transfer product

(MQ/MFT) The company has grown to add offices in Canada and the US with a team of nearly 10

involved in the operation and development, including Steve Redding, Managing Director of MQAttach.

Redding explains that MQAttach has focused their efforts on creating a solution that is easy for

customers to navigate and use, supports administrators and business users alike and focuses on

visibility.

WebSphere Insights: What does the MQAttach software offer to customers who use WebSphere MQ?

Steve Redding: MQAttach is designed specifically to work with the WebSphere MQ Managed File

Transfer (MQ/MFT) solution, whichallows MQ to transfer files across platforms andnetworks. MQAttach can best be described as a Web and Windows-based graphical software tool that

provides comprehensive file transfer event management, monitoring, reporting and routing capability. It

addresses any shortfalls that MFT customers may experience with the use of the MQ/MFT

Explorer/Eclipse tool.

The product offers customers accessibility and visibility into their file transfers with web-based accessto

file transfer audit information and ease of use andsimplification for MQ/MFT. This applies to

transaction logging, monitoring, and enhanced reporting including SLA and Job Expectation. MQAttach

has a number of features, including:

Automation and Visibility System Management and Administration Dashboards Alert and Notification Management


2/5

Resubmit/Repair of failed Transfers Real time Monitoring of Transfers and MQ/MFT Agents System Analytics and Capacity planning capabilities.

High performing MQ/MFT Exits enables the use of simplified MQ/MFT Transfer requests to perform

what would be very complex multi-step transfers. This enables a variety of pre / post calls without theneed to code up any Ant scripts that would then have to be distributed and maintained.

WI: What are some of the most important considerations for clients as they do a WebSphere MQ/MFT

implementation?

SR: MQAttach has clients in Retail, Pharma, Banking, / Financial Services, and Government. We have

always put our clients first and assist them in providing a customizable solution. Some of the key

considerations which customers typically have are the following:

Total Cost of ownership (TCO) of the solution. Given the availability of Open Source or OS provided

capabilities such as FTP, SFTP,FTPS,HTTP etc., which are very wildly used in almost every IT environment,cost is a key consideration for a customer who is considering the MQ/MFT solution.

Simplicity. Customers want a solution which can be implemented in the simplest possible manner.

Migration. Since most opportunities in the WebSphere Managed File Transfer space are going to come

from environments where there is already some form of File Transfer technology in place such as one of

the Open File Transfer Protocols previously mentioned, or perhaps a legacy or Third-Party solution

which is either not providing the type of capability needed or is more expensive compared to an

MQ/MFT solution. We have experience in helping customers with their migration projects, whether

converting from PM4Data, XCOM or Connect: Direct. We also work with other partners, where

appropriate.

Time to implement. This is always a consideration and can very quickly become a deal breaker if the

implementation time and costs are too high.

Accessibility. Customers want to be assured that it is straightforward for all their users to be able to gain

access to MQ/MFT. Customers would prefer a solution that can be ubiquitously accessed from say a

users desktop for example.

Automation. This is a key consideration. It is very important for customers to have MQ/MFT automate

as many of the tasks involved in the transfer and delivery of data across their IT infrastructure andbeyond. Especially when sending large or important files, users want the capability to have the

assurances that the system will automatically recover from network or system failures that may happen

while their important files are being transmitted.

Transfer Auditability and User Self-Serviceability. These are two key capabilities which MQ/MFT

customers are interested in. In very much the same way that someone who sends a package via FedEx

for example, wants to have the ability to track and trace exactly where the package is while it is in


3/5

transit, or be able to check when a package was delivered, users of MQ/MFT require the same capability

while having files transferred and delivered.

Interoperability with Open Protocols. While in the perfect world, every IT system should ideally have a

MQ/MFT agent installed to allow for file deliveries, in the real world sometimes it not possible to have

this and users need a way for a solution such as MQ/MFT to be able to interoperate with systems which

only have one of the previously mentioned Open Protocols servers.

WI: What are the most important features of MQAttach software and how does it work with

WebSphere MQ?

SR: As previously mentioned, MQATTACH is designed specifically to work with the WebSphere MQ/MFT

solution. Its design points are to have a single centralized Virtual Machine configuration that address

the following areas of consideration for customers who are interested in MQ/MFT:

Implementation simplification for MQ/MFT, especially in the areas of Transaction Logging,Monitoring, Reporting, Automation and Visibility

Web Browser Access to Transfer Audit information Dashboards of MQ/MFT Operations (MQ/MFT Agent Status and workload) Summary Dashboards of MQ/MFT Transaction and Status Alert Management for detecting transfer or agent failures (Email, MQ and Windows Events) SLA Reporting and Notification management Resubmit/Repair of failed Transfers Job Expectation reporting Real-time monitoring of Transfers and MQ/MFT Agents

Specialized DBs for real-time/daily transfer transactions and historical summary informationuseful for Analytics and capacity planning purposes

20+ Standard Transfer patterns which can be customized for Ad-Hoc transfer purposes Distribution List specifications which are leveraged for sending a single file to multiple end

points using either a File to File implementation or a Pub/Sub implementation.

Web Browser/Workflow-based Resource Monitor Configuration capability to simplify the setupof MQ/MFT Resource Monitors to accelerate automation of transfers

Highly productive and high-performing MQ/MFT Exits which enables the use of simplifiedMQ/MFT Transfer request to perform what would be very complex multi-step transfers which

perform a variety of pre/post calls without the need to code up any Ant scripts that would have

to be distributed and maintained

WI: How does MQAttach help clients achieve the greatest ROI for their WebSphere implementations?

SR: In any Manage File Transfer (MFT)-type project, one of the key areas of complexity and thus cost

which is outside of the actual moving of the files, is the ability to track and trace the files while they are

being transmitted. The other area is recording this information in a data base and then making it


4/5

available in various forms so that operations and users alike can have visibility into what is going on with

the transfer transactions.

The built-in transfer templates, workflow-based Monitoring Rules specification, Distribution List

capabilities etc., all contribute to making the implementation of MQ/MFT a much simpler and much

more automated process.

MQAttach provides much of these track, trace, reporting, dashboards, SLA management capabilities in a

single package, which runs on a virtual machine that includes all the underlying components such as the

Web Server, the DB Loggers, the DB itself etc.,. The product does not carry an individual server or PUV

based license cost. It is enterprise-wide, and support is based on the sizenumber of Agentswhich

makes it a very cost-effective solution.

Combining the rich capabilities, together with the very cost-effective support model, this all contributes

to MQAttach being able to offer MQ/MFT customers the highest possible ROI on a complete and

comprehensive MFT solution.

WI: Why should a customer choose MQAttach over competitors? What unique value does the

company provide in the marketplace?

SR: Based on input from many of the MQ/MFT customers that are actually using the product today, the

general view is that the only real competition for MQAttach is a Roll Your Own (RYO) solution.

While some System Management type vendors or products may overlap with some of the monitoring

capabilities of MQAttach, they are not providing many of the usability and out-of-the-box reporting

capabilities that MQAttach offers. This coupled with the very large investment and licensing cost of a

Systems Management solution just to fill some of the gaps in the base MQ/MFT product is a

nonstarter for many MQ/MFT customers.

The unique value that MQAttach provides is really to the MQ/MFT product itself in that it completes the

MQ/MFT product by filling many of the gaps which potential MQ/MFT customers experience. One

recent customer in Canada, for example, decided to move forward with a MQ/MFT purchase once they

were given a demonstration of MQAttach. They saw first-hand how MQAttach capabilities addressed all

their concerns around the gaps which they found using the base MQ/MFT solution.

Given the pricing model of MQAttach, many users who had previously opted for a RYO solution, have

come to us because they found that the cost of both developing a RYO and then having to maintain it is

much more than the yearly support cost of MQAttach. This is true across all customer sizes, small orlarge, and coupled with the continuous enhancements / maintenance provided by MQAttach, they have

the peace of mind that they will always have the best possible capabilities when it comes to their

Manage File Transfer solution.

WI: What is next for MQAttach? How is the company staying on top of the newest trends in the field?


5/5

SR: Firstly as MQ/MFT grows and is enhanced, so will MQAttach. This is one of the primary goals of our

company.

Having stated this, we are constantly on the lookout for input/feedback from our customers on where

they may be having challenges or would like to see improvements. One only need to look at where

MQAttach has come from since 2009 to where we are today, can see that this is a product which isconstantly being enhanced based on customer/user/market place/MQ/MFT movements and input.

We are putting a lot of energy and effort into building powerful reports and analytics around the data

which we collect from MQ/MFT events, and see this as the next big area of enhancements for our

customers. We plan on releasing a mobile version of MQAttach which will provide the ability to view

statistics and get notified via alerts on the state of the MFT system. We also intend to introduce

workflow capabilities into MQAttach to help manage and control everyday MFT requests and allow

them to be monitored and managed. We are also looking into ways to tap into the WebSphere Message

Broker (WMB) and WebSphere Message Queue (WMQ) events and also capture these into out

transaction stores to that we can provide a single transaction viewer for all MQ events.

We also have a small team looking at providing migration tools for customer wanting to migrate from

other Transfer solutions to MQ/MFT to accelerate the implementation and deployment of MQ/MFT.

To learn more about MQAttach, visit their website athttp://mqattach.com/.
http://mqattach.com/http://mqattach.com/http://mqattach.com/http://mqattach.com/

mqattach_whitepaper

Documents