Customer: Dave Demers, Network Engineer
Company: Audatex (formerly a division of ADP)
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Business: automotive insurance claims processing
InterMapper's Role: Monitor the nationwide network that spans several states and supports the work of over 1500 associates
Quote: “InterMapper is so customizable. There isn't much we haven't been able to make it do.”
Audatex, a Solera Company, offers a complete range of technology solutions, shared services and consulting for the insurance and claims industries. Formerly a division of ADP, Audatex services address insurance claims processing, collision and repair, automotive recycling, and technology. Dave Demers is part of Audatex's networking and monitoring group which is responsible for the company's WAN, LAN, and Internet connections that support over 1500 associates in Oregon, California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ontario, Canada.
“About a year and a half ago we took a look at our monitoring system,” remembers Demers. “A friend of mine from the University of Michigan recommended InterMapper. We started playing with an evaluation and it didn't take long to realize it could do the job for us. Even better, the price was so good it was easy to get financial approval.”
Now Audatex uses InterMapper to get a “general health snapshot” of its networks. Twenty technicians use InterMapper RemoteAccess for a continuous view of network operations and easy access to maps and reports. The InterMapper Wireless Bundle allows Audatex to poll its Cisco wireless equipment.
“Our operations center leaves InterMapper up on the plasma screen and we use alerting so that we know what goes down right away,” reports Demers. He attributes increased uptime to InterMapper data and maps. Technicians can spot problems before they're critical and reduce time to fix by quickly locating and diagnosing troubled connections and servers. “We're so on top of things. We can see if utilization is up or CPU usage is spiking. Maybe a process is taking too long or something is going wrong.”
When technicians do receive and alert or notice a problem, they data provided by InterMapper to populate the trouble ticket system in Remedy. Data is also sent to Tivoli where is stored and viewed via browser to note trends and plan for network expansion. “We're tracking load averages and CPU speed over months,” says Demers.
Demers has never calculated InterMapper's return on investment but figures the software has paid for itself “several times over.” Audatex used to use Tivoli NetView for network monitoring and a comparison of InterMapper and NetView costs indicates substantial savings. But Demers has also noticed network improvements that translate into positive ROI. “We've increased uptime using InterMapper. I know I'd see an increase in uptime if I compared before and after InterMapper timeframes.”
The network monitoring team is getting the most out of InterMapper. “It's so customizable. There's not much we haven't been able to make it do,” says Demers. And if there is a question of problem, Dartware is able to provide quick help. “Dartware support is outstanding. I get in early in the morning and write up my questions and hear back right away.” |
