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Webinar: Web Monitoring & Banner SaaS - Applications Manager



Learn more about the web monitoring feature in Applications Manager (AppWorx) and Banner SaaS.



I. AutomWorx Introduction

  • A. Organization Overview

    • Consulting organization working within the Broadcom ecosystem.

    • Part of the Expert Advantage Partner Program.

  • B. Core Services

    • Migrations and upgrades.

    • Licensing and training.

    • Ensuring internal team expertise for workload automation platform (Applications Manager/AM).

  • C. History and Achievements

    • Founded in 2019.

    • Delivered thousands of hours of consulting and support (including extended support for older Applications Manager versions).

    • Team includes several "Knights" (Broadcom recognition for excellence in workload automation).

    • Awarded a Rising Star for technical enablement in 2023.

    • Continuously adding new automations across different applications.

  • D. Service Offerings

    • Consulting and training services.

    • Focus on Applications Manager, Banner, and other stack applications.

  • E. Disclaimer

    • Discussion of forward-looking technologies is not a promise of feature delivery.

II. Applications Manager Product Direction & Roadmap (Frederick Kalun, Principal Product Manager)

  • A. Product Direction: 3 Main Topics

    1. Secure AM Overhaul

      • Addressing customer movement to the cloud.

      • Easy SSL (easy installation and configuration).

      • HTML2 (protocol for SSO opportunities).

      • Password management.

    2. Support Customer Agreement

      • Cloud, Oracle RAC, DevOps, and Banner support.

      • Following new challenges and requirements.

    3. Interface Innovations

      • Client on Mac (improvement from a Request For Enhancement - RFE).

      • REST API introduction.

      • Web UI (WebMonitor) introduction.

III. Delivered Features (9.5 and 9.6)

  • A. Version 9.5 Deliveries

    • DevOps Utilities: Command lines to export process flows/jobs in JSON format for external processes (e.g., GitHub). Allows easy update of job definitions.

    • Upgrade & Compatibility:

      • Maintains backward compatibility (upgrade MI first, then agents gradually).

      • Remote agent upgrade capability.

    • Oracle RAC Failover: Initial detection of failover, followed by automatic RMI stop/restart.

    • Cloud-Friendly: Support for cloud environments (Amazon, GCP) and containerization (e.g., Docker for agents).

  • B. Version 9.6 Deliveries

    • Interface Enhancements:

      • Client improvement (client on Mac available).

      • Interface Theme Configuration (e.g., color-coding environments).

      • Enhancement and Custom Pop-up Message (RFE for maintenance windows/legal notices).

    • Security & Utilities:

      • Password Storage Management (e.g., preventing reuse, field options).

      • TPU Notification (SMTP security improvement).

    • REST API & Web UI:

      • First delivery of REST APIs (mainly for monitoring jobs/agents).

      • Web interface (WebMonitor) uses these REST APIs.

    • Oracle RAC Load Balancing: Allows management of Oracle WAC load balancing (after failover support).

IV. Near-Term Roadmap & Future Direction

  • A. Version 9.6.2 (Current December Delivery)

    • Mainly maintenance (defects and vulnerabilities).

    • Banner SaaS Rapid Agent 1.0.

    • Java 25 certification.

  • B. Version 10.0 (Tentatively Half 2 2026)

    • WebMonitor: New web interface dedicated to monitoring (dashboard, job history, agent management).

      • Value: Eliminates the need for a dedicated client installation on laptops/machines; accessible via web browser.

      • Will maintain backward compatibility and easy upgrade path from 9.6.

    • Security:

      • SML2 certification (enables SSO).

      • TVP certification (enables mobile phone notifications).

      • Database encryption.

      • Easy SSL implementation.

    • Reliability & Notifications:

      • Notification Retry: Queues email notifications when the SMTP server is down.

      • Oracle RAC Failover Improvement: Target is seamless failover without RMI stop/restart.

    • Client Customization: Maintains client customization during upgrade.

    • REST API Completion: Extension of REST APIs beyond monitoring.

  • C. Post-10.0 Future/Backlog

    • Continued REST API delivery and extension.

    • Incorporate feedback from WebMonitor usage (RFEs are crucial for product improvement).

    • Banner REST API improvements (e.g., enabling the capture feature for Banner SaaS).

    • Support for other databases (e.g., Postgres, MySQL) by improving the database layer.

V. Questions and Clarifications

  • A. Ellucian Certification for Banner SaaS

    • Broadcom worked with Ellucian on the new Banner SaaS interface.

    • Goal was to meet Ellucian's requests (REST API, Web UI, Postgres support).

    • Certification has not yet been obtained from Ellucian for the new interface.

    • Customer feedback to Ellucian could help achieve certification.

  • B. Banner SaaS Installation

    • RA Banner SaaS Rapid Agent submits jobs to SaaS.

    • Applications Manager (AM) remains on-prem or in the cloud (e.g., an Amazon machine). AM is not currently a SaaS offering.

  • C. Red Hat EL-10 Support

    • Certification/support status for Red Hat EL-10 in Applications Manager 9.6.2 needs to be checked against the backlog.


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