Webinar: Web Monitoring & Banner SaaS – Applications Manager

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

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.

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.

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).

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.

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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