Synergy
Conclusion Xforce’s two-year partnership with Dynatrace is driven by the companies’ synergy. ‘Monitoring, one of our four focus groups, looks at the entirety of our clients’ IT platforms – think websites, applications, and infrastructure – based on indicators such as performance and availability,’ says Mark. ‘We build dashboards in the relevant tools and monitor IT infrastructure according to some 150 controls or KPIs. The answers this provides are useful, but they could be more refined. That’s where Dynatrace comes in’ Dynatrace’s platform uses AI to independently create a blueprint of an IT landscape that also maps all the dependencies. This results in an unlimited number of monitorable indicators, regardless of whether parts of the IT landscape run on-premises or in the private or public cloud. But the true power of the companies’ symbiosis becomes apparent in the next stage. ‘Dynatrace monitors and provides advice on actionable insights for your IT landscape. These actions, also known as remediation, could relate to errors or opportunities for optimization, and the best way to implement them is via automation. It just so happens that automation is one Conclusion Xforce’s core expertise areas.’
Carbon monitoring
Since November 2023, the companies have also been collaborating on sustainability. ‘Monitoring is a crucial part of mapping an organization’s sustainability performance,’ Mark explains. ‘IT landscapes, which have an easily neglected yet significant carbon footprint, absolutely need to be part of this.’ This year, Dynatrace developed a new function specifically aimed at carbon monitoring: the Carbon Impact app. ‘This is an extension of the dashboard already used by clients, featuring performance indicators on the carbon footprint of the entire IT landscape. As we’re already monitoring the IT landscape, we’re perfectly poised to translate this data into a carbon footprint.’ The calculation of the carbon footprint is grounded in the generic database of the Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance (SDIA), which defines the relationship between a device’s load and energy consumption. ‘This lets us calculate the CO2 emissions of every processor, hard disk, or data connection in the IT landscape. The app is an incredibly valuable addition to the dashboard and will support our clients in their sustainability journey.’
2024 roll-out
Conclusion and Dynatrace’s priority for 2024 is to roll out carbon monitoring for current users of the platform. ‘As we officially launched the app only last month, we’ve been running a proof of concept in our own demo environment. We’ll be rolling this out in a client’s live environment over the next months. This app is a must-have for clients faced with the proposed extension to the scope of sustainability reporting requirements under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Having insight like this provides a springboard for action. I’m excited to work together with Dynatrace in supporting our clients,’ says Mark.
