Context

Tool mentors explain how a tool can perform tasks, which are part of ITUP processes and activities. The tasks are listed as Related Elements in the Relationships section.

You can see the details of how processes and activities are supported by this tool mentor, by clicking the links next to the icons:

•   Financial Management
  •   Administer Charging

Details

IBM® Tivoli® Usage and Accounting Manager provides tools to perform many financial analyst tasks including cost allocation and calculating charges. These tools can be used to establish an initial chargeback system while the reporting and automation features can address the regular billing activities.

All data in the IBM Tivoli Usage and Accounting Manager is stored in a master relational database. All necessary table maintenance may be performed with in a Graphical User Interface running on a Windows platform. Costing (Rate Tables), Customer and account code conversion tables are all available for update within the Windows environment.

Menu of various functions available via the ITUAM Administrator

Menu of various chargeback functions available via the ITUAM Administrator

List of all rates in rate code table

Rate code maintenance

List of all clients

Client maintenance, screen 1

Client maintenance, screen 2

Establishing the chargeback system with IBM Tivoli Usage and Accounting Manager begins with these basic tasks. This information is discussed in more detail in the IBM Tivoli Usage and Accounting Manager Administrator's Guide Version 5.1.

• All the necessary tables and associations are created automatically during the install of the IBM Tivoli Usage and Accounting Manager product. Once the tables have been created they are propagated with sample data
• The Sample data in the Rate Code table is updated to reflect the current installation.

As soon as the database has been created and populated with sample data it is time to create the account code conversion tables. These tables are used to associate information from the raw data with a legitimate billable entity. In many cases the information may be derived from account tables used with an earlier chargeback product or current security tables.

IBM Tivoli Usage and Accounting Manager comes with many different data collectors that read data from the various Operating Systems and Subsystems. The different format records found in the raw data are converted to a standard costing record format that is used by the system.

IBM Tivoli Usage and Accounting Manager provides additional functions to help equitably administer IT costs this is list represents just a few of the features available to the System Administrator:

• Multiple charging algorithms - it is sometimes desirable to use more than one set of rates for your customers. You might want to have one set of rates for your in house customers and another set of rates for outside users. With ITUAM it is possible to have a different charging algorithm for each customer if so desired.
• Pro-ration - IBM Tivoli Usage and Accounting Manager allows you to take the costs incurred by an account and prorate those costs across the entire user community at given percentages. Costs that were once considered as overheads may now be charged to the ed-user.
• Shift-Accounting - It is often desirable to move workloads off the prime shift to off prime times to conserve system resources. With shift accounting it is possible to charge extra for running jobs on the prime shift or offer a discount for running when the system is lightly loaded.
• Rate Code Normalization - It is possible to apply a multiplier to an individual rate code depending on the computer or subsystem under which it was run
• IBM Tivoli Usage and Accounting Manager Financial Modeler - The Financial Modeler is a web-based program that enables the system administrator to easily perform IT finance-related tasks, including the following:
• Determine usage-based cost allocation for resources.
• Calculate and set rates for resource usage (including updating)
• Perform cost analysis

IBM Tivoli Usage and Accounting Manager provides full automation of the Chargeback process through the use of the module Job Runner. This module allows the system to ascertain that the data, from the various feeds, for the current run, are in place and ready to be processed. If a feed is missing the system will notify the System Administrator of the missing data and continue to process all the other feeds or stop the processing. It is quite normal for the ITUAM processing to be run in a completely lights out environment.

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