Back in the Spring, we announced the first beta release of IBM Support Assistant 5.0.

Today, we are refreshing this beta with many enhancements based on your feedback, and with some new functions that had previously been under development for our internal users within IBM Support, that are now finally ready for external use. This new release can be downloaded at this URL.

As a reminder, IBM Support Assistant provides a common platform to help you perform troubleshooting tasks such as collecting and reviewing diagnostic information and accessing a wide variety of problem determination tools. Unlike version 4.1 which was structured as a custom application (the workbench) that needs to be installed on each user's desktop, the version 5.0 takes us into the world of cloud-based solutions. You can install IBM Support Assistant 5.0 on a centralized server for your team and let many users access it through their browser without needing to install or maintain any special software on their desktop. All the users can easily collaborate, share files and tool resources through that team server. Of course, if you wish, you can still also install the entire IBM Support Assistant 5.0 on your private desktop and use it without any sharing.

The new features introduced in this Beta 2 refresh include:

• IBM Support Assistant 5.0 and many add-ons such as individual problem determination tools can now be installed through IBM Installation Manager. This simplifies initial installation and updates, and will allow us to offer many new add-ons over time, without forcing you to go through a painful re-installation process.
  
• The first external release of automated data analysis capabilities that have been under development inside IBM for some time. With this new function, you can instruct IBM Support Assistant to scan all the logs, dumps and other files within one of your "cases" to automatically identify potential anomalies or "symptoms" that may lead to a solution for this case. The scan also performs an initial search in a custom Knowledge Base to determine if there are any known Technotes or APARs that match the symptoms that have been found.
  
• Additional problem determination tools - and as noted above, now that IBM Support Assistant leverages IBM Installation Manager, you can look forward to seeing new tools be released regularly.
  
• Many usability enhancements - see the documentation and release notes provided with the system for a complete list.

Please download the new release at this URL. We very much look forward to hearing your feedback through our forum, and will continue to work to produce a GA release of IBM Support Assistant in the near future.



Tags:  websphere isa tools