Audit tools use cases for Genesys platforms

Use Cases: Audit solution features for Genesys platforms

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AUDIT SOLUTIONS FOR GENESYS PLATFORMS

USE CASES

&

SELECTION MODEL

-‐Version 1.5-‐


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Table of contents

Document revision history ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 1. Configuration Audit Trail ................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1. User Interface features ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2. Tracking configuration changes ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 1.3. Configuration rollback features ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8 1.4. Administration features ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 1.5. Reporting features .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

2. Scheduling & Bulk Configuration Changes ............................................................................................................................................... 12 3. Audit & compare Environments ................................................................................................................................................................... 14 4. Notifications .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 5. Business Continuity ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 6. Other Monitoring Features ............................................................................................................................................................................. 19 7. Architecture ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 21 8. Performance .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 23 9. Security .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 23 10. Data Retention & Purging ............................................................................................................................................................................. 25 11. The AHP Selection model .............................................................................................................................................................................. 26


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Document revision history Document version Change details Audit_use_cases_v1.1 Initial version Audit_use_cases_v1.2 Added use cases: 1.1.3, 1.1.4; 1.5.2, 1.5.3

Updated use cases: 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 Audit_use_cases_v1.3 Added architecture section Audit_use_cases_v1.4 Added use case 7.3, Audit_use_cases_v1.5 Added use case 2.5 Note: both use cases document and selection model are updated simultaneously This document is compiled by a panel of experienced Genesys subject matter experts and is intended as a guideline for evaluation and selection processes.

Introduction This document contains a set of use cases with the corresponding selection model that are made available for free to all Genesys users and customers. These use cases and selection model are updated on a regular basis following the feed back of users and subject matter experts. The objective of this document is to provide contact centre managers as well as technical and operational users with a pragmatic approach to the evaluation of audit tools for Genesys platforms and get inspired even beyond to apply this model to other tools. Such tools should provide the basics for a well-‐informed and intelligent decision-‐making process beyond sales speeches.


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1. Configuration Audit Trail

1.1. User Interface features Ref. Use Case description Expected result 1.1.0 Web based User Interface Does the tool provide a web based user interface?

• Login protected access for different users/user groups Is all functionality available through a web interface or is it a mix of web based and thick client application. In case a thick client application is provided, is it role based (doe sit allow for different access levels to different users)

• Does the tool include an online help?

• The audit tool should provide a web interface for easy access without installation of any software on user’s desktops. Access should be login protected.

• Ideally the application should not be a thick client to be installed on users workstation.

• Online help is a standard must have feature 1.1.1 User friendliness of the user interface What features are available to increase the user friendliness of the web interface?

• Tracking changes by customizing the colour (by user) of each change type • Navigation and access to the change details • How quick can you relate to Genesys configuration? • Auto-‐refresh capabilities? • Can users change column order and dynamically change sorting order for each

column? • Any Similarities with Genesys tools?

• Users should expect a user friendly web interface with minimum back and forth navigation and access to the details of every change besides filtering the audit trail reports based upon pre-‐filled search criteria

• Similarities with Genesys tools are more than nice to have as they keep users in their comfort zones.

1.1.2 Search capabilities What search fields are available to filter configuration change history

• Pre-‐filled drop down search fields? • Do users have to switch between screens to adjust search criteria? • Can users dynamically limit the number of change records displayed on screen • Does the tool allow users to search on multiple criteria within a single drop down list? • Do search fields support wild cards? • Can users select multiple choices within drop down lists?

• Users should get the required flexibility in adjusting the necessary filter criteria

• Large configuration environments require more flexibility and the possibility to select different values from drop down lists (typically restricted to one choice only)


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Ref. Use Case description Expected result 1.1.3 Multi-‐language support Does the tool support multiple languages?

• What languages are supported? • Can users switch language from the web interface? • Can users set a preferred language in the admin area of the tool?

• Multi-‐language support is required for most international customers. Switching between languages and setting a preferred language should be possible on an individual user basis.

1.1.4 Dashboard Does the tool provide a customizable dashboard?

• What data source is used for the dashboards? • Are dashboards included as a standard or optional feature? • Can the dashboard be changed and adjusted or does that require additional

development/feature requests?

• Dashboards are a nice to have feature. • Displayed statistics should not conflict with other Genesys statistics (i.e in case interaction stats are displayed these should correspond to statistics provided by CCA or CCPulse or GIM)

1.2. Tracking configuration changes Ref. Use Case description Expected result 1.2.0 Track additions of configuration objects Login to CME/Administrator/GAX

• Add a person, extension, skill, GVP Resource Group or any other object Login to SCI/GAX

• Add an alarm reaction Login to IRD

• Add a new routing strategy • Modify a routing strategy • Delete a routing strategy

• Added objects should be tracked by the audit tool and highlighted such as users can easily differentiate between additions, deletion and changes to configuration objects.

• Users need to see changes highlighted in different colours based on type of change (addition, deletion, update)

1.2.1 Track changes to configuration objects Modify objects via CME/Administrator/GAX

• Make multiple concurrent Skill changes (typical business user operations) • Make multiple concurrent change to application options and annex tabs (add an

• Concurrent changes should be differentiated based on their type so that users can differentiate between added, deleted or updated values


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Ref. Use Case description Expected result option, delete a second option and modify a third one)

• Make a change to a virtual agent group skill expression. Do you see all impacted agents?.

• Make changes to options of complex objects like switch object (access codes) • Make changes to Timezone DST settings • Delete an option under the Annex tab of the Tenant object • Make changes to a Role through Administrator

• Users should be able to easily identify the tab and nature of the change as well as see the various simultaneous changes.

• Roles have been introduced in confserv 8.0.2 and should be tracked by the audit tool.

• When a VAG is changed, users need to see the impacted agents following the change of the skill expression definition


1.2.1 Track permission changes of configuration objects Modify permissions of different configuration objects via CME/Administrator/GAX

Make the following simultaneous changes • Open any object and go to security tab • Make permission changes to the privileges of an existing access group • Add an access group with any permissions (i.e read & execute privileges) • Delete an access group from the selected object •

• Permission changes should be differentiated based on their type so that users can differentiate between added, deleted or updated permissions for each access group.


1.2.3 Track application account changes Modify any application account via CME/Administrator/GAX

• Make change to application account (security tab): change default system account to any other user

• New and previous values should be highlighted by the audit tool

1.2.4 Track deletions of configuration objects Delete objects via CME/Administrator/GAX

• Delete a member of an Access group • Add then Delete a switch under the tab ‘Access codes’ of your switch • Delete an extension attached to a place • Delete a skill of an agent • Delete an Agent Group • Delete a Calling list attached to a campaign • Delete a script object

• Deleted objects should be tracked by the audit tool and highlighted such as users can easily differentiate between additions, deletion and changes to configuration objects.

• • Users need to see changes highlighted in different colours based on type of change (addition, deletion, update)


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Ref. Use Case description Expected result 1.2.5 Documentation of change records The audit tool should provide documentation capabilities

• Can the tool attach notes to each record? • Can users spot the change records with attached notes? • Can the tool flag any records for easier finding and follow up of specific changes?

• User should be able to add notes and easily identify change records with attached notes .

• Ideally users should also be able to tag specific records for follow up without writing any notes.

1.2.6 Categorisation of change records The audit tool should allow bulk categorisation of any number of change records

• Can the tool assign categories? • Can users easily change the assigned category and report on it • Can users create and change custom categories

• Attaching individual notes may not be realistic in production environment with numerous changes; hence the need for easy categorization of any selected records.

• Users should be able to assign custom categories and to a group of change records, i.e linked to a specific change request or differentiate between planned versus unplanned changes

1.2.7 Tracking reference configuration The audit tool should allow tracking reference configuration?

• Does the tool allow tagging any change record as the reference/correct record? • Does the tool allow finding/filtering reference change records?

Reference record definition: the correct record corresponding to any of the change records within the tool (may not always be the latest or current record)

• Users should be able to track and identify the correct configuration among any number of configuration change records

1.2.8 Support for multi-‐tenant configuration Does the tool support multi-‐tenancy within Genesys configuration?

• Details of every change • Historical change report

• Users should be able to track every change in relation to its tenant

1.2.9 Moving objects between folders Does the tool support tracking of object movements across folders?

• Select multiple persons and move these from one folder to another subfolder of Person root folder in CME

• Select multiple DNs (extensions or Routing Points etc) and move these from one folder to another subfolder of DN root folder in CME

• Users should be able to track movements of objects between folders

• Users should be able to clearly identify the following: o –Source folder o –Target folder o –List of all agents/DNs or other moved objects


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1.3. Configuration rollback features Ref. Use Case description Expected result 1.3.0 Rollback option changes Make a change to any option (under Annex tab) of any object in CME then

• Rollback the change once • Try to rollback again

Make a change to any option (under Options tab) of any object in CME/Administrator then • Rollback the change once • Try to rollback again

• How is the rollback action tracked through the tool? • Check the user mentioned as ‘updated by’ in the change record related to rollback action: is it the application user or the Genesys user of the person doing the change?

• A change can only be rolled back once. The audit tool should only roll back a value if different from the existing one

1.3.1 Rollback added options Add any option (under Annex or Options tab) for any object in CME/Administrator then


What happens if you try to rollback a deleted object that has already been reverted ?

• An added option can only be rolled back once. The audit tool should only roll back a value if different from the existing one.

• Users should get a notification indicating that no changes are applied.

1.3.2 Rollback deleted options Delete any option (under Annex or Options tab) to any object in CME then


What happens if you try to rollback a change that has already been reverted? (use CME/Administrator or audit tool for rollback)

• A deleted option can only be rolled back once. The audit tool should only roll back a value if different from the existing one.

• The audit tool should notify or pop up a message indicating that the rollback value is equal to the current value, hence no rollback to carry out.

1.3.3 Rollback permissions changes Change a Permission of any object (add, delete and change permissions of different Access

groups simultaneously) • Roll back added permission • Roll back deleted permission • Roll back changed permission • Roll back change permission twice in a row

• Users should be able to roll back any permission changes • The tool should check the current value to identify if a change needs to be done or not prior to executing any rollback action.


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Ref. Use Case description Expected result 1.3.4 Rollback application account changes Change the application account (under security tab)

• Open any application and change user account • Roll back changed user account

• Users should be able to roll back any application account changes

1.3.5 Rollback agent skill changes Change agent skills

• Add a skill • Change a skill level • Delete a skill • Rollback changes

• Users should be able to roll back any agent skill changes

1.3.6 Rollback exceptions Rollback options whilst config server in RO mode

• In CME (tools menu) put the config server in Read Only mode • Rollback any added/changed/deleted option

• Any attempted rollback action should not be possible and the tool should notify that the config server is in read only mode.

1.3.7 Rollback Routing Strategies Does the audit tool support rolling back changes to routing strategies?

• Delete a part of a routing strategy and save • Rollback change and see if you recover the ‘lost’ design part • Make a change to a loaded routing strategy and check if the loaded version changes

with the restored design or not

• Being able to rollback routing strategies without backing files manually up is a very useful features especially for platforms where multiple users work on the same strategies.

• The tool should check if a strategy is changed or not before rolling back selected record.

1.3.8 Grouped Rollback of multiple options • Capability to rollback a number of options in one action. • Users may need to rollback a group of options, ie. Updated in

the frame of the same change request 1.3.9 Scheduled Rollback • Capability to schedule the rollback of a group of options • Rolling back options needs to follow process and is most

commonly done out of hours. It is useful to be able to schedule the rollback of a group of options.

Note: Rolling back deleted objects is not possible (not supported by Genesys), as the Genesys PSDK doesn’t support such operations (DBID is a read only attribute). Creating a ‘clone’ of the deleted object with a new DBID is a false claim of rollback and has high risks on Reporting and WFM as all objects are referenced between Genesys various modules by their DBID (unique identifier). Genesys config server assigns DBIDs to newly created objects, hence it is not possible to restore the deleted DBID when requesting confserv to rollback a deleted object.


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1.4. Administration features Ref. Use Case description Expected result 1.4.0 Control access by object type to different user groups The audit tool should enable/disable access by object type to different users/user groups. For

example: • Operational group to only see changes to resources • Technical users to be able to see changes to applications

• • Different user groups should be able to see change records pertaining to different object types

1.4.1 User/Group administration The tool should be role based and as such allow for user administration

• Creation/updates/Deletion of users and user groups • Administration of user groups (permissions, privileges) • Administration of users (email, user group, Genesys user, language, colours etc) • Can access to different parts of the tool be granted/revoked by user/user group? • Can commenting change records be enabled/disabled by user or user group?

• Configurable access by user and user group ensure higher usability and security levels of the audit tool.

1.4.2 Administration of rollback feature The audit tool allow enabling/disabling rollback by user group/user • The rollback feature should be enabled/disabled by user/user

group


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1.5. Reporting features Ref. Use Case description Expected result 1.5.0 Reporting capabilities Reporting

• Does the tool support dynamic aggregation? • Does the report offer various filter criteria?

• Users should be able to change aggregation level without any technical skills

• Reports should be filtered through various criteria 1.5.1 Charts and trend reporting Does the tool provide dynamic charts?

• Support dynamic aggregation • Charts with zoom feature • Custom filter criteria

• User should be able to analyse trends through a dynamic chart for any period of time

• Chart should be dynamically generated based on a number of search criteria

1.5.2 Export to MS Word and MS Excel Does the tool provide export capabilities for all its report?

• Export to MS Word • Export to MS Excel? • Does the tool generate the export based on the filtered criteria? • Does the tool indicate on the exported document the used filter criteria? • How easy is the access to the export feature? • Is the export available for all reports?

• This feature is far more useful than scheduling report generation as users could filter the required report based on their own criteria and export is in real time for further processing.

• It is necessary that the exported report indicates the applied search criteria

1.5.3 Scheduling report generation Does the tool provide report scheduling capabilities?

• Are the report scheduling features available for both oracle and SQL server? • Are these capabilities provided directly by the audit tool or by MS SQL Server

Reporting Services? Note: MS SQL Server has an add-‐on module “Reporting Services” that requires additional licences. Report scheduling is an intrinsic feature of Reporting Services.

• Scheduled report generation and sending these by email is a typical feature required by the business when no web interface is provided for users. In case of a web-‐based tool, scheduled report generation is less important as the sent report is by definition out dated the moment it is extracted. Users can always access and extract data according to their own filter criteria using the web interface.


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2. Scheduling & Bulk Configuration Changes Bulk configuration changes are often required by contact centre operations, scheduling such bulk updates is even more important to allow the required flexibility and conduct such operations out of hours whilst ensuring the corresponding notification with the job result can be provided. Ref. Use Case description Expected result 2.0 Bulk updates Does the tool allow for bulk updates of configuration changes?

• What inserts/updates are supported? • Can users track the history of bulk update operations? What elements are tracked?

i.e the details of the bulk update job + the user who executed the job? • What throttling mechanism is provided for configuration updates? Does the tool

simply allow X changes during Y time period or is it capable of checking in real time configuration server CPU load?

Note: checking CPU load is more efficient than allowing X changes in Y minutes/seconds as the impact on the configuration server does not only depend on the number of changes but more on the type of changes. • The check of X changes in Y sec/min does not guarantee that confserv is not already

loaded doing something else and the ratio cannot be generic and applicable to any time of the day. It becomes more a guessing exercise of what ratio is best for confserv performance.

• Checking CPU time of confserv or CS proxy at a configurable time interval is a much more powerful and meaningful throttling mechanism

• Bulk configuration inserts are typically done out of hours, however if done during operating hours, some throttling mechanism should be provided to limit the impact on configuration server performance.

• The throttling mechanism should also consider changes done through other tools as the ultimate objective is to avoid too high impact on config server, which could cause disruptions to the contact center operations.

2.1 Scheduling list option changes Does the tool allow to schedule configuration changes of list options

• Immediate execution • Execution at a selected date • Recurrent execution • Can recurrent update jobs be cancelled? • Are these configuration updates notified? • Do users have to use the same web based tool or a different tool?

• Manual bulk configuration can be helpful but has intrinsic constraints.

• Users should be able to schedule configuration updates out of hours and get notified about the outcome of the update operations


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Ref. Use Case description Expected result 2.2 Scheduling list option changes: configurable values Does the tool allow configuring list option values (input mask) such that users can avoid any

input mistakes. Examples • Emergency_Routing: true, false • Opening_Hours_Start: 08:00, 09:00, 10:00 • Customer_Segment: Gold, Silver, Bronze

• This feature compensates a limitation of Genesys tools that do not allow the configuration of input masks for list options. Routing logic may be impacted in case of user mistakes.

• Such changes ideally need to be scheduled for execution out of hours

2.3 Scheduling agent skill changes Does the tool allow to schedule configuration changes of agent skills

• Immediate execution • Execution at a selected date • Recurrent execution • Can recurrent update jobs be cancelled? • Do users have to use the same web based tool or a different tool?

In case a separate tool is used: Is it web based? • Is it role base, i.e does it allow different users to have different access levels to it or

can anyone who installs the tool change agent skills without restrictions? • Can users track the history of bulk update jobs?

Do users get a notification of the scheduled change result? Do they get an email with a URL or with a summary of the changes done: list of all agents and skills changed? Does the tool check current agent skills before applying changes?

• Manual bulk configuration can be helpful but has intrinsic constraints.

• Users should be able to schedule configuration updates out of hours and get notified about the outcome of the update operations

• The email notification of scheduled bulk changes should include the list of all impacted agents and skills.

• The tool should not apply changes when there are no changes to be applied, i.e if agent has already the skill with the appropriate level, the tool should check before applying a change that doesn’t need to be done.

2.4 Scheduling agent skill changes: configurable skill levels Does the tool allow configuring different skill levels so that users would be prompted with

drop down lists when scheduling skill changes? Example • Sales_Skill: levels from 1 to 10 with a level increment of 1 • Support_skill: levels from 1 to 50 with a level increment of 10

• This feature compensates a limitation of Genesys tools that do not allow the configuration of min, max and increment levels for skills attributed to agents.

2.5 Scheduling agent profile changes Does the tool allow scheduling pre-‐configured agent profiles?

Does the scheduled agent profile include: • Agent skills • Agent capacity rule • Agent Access group

• Scheduling agent configuration should include the most frequent updated elements (skills, skill levels, capacity rule and access groups)

• Scheduling an entire profile spares the time to configure individual skills for each planed configuration job.


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3. Audit & compare Environments Ref. Use Case description Expected result 3.0 Compare applications between environments What features does the audit tool support for application comparison?

• Does the tool allow selecting what application object tabs to compare? o Compare data on Start info tab o Compare data on Server info tab o Compare DAP specific tab (DB Info tab) o Compare Connections tab o Compare Options tab o Compare Annex tab o Compare Permissions tab o Compare application account (logged on as)

• Does the tool allow choosing the types of differences? Highlight these differently? o Missing options o Additional options o Identical values o Different values

Change option values to identical on the target environment and compare again (different values should no be equal between the two compared applications)

• Users should be able to compare information contained under each tab of the application object.

• Users should be able to identify all types of differences (Missing options, Additional options, Identical values, Different values)

• Changes in the compared target environment/ application are applied in real time when the comparison is restarted.

3.1 Compare Agents between environments What features does the audit tool support for Agent comparison?

• Does the tool allow selecting what Agent object tabs to compare? o Compare General tab o Compare Agent info tab o Compare Ranks tab o Compare Agent Groups tab o Compare Access Groups tab o Compare Annex tab o Compare Permissions tab

• Users should be able to compare information contained under each tab of the agent object.




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Ref. Use Case description Expected result


• Does the tool allow comparing an agent to other agents from a specific Agent Group? • Does the tool allow comparing an agent to all other agents? • Change option values to identical on the target environment and compare again

(different values should no be equal between the two compared Agents)

3.2 Compare DNs between environments What features does the audit tool support for DN comparison?

• Does the tool support comparing all types of DNs? (RP, Extensions, Trunk, VoIP Service, ACD Q, etc)

• Does the tool allow selecting what DN object tabs to compare? o Compare General tab o Compare Advanced tab o Compare Default DNs tab (only specific to certain object types like ACDQ) o Compare Annex tab o Compare Permissions tab


• Does the tool allow automatic comparison to all other DN types under the same switch?

• Change option values to identical on the target environment and compare again (different values should no be equal between the two compared DNs)

• Users should be able to compare information contained under each tab of the DN object.




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4. Notifications Ref. Use Case description Expected result 4.0 Notification of configuration changes Notification of configuration changes

• What notification flexibility is available (i.e notify only when a number of concurrent changes is done)

• Notification of all changes: change object permissions or application account only • Alarm only for selected object types/objects

• The tool should provide flexibility to only notify when a number of changes of any given type happens (to avoid excessive notifications)

• Notification of any type of change should be possible (incl. permission changes and account changes)

4.1 Notification of Application errors Notification of Application errors

What notification flexibility is available (i.e notify only when a number of concurrent error happen to avoid excessive notification) -‐Does the tool allow to stop notifications for a specific error whilst engineers are working on fixing the issue? i.e stop notification for 1 hour knowing the the resolution is underway.

• The tool should notify when custom errors occur. • i.e. one stuck call in 5 minutes may not need alerting but 50 in 5 minutes need to be notified!

4.2 Supported notification channels Notification channels

• Raise alarms back into Genesys SCI • Raise SNMP alarms V1/V2 • Raise email notifications • Raise SMS notifications

• When configuration changes are done on the system, do users get an email with a web link or does the email contain the details of the change? Having only a URL link back to the application is not sufficient as users may not have access to the company’s network.

4.3 Notification calendars Notification calendars

• Support for custom notification calendars including exception days (where no notification should be received)

• The tool should allow to define date and time periods for notification as well as periods where notifications should be excluded (i.e holidays) to avoid turning notifications into SPAM

4.4 Notifications of scheduled changes Notifications for changes made through the audit solution

• Send email for scheduled configuration changes

• The tool should be capable of notifying scheduled change results made through it.


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5. Business Continuity Ref. Use Case description Expected result 5.0 Tracking changes made during disconnection scenarios Are configuration changes made during disconnection periods between the audit solution

and config server tracked? • Stop the audit solution to simulate a disconnection from config server • Change options of any object using CME • Change permissions of any object using CME • Restart the audit solution

• The audit tool should be able to track changed configuration (any updates including changing permissions) during its disconnection from Genesys components

5.1 Tracking additions made during disconnection scenarios Are configuration additions made during disconnection periods between the audit solution

and config server tracked? • Stop the audit solution to simulate a disconnection from config server • Add a few objects using CME • Restart the audit solution

• The audit tool should be able to track added configuration objects during its disconnection from Genesys components

5.2 Tracking deletions made during disconnection scenarios Are configuration deletions made during disconnection periods between the audit solution

and config server tracked? • Stop the audit solution to simulate a disconnection from config server • Delete a few objects using CME • Restart the audit solution

• The audit tool should be able to track deleted configuration objects during its disconnection from Genesys components

5.3 Support for Genesys application switchover Does the tool support the failover of the Genesys applications?

• Switchover or stop the primay message server and keep the backup running o Make changes, additions and deletions of any objects in CME

• Switchover or stop the primay Confserv server and keep the backup running o Make changes, additions an deletions of any objects in CME o Make a rollback of any change through the tool to trigger an update action

through the connected backup confserv (now in primary mode)

• The audit tool should support the failover/switchover of Genesys components.


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Ref. Use Case description Expected result 5.4 Dependency on Genesys components Is the tool dependent on Genesys log database?

• If No:No risk of loosing connection or access to the log DB and no dependency on the data collected and stored by message server in its DB

• If Yes: What happens when the audit tool looses its connection to the log DB? -‐What happens if the log DB crashes, or is unavailable for any other reason? -‐What happens if the log DB is purged every 15 or 30 days? -‐What happens when log DB performance decreases (index corruption etc)? Is the tool dependent on Genesys config database? • If No:No risk of loosing connection or access to the confserv DB. • If Yes: What happens when the audit tool looses its connection to the confserv DB? -‐Do users still have access to all audit trail data if the DB connection to CME DB is unavailable?

• The audit tool should have minimal dependency on Genesys components to minimize risks and single point of failure scenarios

• A dependency on maintaining a large log DB (which collects large amounts of data) can and typically does impact performance.

• Be aware that if you have a too large log database, you won’t be able to browse alarms and errors through SCI/Administrator, so you’ll be impacting other monitoring functions. In extreme cases, the SCI tool won’t even allow you to log in if the log DB is too large.

• Genesys standards recommend using the Platform SDK to access the configuration DB and not sql queries.


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6. Other Monitoring Features Ref. Use Case description Expected result 6.0 Monitoring License usage Does the tool allow for tracking license usage in real time?

• Is license usage queried from Genesys TServer/SIP Server or a custom formula? • Can the tool be connected to any TServer/SIP Server to get the license usage

information? • How often is the license usage information queried/updated? • Does the tool allow to dynamically aggregate the license usage report on minute,

hour, day, month year intervals? • Can users export the license usage report to MS WORD & Excel?

• Very useful to prevent errors due to excess of license usage or misconfigurations

• -‐License usage information should not be a custom formula, it should be retuned as calculated by TServer/SIP Server.

• -‐Users should be able to aggregate the report dynamically through the web interface

• -‐Export features are always required by users for further report processing

6.1 Monitoring extension usage Does the tool allow for tracking extension usage in real time?

• Can the tool track how long each extension hasn’t been used for, i.e filter out extensions that haven been used for 60 or 90 days?

• Can users export the report to MS Word & Excel?

• Extension usage leads to consuming licenses, hence it is important to know what extensions haven’t been used for how long to be able to re-‐use these before purchasing new licenses. This is especially useful for contact centers with high agent fluctuation

6.2 Monitoring GIM jobs Does the tool allow for tracking Genesys Infomart job status results in real time?

• Does the tool allow searching by job duration, i.e jobs that lasted more than 30 seconds?

• Does the tool allow filtering by job status, i.e find all failed jobs • Does the tool allow exporting this report to MS Word & excel?

• Infomart Reporting jobs should be tracked and monitored in real time as well as over a long period of time to be able to assess the stability of the reporting platform.

• Users should get the possibility to filter the report and export it.

6.3 Monitoring application errors Does the tool allow for tracking any configurable Genesys application errors in real time?

• Does the tool allow tracking any Genesys error? • Does the tool support dynamic aggregation of the number of errors by different time

intervals, i.e minute, hour, day, month, year? • Does the tool allow exporting this report to MS Word & excel?

• The Genesys log database does not allow for selective tracking or retention of specific errors, hence such feature is very useful to compensate this limitation.

• Users should be able to dynamically aggregate the report and export it for further processing


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Ref. Use Case description Expected result 6.4 Monitoring application start/down activities Does the tool allow for tracking and reporting on Genesys application status changes in real

time? • Users require a consolidated view of application startup to asses the stability of the

platform, i.e which application is started/stopped more often • Does the tool allow documenting each application start/stop/switchover? • Does the tool support dynamic aggregation of this report by different time intervals

i.e minute, hour, day, month, year? • Does the tool allow exporting this report to MS Word & excel?

• Although most of application startup/shutdown events are stored in the Genesys log database, this information is lost when the log DB is purged. The application should not rely on log database to provide historical information about the stability of all platform applications.

6.5 Monitoring URS CAPS Does the tool allow for tracking URS performance metrics (CAPS)?

• Does the tool provide dynamic aggregation feature by different time intervals? • How often does the tool collect the CAPS information? • Does the tool provide any chart (zoom feature as a bonus)?

• The performance of your Genesys platform (URS, Resource Manager, MCP and Reporting Server) is measured using the CAPS metric

6.6 Monitoring host metrics Does the tool allow for tracking performance metrics for all Genesys platform Hosts?

• Does the tool require any additional scripts to track host metrics? i.e does it require installing any scripts or agents on any of the monitored hosts?

• Does the tool provide dynamic aggregation feature by different time intervals? • Does the tool allow for custom and configurable collection time intervals of CPU and

MEM data? • Does the tool provide any chart (zoom feature as a bonus)?

• Tracking CPU/MEM for all host is indeed very useful, however it should not impact the performance of any of the hosts through additional scripts or agent technology.

6.7 Monitoring Business metrics Does the tool allow for the configuration of business metrics?

• Configure and subscribe for custom statistics • Raise notifications when subscribed statistics exceeds custom thresholds

• Functional notification based on business metrics is very useful for contact centre management. Users should be able to combine different statistics to custom thresholds and trigger alarms accordingly: i.e. Number of available agents logged in > X and Number of calls in queue > Y


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7. Architecture Ref. Use Case description Expected result 7.0 Interfaces with Genesys Server components • Does the tool use Genesys APIs (Platform SDK) for all its interfaces and interaction with

Genesys server components? • Does it use Platform SDK for tracking configuration changes as well as rollback operations? • Is the tool dependent on direct access to Genesys databases through SQL • Does the tool depend on Genesys log database?

• AuditGen compresses the XML data flow and stores it in its database in zipped format for optimal network bandwidth usage and database storage

• Important note: Genesys support does not recommend connecting directly through SQL to Genesys configuration database

• The tool should not depend on Genesys log database as it could be purged or disabled or nothing could be written to it. Such dependency represents additional risks.

7.1 Support for RDBMS • Does the tool run its own database on:

• Oracle 10g, 11g • SQL Server 2008, 2012

• The own tool database should support both SQL Server and Oracle

7.2 Dependency on third party tools • Does the tool have any dependency on additional reporting packages like SQL Server

Reporting Services or are its reports independent of third party reporting tools?

• Tools reports should be generated without any dependencies on third party products

• Note that the SQL Server Reporting Services module requires additional license costs!

7.3 Support for Multiple environments • Does the tool allow accessing different environments (i.e. production and pre-‐production)

through the same web interface?

• Users should be able to use the same web application for different environments without having to switch URLs.

• Using the same web application for multiple environments


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• Can user access rights be configured at the same place and once only for both environments?

means less maintenance effort • Applying the same access permissions across environments ensures consistency and security as easier configuration.

7.4 LDAP Integration • Does the solution support the integration with LDAP Active Directory? Other LDAP?

Users should not have to separately manage their passwords in the audit tool when using a central authentication system (LDAP) Note: Genesys supports from configuration Server version 8.1.x le possibility to configure external authentication at CS proxy level. The audit tool should support connectivity to Genesys CS proxy (for performance reasons) which can handle the external authentication with LDAP.

• Users do not have to maintain their passwords in the audit tool in case their passwords are managed by LDAP Active Directory

• Users should be able to login to the tool using their External user IDs with their LDAP passwords.

7.5 Support connections to multiple Message servers • Does the tool support connections to multiple message servers? • Most large environments use multiple instances of message

servers. • In order to track events from all applications that could be connected to different message servers, it is necessary to support multiple message server connections


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8. Performance Ref. Use Case description Expected result 8.0 Network and database performance enhancement measures • Check network bandwidth and how the tool sends over the network: XML zipped?

• Check if the data (XML flow) is stored in zipped format in the database

• AuditGen compresses the XML data flow and stores it in its database in zipped format for optimal network bandwidth usage and database storage

8.1 Connection to CS proxy • Can the audit solution connect to Config Server proxy? • To minimize impact on the central config server, a connection to

a CS proxy may be necessary to ensure zero performance impact on config server.

9. Security Ref. Use Case description Expected result 9.0 Interfaces with Genesys components • What user does the application use for any configuration updates (application user or

individual user accounts) • Can each user configure and update his/her Genesys user through the audit tool (does the tool clearly differentiate between the own application user and the Genesys user?)

• The tool should use its own credentials to read configuration data

• Any configuration updates done through the tools should be executed with Genesys account of the logged in user (no generic accounts for rollback or updates)

9.1 Role based application • • Is the tool a role based application? i.e does it allow the creation and management of User

Groups and assign users to each group? • Is access to the different parts and reports of the tool managed by User Group? i.e. access can be granted/denied to a group?

• The tool should provide capabilities to manage user groups and set access permissions for each group depending on the required privileges or operational access requirements.

• Admin users should be able to move other users between groups and change access permissions without any code changes or heaving configuration of the tool


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Ref. Use Case description Expected result 9.2 Application security Application security model

• Does the application has its own group and permission model to manage access to its various modules

• Does the tool allow for the creation of as many user groups as needed with a different set of privileges?

• Does the tool allow for the creation of as many users (assigned to a user group) as needed with a different set of privileges?

• Are passwords (application account as well as all configured users) stored in plain text or encrypted in the database and config files of the audit solution?

• Users should be able to setup their own preferences in the admin area (change password, email address, language, displayed change colours, …)

• The tool should support multi-‐user as well as user groups

• The audit tool should not store passwords in plain text in any of its configuration files or database tables.

9.3 Client/Server communication Client Server communication

• Does the web application of the audit tool store local data on each user machine?

• The web application should not store any data or application logic on user machines

9.4 Support for TLS Audit tool supports TLS?

• Does the audit solution support TLS in its connection with Genesys components?


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10. Data Retention & Purging Ref. Use Case description Expected result 10.0 Data retention per data type • Does the tool allow to set different purging rules for different data types

• Data retention is typically different for each type of data and the tool should provide flexibility to configure different retention periods for each data type.

• In case the tool tracks and collects different types of data (audit trail, application status, application errors, license usage, etc.), users should be able to configure different retention periods for each data type

10.1 Data retention & Reference configuration • Does the tool allow keeping reference configuration records beyond the retention period?

• Correct or reference configuration should not be submitted to regular purging rules typically based on record age.

• When users choose to tag some change records as reference records, these should not be deleted like any other audit trail records, otherwise you won’t be able to track your ‘correct’ configuration.

10.2 Admin of data retention • Can retention/purging rules be updated through a web interface?

• Does the tool allow you to configure/update retention days over the web interface • Does the tool allow you to monitor the purge job (when was it last run)? • Does the tool allow you to see the number of records purged? • Is data purging process automated or requires user intervention?

• Data purging should be an inherent concept to any solution that collects large amounts of data.


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11. The AHP Selection model The selection model can be downloaded here: http://auditgen.com/en/auditgen-‐competition (Audit tools selection model.xlsx) The AHP model (Analytical Hierarchy Process) is quite straight forward yet powerful as it allows you to combine and organise all your criteria to support your decision making process. Here’s how it works:

• Each of the main differentiation criteria as well as sub-‐criteria is assigned a weighting. • Scores are then attributed to each of the sub-‐criteria based upon the evaluation and assessment performed by business/technical users. • These scores translate the compliance levels fulfilled by each of the sub-‐criteria. • Scores are multiplied by their corresponding weightings to calculate the relative/weighted scores for each group of criteria. • The sum of these relative scores represent in the end the overall rating of each of the evaluated products.

The model is available in an excel sheet and provides the following elements: Format conventions Format conventions Values to be changed/attributed by users calculated field values should not be altered Compliance levels The compliance levels can be adjusted to suit any customer’s needs and perceptions of compliance. Compliance levels Score Not compliant 0 Partially compliant 2 Fully compliant 4


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Weighted criteria & sub-‐crietria The following table summarizes all features and allows users to attribute and adjust the default weighting to each sub-‐criteria as well as group of criteria according to customer’s requirements: The sum of the weightings for all criteria groups as well as criteria within each group cannot exceed 100%. Ref. Functionality Weighting

1 Configuration audit trail 1.1 User Interface features 100% 5%

1.1.0 Web based User Interface 25% 1.1.1 User friendliness 25% 1.1.2 Search capabilities 15% 1.1.3 Multi-‐language support 10% 1.1.4 Dashboard 25% 1.2 Tracking Configuration changes 100% 15%

1.2.0 Additions 10% 1.2.1 Changes 10% 1.2.2 Permission changes 10% 1.2.3 Application account changes 10% 1.2.4 Deletions 10% 1.2.5 Documentation of changes 10% 1.2.6 Categorization of changes 10% 1.2.7 Tracking Reference config 10% 1.2.8 Support Multi-‐tenancy 10% 1.2.9 Tracking object movements between folders 10% 1.3 Configuration Rollback 100% 10%


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Ref. Functionality Weighting 1.3.0 Rollback changed options 10% 1.3.1 Rollback added options 10% 1.3.2 Rollback deleted options 10% 1.3.3 Rollback permission changes 10% 1.3.4 Rollback application account changes 10% 1.3.5 Rollback Agent skill changes 10% 1.3.6 Rollback exception handling 5% 1.3.7 RollbackRouting Strategies 15% 1.3.8 Rollback of grouped options 10% 1.3.9 Scheduled rollback 10% 1.4 Administration features 100% 5%

1.4.0 Control access by object type 40% 1.4.1 User/Group administration 50% 1.4.2 Enbale/Disable rollback 10% 1.5 Reporting features 100% 5%

1.5.0 Reporting capabilities 40% 1.5.1 Charts & trend reporting 30% 1.5.2 Export to MS Word and Excel 20% 1.5.3 Scheduling report generation 10%

2 Scheduling & Bulk Configuration 100% 5% 2.0 Bulk updates/inserts 30% 2.1 Scheduling list option changes 20% 2.2 Scheduling list option changes: configurable values 10% 2.3 Scheduling skill changes 20% 2.4 Scheduling agent skill changes: configurable skill levels 10%


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Ref. Functionality Weighting 2.5 Scheduling agent profile changes 10% 3 Compare environments 100% 5%

3.0 Compare application Configuration 40% 3.1 Compare Agent configuration 30% 3.2 Compare all DN type configuration 30% 4 Notifications 100% 10%

4.0 Notification of configuration changes 30% 4.1 Notification of application errors ghfhggh 20% 4.2 Supported notification channels 20% 4.3 Notification calendars 10% 4.4 Notification of scheduled changes 20% 5 Business Continuity 100% 10%

5.0 Tracking Changes made during disconnections 25% 5.1 Tracking Additions made during disconnections 25% 5.2 Tracking Deletions made during disconnections 25% 5.3 Support for Genesys application switchover 15% 5.4 Dependency on Genesys components 10% 6 Other monitoring features 100% 10%

6.0 Monitoring license usage 15% 6.1 Monitoring extension usage 15% 6.2 Monitoring GIM jobs 10% 6.3 Monitoring application errors 15% 6.4 Monitoring application startup/shutdown 10% 6.5 Monitoring URS CAPS metric 15% 6.6 Monitoring host metrics 10%


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Ref. Functionality Weighting 6.7 Monitoring business metrics 10% 7 Architecture 100% 5%

7.0 Interfaces with Genesys Server components 40% 7.1 Support for RDBMS 20% 7.2 Dependency on third party tools 10% 7.3 Support for Multiple environments 10% 7.4 LDAP integration 10% 7.5 Support for multiple message server connections 10% 8 Performance 100% 5%

4.0 Network & DB performance measures 70% 4.1 Connection to Config Server proxy 30% 9 Security 100% 5%

9.0 Interfaces with Genesys components 30% 9.1 Role based application 20% 9.2 Application security 30% 9.3 Client/Server communication 10% 9.4 TLS support 10% 10 Data Retention & Purging 100% 5%

10.0 Data retention per data type 60% 10.1 Data retention & reference configuration 10% 10.2 Admin of data retention 30%

Total 100%


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Summary weightings (criteria groups)

Summary weightings

1.1 User Interface features 5% 1.2 Tracking Configuration changes 15% 1.3 Configuration Rollback 10% 1.4 Administration features 5% 1.5 Reporting features 5% 2 Scheduling & Bulk Configuration 5% 3 Compare environments 5% 4 Notifications 10% 5 Business Continuity 10% 6 Other monitoring features 10% 7 Architecture 5% 8 Performance 5% 9 Security 5%

10 Data Retention & Purging 5%

Total 100%

Software

Audit tools use cases for Genesys platforms