ideas advantage quick start guide

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IDEAS Advantage

Quick Start Guide

March 2016

Overview

Welcome to IDEAS Advantage!

This guide is designed to help you get up and running quickly with the capabilities of IDEAS Advantage.

This Quick Start Guide will focus on the overall operation of IDEAS Advantage and the two product modules, Servers and Storage.

There are individual Quick Start Guides for IT Efficiency and Server Consolidation, as well as Smart Import . Those Quick Start Guides can be viewed or downloaded from the home page of those functions.

Please note that some links or buttons with a descriptive label may not provide all the functions inferred by the description in this version of the Gartner service.

Throughout the service you will also find on-page assistance to help you, as follows:

Click to open the User Guide context sensitive to the page you are on.

Blue background hint text provides a summary of the purpose of tools and their operation.

Mouse-over help is available in many places.

IDEAS Advantage Quick Start Guide 2

Home page

March 2016

The IDEAS Advantage home page provides access to content and tools through the main menu bar and quick access icons, the most viewed server and storage products, and advisory information (What’s New) on major updates to IDEAS Advantage features and content.

Most viewed Server and Storage products by all end-user subscribers over a rolling seven-day window, updated daily.

What’s New advises you of recent major updates to features and content.

Main menu bar is accessible from all pages. This is supplemented by quick access icons for major features.

Download this guide

Access the on-line user guide

Quick access icons for major functions. You can customize which icons are displayed to suit your personal preferences.

Update your profile and preferences

For support and feedback


Server and Storage – home page

March 2016 IDEAS Advantage Quick Start Guide 4

Each module has a home page, providing a simple search and an advanced search, quick access icons for key features, access to saved comparisons, links to recently viewed products, plus the most recent product announcements added to our database for your preferred manufacturers.

The most recent product announcements added to our database. This is filtered by your preferred manufacturers settings in Preferences by default – you can deselect that filter.

Advanced Search provides access to both currently marketed and obsolete products. You can search for a specific product, or use a more complex search, such as finding all current x86 blade servers for an RPE2 range, or listing all products for a particular product family.

Quicklinks icons provide you with direct access to key functions.

Saved Product and Configuration Comparisons and Configuration Selector comparisons can be selected for quick access.

Links to your five most recently viewed products are provided for quick return access.

The simple search provides quick access to both currently marketed and obsolete products.

March 2016

Product Profile


The Product Profile is the hub of information for a product. This page highlights key product information at a glance, with a side menu providing access to additional detailed information.

The Product Profile menu provides access to additional information for this product.

See following page for more information on these menu options.

Gartner written product overview, technical description and configuration notes. For selected storage products, a list of optional software is also included.

View all current products for this manufacturer or this product family, with the ability to create comparisons.

Typical competing products are identified by Gartner analysts. Your preferred manufacturers’ products are preselected.

Summary specifications, and for Servers, a processor options table above.

Create product or configuration comparisons, or compare configuration options.

Export this profile to a PDF report

Price currency and power data type in use is identified.

March 2016

Product Profile menu


The Product Profile provides a side menu to access detailed product information. Note that some menu functions are module specific.

Manufacturer Currently marketed products for this manufacturer

Product Family Currently marketed products for the product family. You can create comparisons and chart specific attributes

Performance Published benchmark results for this product family

Product Product profile page

Specifications Specifications datasheet

Processor Options Servers only; A list of processor options and their tech specs

Lifecycle Lifecycle duration of this product and previous generations of this product

Software Storage only; Lists key software products available

Discounting Researched data of discounting practice

Parts Pricing Pricing for components, plus price history links

Parts Monitor On-line reporting of new parts, obsoleted parts and price changes

Configurations Sample configurations with pricing and price history

Global Pricing Similar to Parts Pricing, but with pricing for multiple countries.

Services Standard warranty, with links to optional services and service pricing

Performance Published benchmark results and any other relevant performance information

Custom Compare

March 2016

Custom Compare is provided for both Servers and Storage, enabling you to easily create comparisons of the products you want to compare. This includes comparing old with new, comparing different product types such as blades vs. rack servers, or x86 vs. RISC, or any combination.

Comparisons can be conducted at either product model level, or configuration level, it's your choice.

Select to limit search results to current products only

Enter search keywords then click a product name to select

Reset clears the search and the selected products list

As you select products, they are added to the selected products list.

Create a comparison of these products.

You can deselect products you wish to leave out of the comparison.

Compare these products at configuration level.

Database & Configuration Wizard groups all the sample configurations for the selected products to assist making the optimum configuration choice (note Database options not available).


Quick Compare


Quick Compare enables rapid product comparisons by using Gartner analyst selections of which products are the typical competitors for others.

In Step 3, competing products are displayed. Preferred manufacturers’ products are selected by default. You can optionally include any non-preferred manufacturers’ products.

In Step 1 & 2 you select the manufacturer and then product to base the comparison on.

You can add a custom product selection to the comparison list.

Create a comparison of these products.

You can optionally compare these products at configuration level.

Database & Configuration Wizard groups all the sample configurations for the selected products to assist making the optimum configuration choice (note Database options not available).

Database & Configuration Wizard – Servers only


Database & Configuration Wizard assists you to make an optimal selection when evaluating configuration options across multiple products. Please note that the database functionality is not available.

The Wizard brings together all the sample configurations for the products you select, and enables filtering and optimized selections by ranking the configurations by various performance and price relationships. You can also include discounted pricing variants of the relevant ranking factors, with the ability to apply discounts to individual products.

Set relevant performance bands.

Pick the Sample content.“By Product” gives more options.

Energy options match the current Country Focus. Modify if required.

Researched = inbuilt values.Custom enables your product specific values.

Continue after making selections

Continue after making selections

Pick an alternative performance option if desired.

Select products of interest.

Set any chip or core constraints.

These options select the cost columns that are displayed and aggregated in the RPE2/Total COA column.

Step 2: Choose filters and options. Or you can refine the selections after viewing the outcomes.

Step 1: Select the products you intend to compare.

Database & Configuration Wizard – CONT


Any other column can be ranked by “best” descending.

Step 3: Matching results are displayed, enabling you to choose products to compare in detail or refine in Step 2.

This is the default initial ranked column.

Share saved results with registered colleagues.

Saved comparisons can be opened in same view and modified.

Step 2 can be re-opened to change filter settings.

Replacement Wizard


Step 3: Matching results are displayed, enabling you to choose products to compare in detail.

Replacement Wizard helps you select a suitable replacement for a currently installed product.

If a direct replacement is identified, it will be displayed. You can compare the direct replacement with the installed product, show options from other preferred manufacturers, or search for alternative products, taking you to Step 2.

Search options are only active when both check boxes are selected. Active options are shown in bold

Your active search options are displayed

Step 2: Choose search options to find alternative products

The number of matching products per manufacturer is shown

Your preferred manufacturers from Preferences selections

Step 1: Select the product you intend to replace.

Click to list matching products.

Configuration Builder


Configuration Builder enables you to create and save customized configurations for a product. You can create a customized configuration by starting with a sample configuration or by building the configuration from scratch using the parts list for the product. Once a custom configuration is saved, you can monitor it for price changes.

Search for the product you want to configure.

Choose to build your customized configuration using a sample configuration or using the parts list. The example below shows using the parts list.

The Expand buttons enable navigating between the functions

In Servers and Storage, you can choose to use pricing other than your default currency view in Preferences.

To build a configuration from parts, enter the quantity for each of the desired parts, then click Add.

Configuration notes provide guidance on configuration rules

Scroll the parts list

Find a part enables a part code or description search, or you can use the part type filters to view parts.

Configuration Builder


Configuration Workspace is where you customize the configuration and save it.

Name and save your configuration

Alter part quantities or delete parts.

Optionally change the pricing currency (Servers and Storage only)

Click to select parts to add

Option to apply a discount

View saved configurations enables tracking price changes, and exporting or deleting configurations.

Click a configuration name to open it in Configuration Workspace. Options to export to a

spreadsheet, or delete configurations.

Any price changes since the configuration was first saved will be indicated. Clicking the saved configuration name will show which parts changed in price and the price change percentage.

Indicates if the product is now obsoleted.

Mouse-over configuration notes, and a link to the product profile page with configuration guidelines and information.

Parts Price Analysis


Parts Price Analysis enables searching for a specific part or a group of parts to analyze pricing and view all available parts options. It includes multi-country price views and the option to normalize pricing to a selected country price.

You start by selecting a manufacturer. You can optionally filter to just those manufacturers with currently marketed products. You also have the option to choose pricing other than your default currency setting in Preferences.

A list of parts matching your search criteria is returned. For further analysis of a specific part, click on the part code.

Selecting a manufacturer then expands the search criteria options.

• Product Family filters results to parts for products in the selected product family

• Part Code searches by full or partial part code (part number)

• Part Description filters results to parts with a description containing a text string you enter

• Part Type filters results to a part type you select, such as memory or disk.

• Product Family, Part Code, Part Description and Part Type selections are additive

• Search selections are optional. You can search using any one or any combination of them.

Once a specific part is selected, you will see the products the part is used in, the current price, a price history chart and price history data table


March 2016

List of products this part is used in.

You can choose to list all price change check points, or just those where the price changed (default)

Click to view price analysis for multiple countries.


Click Go To Multi Country Pricing to access options for multi country pricing analysis.

Select the currencies of interest and click Next

A pricing comparison for your selected countries is returned. You can select up to two countries to chart price history.

Price Normalizer compares pricing across your selected countries by translating local currency pricing into equivalent price using your selected base currency.

Exchange rates used are displayed, along with the date the exchange rates were last updated.

Price variation between your selected base currency and the country equivalent price is shown as a variance percentage.



Product Comparison


There are two levels of comparison in IDEAS Advantage: a product comparison and the more detailed configuration comparison. Let’s first explain the product comparison.

A product comparison is created whenever you click the Compare button.

Choose a chart or scale option, or save your own custom chart. See the next page for information on custom charting.

Options to create a configuration level comparison or use Configuration Selector (Servers only) to choose optimal configurations for these products.

You can change your comparison view.

You can save your comparison, share it with a colleague, or export to a spreadsheet.

HINT: Scrolling the Charts & Specifications page will show you the data rows and values charted, using the matching color code.

You can choose how to apply discounts to pricing. Page 21 provides more information.

Configuration Comparison

March 2016

Of the two levels of comparison in IDEAS Advantage, let’s now review the more detailed version, the configuration comparison.

A configuration comparison is created by the Configuration Comparison button.

The first stage is to select the configurations to compare. You can use an automated selection based on a starting configuration you select, select the configurations manually, or a combination of both.

While the match criteria options will vary between the modules, the operation is otherwise identical.

Then click to auto match configurations for the other products

In Step 2, select a configuration from any of the products

In Step 1, choose your match criteria.

Once the configurations are matched, click Go To Comparison to view the comparison details.

You can add a product to this comparison by searching for it.

The selected configurations are displayed. You can fine tune the selections, or click Go To Comparison.


Configuration Comparison


After clicking Go To Comparison, your configuration level comparison is displayed. This is an example of a server configuration comparison.

Configuration specific charts are provided, along with the ability to create and save custom charts.

The comparison details are grouped by configuration specific information, with the product specifications below.

You can create custom charts by selecting checkboxes and clicking Redraw.

Click on a blue price row label to view detailed parts pricing.

NOTE: The ability to chart both configuration specific and product specific data at the same time is not available in order to prevent possible misleading comparisons.

Options to save your comparison, share the comparison with a colleague or export to a spreadsheet.

Comparisons – custom charting

While predefined charts are provided in both product and configuration comparisons, you can also create custom charts for a specific requirement. You can name and save a custom chart for later use. Custom charts are linked to your personal profile.

Select the numeric values you desire to include in a new custom chart. You can also temporarily modify the content within a pre-defined chart wish.

You can save your custom chart for later use.

Click “Redraw” to create your custom chart. “Reset chart” will restore the chart to its original form if you have chosen to modify a predefined chart.

Saved charts can be deleted by clicking the X


Discounting


IDEAS Advantage provides the ability to calculate discounted pricing two ways. You can derive discounted pricing from the researched discount data provided as part of your subscription, or from custom discount values you enter.

You have the choice of using researched discount data or using your custom discount values in functions such as comparisons, Configuration Builder and when researching parts and configurations pricing. If Discounting is selected in Preferences (see above), this will automatically create researched discount pricing views.

Below is a sample of discounted pricing in a Configuration Comparison.

In Preferences, you can choose to deselect the usage of our researched discounts in the interface. This setting is “on” by default.

Discounted prices for List price, derived metrics involving price, and Cost of Acquisition (COA) are calculated.

Choose the discount source

Benchmark Library


Benchmark Library provides access to Gartner’s extensive and continuously updated database of published benchmark results, both current and historical results.

Selection options for current or all benchmarks, the specific benchmark test, and summary or detailed results view.

Certain benchmark types feature a click-through to full disclosure information. The availability of this additional data is dependent on the benchmark organization.

Options for items per page and sorting.

Export data to a spreadsheet or create a chart of results.

Click to view all benchmarks for the specific product in the Performance page of the Product Profile.

Options to include withdrawn or historical results where relevant to the selected benchmark.

Alerts

March 2016

Alerts is a push email service to advise you of relevant new information such as price changes for products of interest, new benchmark results and new product additions to our database. Alerts are specific to the Servers and Storage modules, and separately managed in both.

Alerts are managed through the Alerts Management interface. Once you set up alerts and click Save, you will receive push emails for alert categories with an active status. You can suspend an alert category by setting the status to inactive without losing your alert selections. Alerts will be delivered to the email address you registered with - see My Profile.

Set status to active to enable alerts from each category.

For each alert category, click to create a new alert

Click X to delete an alert, and save your change.

Click to save your changes.

Threshold setting prevents price change reports for changes below this % value.


My Profile & Preferences

March 2016

My Profile presents the information you used to register for the service, allowing you to update your details as required.

Note that if you update your email address, you will be required to reauthorize your access.

Click Update Preferences to save your settings.

You can change your default country view. Changes are effective from your next access.

Preselect your preferred server and storage manufacturers to select by default in tools and comparisons.

Set your discount pricing view option

Server Consolidation options enable you to customize your Workspace views.

Power Data enables choosing the server power data type most applicable to your needs.


Help and Support


IDEAS Advantage provides comprehensive help and support facilities.

This Quick Start Guide is accessible at the top right hand side of the portal page.

Click to open the on-line User Guide.

Contact Us enables submitting support requests and providing feedback.See below.

Click the Help icon at the top right on any page to open the User Guide in a context sensitive mode.

ideas advantage quick start guide

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