NTT DATA and AMIYA Jointly Develop Log Management Solution for IT Systems- Combines Splunk IT search solution with ALog Converter, Japan's best-selling tool for monitoring server access logs -

NTT DATA CORPORATION (Head office: Koto-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Toru Yamashita) and AMIYA Corporation (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Seiichi Itoh) have completed joint development of a solution that combines the Splunk IT search product of Splunk Inc., sold in Japan by NTT DATA, and AMIYA's ALog Converter tool for monitoring server access logs.
Log management for IT systems is becoming increasingly important as companies work to meet new internal control requirements. In many cases, however, system administrators are forced to use different log management tools for each system, severely complicating their task. The workload can be reduced greatly by introducing Splunk, for centralized management of the logs produced by each of the tools. The joint solution announced today makes it possible for companies that are already using ALog Converter, with its 70 percent share of the Japanese market, to deploy Splunk immediately.
The new solution will be sold starting in fiscal year 2010 as a Splunk optional product.

Background

In order to meet internal control and compliance requirements, or to acquire Privacy Mark and ISMS certification for enhanced risk management as part of their information security measures, companies need to deploy a log collection and management infrastructure capable of accurately recording and quickly analyzing and reporting the "who, when, and what" of IT system usage. Especially important objects of this monitoring are the access logs of file servers storing confidential company information.

Overview

Splunk is a tool that indexes all kinds of system-generated data such as logs and error messages to enable a variety of searches and analysis. Incorporating original technologies, it performs data searches with far greater flexibility in setting search conditions than conventional log management tools allow, and can manage data across multiple systems. It also can create reports easily by drawing on a wealth of reporting functions.
ALog Converter has powerful functions for analyzing the Windows event logs that record file server accesses and for converting them to a readily understandable and usable format. With the jointly developed solution, the logs analyzed and converted by ALog Converter are used in Splunk to perform multifaceted analysis and reporting. They can also be combined with other logs for cross-sectional tracking. Compliance and information security measures are strengthened as a result.

Advantages of the Joint Solution

♦ Automatic log indexing

Using the Splunk file and directory monitoring function, the logs collected, analyzed and converted by ALog Converter can be indexed automatically by Splunk.

♦ Integration with logs generated by other systems and equipment

Splunk original technology is able to index many different types of data and perform a wide variety of searches and analyses. The logs collected, analyzed and converted by ALog Converter can be merged with other logs such as those generated by network equipment as well as the authentication logs and operation logs of various systems, for cross-sectional search, analysis, and reporting.

♦ Flexible searching and reporting

Besides providing templates for search conditions and reports geared to the logs collected, analyzed and converted by ALog Converter, Splunk allows search conditions and report parameters to be set freely, for flexible search and reporting not bound by templates.

Future Developments

NTT DATA will continue to develop and provide solutions incorporating Splunk, matched to various customer needs, and will further boost Splunk deployment on the Japanese market.
NTT DATA is targeting a 10 percent share of the 3.2 billion yen domestic log management solutions market (estimate for end of FY 2008 by MIC Research Institute Limited) by the end of fiscal 2010.
AMIYA aims to break through the 1,500 customer mark in ALog Converter deployments by the end of fiscal 2010.

* About Splunk

Splunk is an IT search solution that automatically indexes IT texts of all kinds and performs automatic event mapping. With more than 350,000 client downloads worldwide, Splunk has been introduced in more than 1,100 companies.

http://splunk.nttdata.co.jp

* About ALog Converter

ALog Converter is a server access log monitoring tool developed and sold by AMIYA Corporation. It can keep logs of user operations without deploying agents on either the client PC or server end.
Complicated Windows OS event logs are analyzed and converted to readily understandable and right form. The product is used in more than 1,000 companies in Japan.

* About AMIYA Corporation

Established in December 1996, AMIYA provides solutions for total support of tasks relating to internal control in corporations. The company has developed wide-ranging business operations around its monitoring products, from comprehensive consulting to security system design and operation support.

* About NTT DATA CORPORATION

NTT DATA CORPORATION is Japan's top system integrator, with an extensive record of accomplishments in large-scale system integration, network services, and many other areas.

* About Splunk Inc.

Splunk Inc. was established mainly by engineers involved in search engine development at Microsoft, Infoseek, Yahoo! and other firms. As a company dedicated to advancing search technologies, it works closely with more than 50 corporate partners including BT, Microsoft, VMware, Cisco, and F5 Networks.

* Names of companies and products herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.