IBM Sterling managed services
Keep IBM Sterling running, day and night
IBM Sterling B2B Integrator, File Gateway and Connect:Direct carry orders, invoices, payments and files your business cannot afford to lose. ECOM's Sterling specialists monitor, administer, troubleshoot and support those environments, so problems are caught early and your team does not carry the platform alone.
At a glance
- 24×7 monitoring
- Incident response and troubleshooting
- Platform administration
- Connect:Direct support
- Certificate and key management
- Partner and map changes
The challenge
Sterling needs constant care, and the skills are scarce
A Sterling environment needs attention every day. Certificates expire, fix packs are released, adapters stop, queues back up, business processes halt and databases grow. When that work depends on one or two people, holidays, resignations and competing projects turn routine maintenance into risk, and failures are often discovered by trading partners or the business before the people running the platform.
- Failed business processes and transfers are noticed late, often by partners
- Certificate expiries cause partner connection failures
- Fix packs are postponed because nobody has time to test them
- Knowledge depends on one or two administrators
- Nobody watches the platform outside office hours
Scope
What ECOM's Sterling specialists do
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24×7 monitoring
Watch adapters, perimeter servers, queues, business process status, mailboxes and transfers, with alerting into agreed escalation paths.
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Incident response and troubleshooting
Diagnose and resolve halted business processes, failed transfers, adapter and communication errors according to agreed service levels.
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Platform administration
Configuration, users and permissions, fix packs, archiving and purge, and housekeeping for B2B Integrator and File Gateway.
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Connect:Direct support
Node configuration, netmaps, Secure+ settings and transfer troubleshooting.
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Certificate and key management
Inventory certificates, track expirations and coordinate renewals with partners well before they expire.
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Partner and map changes
Onboard partners and maintain maps and business processes as part of the service, within the agreed scope.
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Related IBM software
Administration, development and upgrades for IBM Sterling Order Management, IBM MQ, IBM App Connect and IBM API Connect.
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Reporting and service reviews
Regular reviews of incidents, capacity, upcoming fix packs and lifecycle dates, with recommendations.
Approach
How an engagement runs
- 01
Onboard the environment
Review architecture, versions, partners, monitoring and runbooks, and agree responsibilities and escalation paths with your team.
- 02
Stabilize
Address urgent risks first, such as expiring certificates, overdue fix packs, recurring failures and missing alerts.
- 03
Operate
Run monitoring, administration and support within the agreed scope and service levels defined in the service agreement.
- 04
Improve
Review incidents, capacity and IBM lifecycle dates regularly and plan upgrades and improvements with you.
Technical considerations
What a managed Sterling service depends on
Managed operations work best when responsibilities and access are clear from the start. These are the items ECOM agrees with you during onboarding.
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Hosting and access
Whether the environment runs in your data center, your cloud or ECOM-managed infrastructure, and how ECOM specialists access it securely.
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Monitoring and alerting
Which components are monitored, which tools are used (for example Sterling Control Center or your existing tooling) and where alerts go.
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Change control
How fix packs, configuration changes, map changes and partner changes are approved, tested and promoted to production.
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Escalation to IBM
Your IBM support entitlement stays with you. ECOM can prepare diagnostics and work IBM support cases with your authorization.
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Shared responsibilities
Which tasks stay with your team, such as ERP interfaces, network and firewall changes, and which ECOM performs.
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Service levels
Coverage hours, response targets and reporting are defined in the service agreement for your environment.
Why it matters
What you gain
Problems caught early
Monitoring and alerting surface failures before trading partners or the business report them.
Continuity
A team of specialists replaces dependence on one or two people who know the system.
A platform that stays current
Planned fix packs, certificate renewals and lifecycle reviews reduce unplanned outages and support risk.
Fit
When teams call us
Losing in-house Sterling expertise
Replace knowledge held by departing administrators with a team of specialists who already know the platform.
Round-the-clock trading
Partners, plants or warehouses send files and documents at all hours, and failures cannot wait until morning.
Lean IT teams
Keep Sterling supported, monitored and current without dedicated in-house administrators.
Why ECOM
Sterling expertise, plus everything around it
Most Sterling problems are not only platform problems. They involve maps, partners, infrastructure and people. ECOM brings these together:
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IBM Sterling technical expertise
Specialists who install, upgrade, administer and develop on B2B Integrator, File Gateway and Connect:Direct.
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EDI mapping and partner integration
Maps, business processes and trading partner onboarding, not only platform administration.
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Managed infrastructure and operations
Hosting, monitoring and day-to-day operations when you want ECOM to run the environment.
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PRISM integration and visibility
Add ECOM PRISM for visibility, partner connectivity or a future platform path alongside Sterling.
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EDI Team as a Service
Sterling and EDI specialists who extend your team on an ongoing basis.
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Automotive integration
Deep automotive integration experience: schedules, ship notices and plant routing on Sterling or PRISM.
Ways to work with ECOM
Managed operations
ECOM monitors and operates the environment within the agreed scope, coverage hours and service levels.
Shared administration
Your team keeps ownership while ECOM specialists take on administration, monitoring or development through EDI Team as a Service.
Fully managed EDI
ECOM runs the platform and the EDI work around it, including partners and maps, as a fully managed service.
Each engagement is scoped individually. Not every engagement includes every service listed on this site.
Frequently asked questions
Which IBM Sterling products does ECOM support?
ECOM supports IBM Sterling B2B Integrator, Sterling File Gateway, Sterling Connect:Direct and Sterling Order Management, along with IBM MQ, IBM App Connect and IBM API Connect.
Do we have to hand over the whole environment?
No. ECOM can run the environment as a managed service or share the work with your team through EDI Team as a Service. Responsibilities are defined in the service agreement.
What happens when something fails outside business hours?
Alerts go to the escalation path agreed during onboarding. Coverage hours, response targets and who is contacted are defined in your service agreement.
Do we keep our IBM support contract?
Yes. Your IBM entitlement stays with you. With your authorization, ECOM can open and work IBM support cases and supply the diagnostics IBM asks for.
How do you prevent certificate expiry problems?
Certificates are inventoried and tracked, and renewals are planned and coordinated with partners well before expiry.
Can managed services include upgrades?
Yes. Fix packs are part of routine administration. Larger version upgrades are usually planned as a separate project within or alongside the managed service.
Discuss IBM Sterling managed services
Tell us about your environment and how it is run today. We will outline options and what a managed service would cover.