Butler Assist

Butler Assist helps you getting started with the Butler tools

Butler Assist

From time to time Ptarmigan Labs (the company) are asked if we can assist in setting up the open source Butler tools for client-managed Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows (QSEoW).
After all, the Butler tools were created by Ptarmigan Labs and if someone knows how those tools work it’s us.

We very happily assist in most such cases, but so far it’s been on ad-hoc basic which can mean lots of time, effort and paperwork. Which can be hard to motivate for a job covering just a few days.

To make it as easy as possible to carry out such jobs we have created a simple, pre-packaged product for this. A “Getting started with Butler tools and DevOps for QSEoW” product, if you like.

We call it “Butler Assist”.

Pick your Butler tool(s)

There are several tools in the Butler family, each enhancing different aspects of QSEoW.

Butler Assist lets you pick the ones you need help getting started with.

You will get the same feature set as in Open Source Butler tools – no more, no less.

Being part of the main release path is a good thing – it means it’s easy to upgrade to future versions of the Butler tools.

Install, configure & get started

The goal is to have the Butler tool(s) of your choice running in your QSEoW environment when the Butler Assist delivery is over.

Full list of deliverables further down this page.

Knowledge transfer

It’s your QSEoW environment – and you should know how to run it.

Same thing applies to the Butler tools. Achieving this is part of Butler Assist.

Documentation

Exclusive documentation, tutorials and how-tos that are only available to Butler Assist customers.

As a Butler Assist customer you get access to all current and future tutorials, how-tos, cheat-sheets etc that's available for the Butler tools.

Fixed price

Last but not least:

The cost for Butler Assist is known up front.

No surprises:
You know what you get, you know what it costs.

Deliverables

The following is included in Butler Assist:

• Installation or installation support
  If you can provide us with remote access to the server where the Butler tool(s) should run, we can carry out the actual work of installing the tool(s).
  If we cannot get such access we will provide you with detailed installation instructions.
• Configuration
  We will make sure your Butler tools are correctly configured with respect to your QSEoW environment.
  
  Documenting this configuration is also a deliverable, of course.
• Knowledge transfer
  Trust us – we don’t want to get phone calls when a Butler service needs some tweaking or a restart (problems are super rare, but things do happen).
  
  Your team should be confident about taking the Butler tools under their wings.
  Knowledge transfer is the way to achieve this. In practice this in most cases takes the form of video calls with screen sharing when needed.

Note: Ptarmigan Labs will spend a fixed amount of time with your team as part of the Butler Assist assignment.

The time allocated depends on the number of Butler tools included in your Butler Assist package. See pricing further down this page.

On site work (where Ptarmigan Labs comes to your office) is not included unless agreed on a case-by-case basis.
Ptarmigan Labs is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Prerequisites

The Butler Assist product assumes some things are already in place.
We’re trying to cover the essentials here, but as all companies, server setups etc are different, additional requirements may exist in certain Butler Assist deliveries.

1. An operational Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows environment.
2. A server (Windows or Linux) or Docker environment in which the Butler tool(s) and associated services (InfluxDB, Grafana, http server etc) can run.
3. Storage/disk must be available. The Butler tools themselves don’t use much, but if for example Butler SOS is to keep a history of real-time metrics, its InfluxDB instance will need disk space for this.
4. Adequate permissions in the execution environment. Specifically, we must be able to install applications and services in Windows, applications and process monitors in Linux and create new containers in Docker.
5. You should have a solid understanding of how your Qlik Sense Enterprise environment works and is configured, including
   
   - What virtual proxies are used as well as permission to create new ones if needed.
   
   - How networking is done for QSEoW, including the ability to modify DNS, firewalls, reverse proxies etc to make the Butler tools available on your company network.
6. Access to existing tools such as InfluxDB and Grafana, if they already exist in your company and should be used with the Butler tool(s).
7. You have to ensure that people with adequate skills (covering all bullets above) from your team are available during the Butler Assist delivery phase.

Please reach out to us (info <at> ptarmiganlabs <dot> com) if you are uncertain what’s included in Butler Assist.

Pricing

Step 1: Select the tools you want help getting started with.

The Butler family page gives a good overview.

Step 2: Butler Assist pricing

Are you looking for some variant that’s not covered by the above, or help with some other tool in the Butler family?

Or general consulting around the various Qlik Sense products?

Please reach out to us at info <at> ptarmiganlabs <dot> com. Let's work together!