- Product supports heterogeneous middleware technologies and platforms
- Product evolving per key client partnerships
- Vendor and products are dynamic and client-driven
Nastel AutoPilot [EOL] is a comprehensive, end-of-life monitoring solution for businesses seeking enhanced application performance management and middleware automation.
Nastel AutoPilot offers flexible pricing models tailored for enterprises, typically starting with a base rate. Users highlight its cost-effectiveness for large-scale deployments and emphasize transparent pricing without hidden fees. Enterprises appreciate its robust features that align with their budget constraints and operational needs.
Designed for technically adept professionals, Nastel AutoPilot [EOL] provides robust monitoring and automation capabilities aimed at streamlining middleware operations and boosting application performance. It is utilized for detecting, predicting, and resolving IT issues before they impact business operations, helping enterprises ensure reliability in critical systems.
What are the key features?In financial services, Nastel AutoPilot [EOL] is leveraged for transaction monitoring to ensure seamless operations. In healthcare, it helps maintain critical application reliability, safeguarding patient data integrity and facilitating compliance. Its deployment varies across industries but consistently aims for IT operational excellence.
Banamex, Barclays Capital, Bank of Bermuda, California Commerce Bank, Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank, CGEY, Checkfree Corporation, CIBC, CitiCard, Citicorp, New York, Citigroup Inc., CME Group Inc., Credit Agricole Indosuez Luxembourg, Credit Suisse, CRIF, Deutsche Bundesbank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, DTCC, FannieMae, Fidelity (FMR), First Citizens Bank & Trust, Fortis Investments, GE Money Americas, GE Money Bank, HP, HP/WestLB Systems, HSBC, HSH Nordbank, IG Index, i-bp Banque, Populaire, Interpay Nederland B.V., IZB - Informatikzentrum Bayern GmbH & Co., JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., MGIC (Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation)
NYSE, OMGEO, People's Bank (Ct), Peoples United Bank, Phoenix Informatica Bancaria S.p.A., PinkRoccade, Santander Bank, SKOFIN, Sociale Verzekeringsbank, Thomson Financial, UBS, UMB Financial Corporation
| Author info | Rating | Review Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Global Head of Performance and Service Metrics at a consultancy with 51-200 employees | 4.0 | I find Autopilot a scalable, attractively priced middleware transaction monitoring tool with a strong CEP and good drill-down. However, its GUI is basic and it's more flow-monitoring than a full APM, with limited international presence. |
| VP of Architecture at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees | 4.0 | I find Nastel's products excellent, evolving with my needs and supporting diverse technologies. The company is world-class and client-driven, though I believe new release QA testing could be more thorough. |
| Director of IT at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees | 4.0 | I found the product offers a flexible environment, GUI, and rich features, capably handling various middleware products. However, I believe its documentation and deployment lifecycle could be improved. |
| IT Administrator at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees | 5.0 | I found AutoPilot to be a very simple and useful tool that I recommend. However, it needs to quickly implement support for all varieties of servers to improve further. |
Autopilot is a middleware-centric business transaction monitoring tool that includes a Complex Event Processor (CEP) for transaction data.
Architecture
AutoPilot Probes are lightweight performance measurement and monitoring tools for live applications that are executed at defined points within the transaction processing network. The Probes intercept transaction-related data, response time, and exceptions for activities initiated from applications. Probes then publish the collected data to the Analyser.

Breadth and depth of probes
There are numerous probes available, including: a WebSphere MQ and Message Broker probe and a Java probe used to track Java applications and web sessions (JSP/servlets, Java method calls, JDBC, JTA, Weblogic and JBoss application servers). There is also a .NET probe, a z/OS probe, an IBM DataPower probe and a Direct Feed probe capable of capturing transaction data from a variety of sources, including log files and data streams.
Analysis and Complex Event Processing
The AutoPilot Analyser collects the transaction-related data published by the Probes, analyses the data in real-time, and publishes summary information to the CEP in the form of "facts". These "facts" are bits of information formalized as name/value pairs and organized in a hierarchical structure exploitable by the CEP engine. The facts exposed by the Analyser are recorded in a database and used by the CEP engine for "stitching" transactions and message flows. The CEP engine allows collection, filtering, sorting and aggregating of various events and metrics in real-time.
The above image shows that CEP engine is conceptualized as a "pipeline" through which a stream of events flows. Rules and contextual analysis are used to detect specific sequences of events.
When compound events are detected, the CEP can initiate actions (analytics, events, notifications). For example, AutoPilot can perform an automated action, trigger a notification (alert) or forward an alarm to an Enterprise Systems Management (ESM) tool.
Visualisation
Visualisation is via the thick client M6 Console or AutoPilot Explorer, a web application that provides multiple graphical views of transaction processing. The graphical views include a Summary View, which shows overall transaction processing metrics; a Statistics View, which shows statistical analysis for selected transaction components at selected execution times; a Trace View, which shows transaction flow diagrams and the transaction trace table, listing every individual operation that was observed by all the transaction probes.
My thoughts
What's good:
What could be improved:
- Product supports heterogeneous middleware technologies and platforms
- Product evolving per key client partnerships
- Vendor and products are dynamic and client-driven
- Quality Assurance testing for new releases need to be more thorough
Nastel is a world-class company that has partnership amongst other positive qualities embedded into its cultural fiber. This is reflective of the products my company utilize and how they have evolved (and are evolving) per our vision and requirements.
Flexible environment
Handles multiple middleware products (IBM, Solace, TIBCO)
Flexible GUI
Rich features
Documentation
Deployment lifecycle
Very simple to use and is a very useful tool. I recommend everyone to install and use AutoPilot.
Needs to quickly implement support for all variety of servers.