BlueNote was developed to monitor jobs, messages, and subsystems on IBM i - and respond as soon as something goes wrong. Alerts are sent directly to your mobile device, system messages can be answered automatically, and everything happens without external tools.

Today, BlueNote has taken the next natural step and become one of the four high-performance engines that power Sitemule - and the engine that helps keep the entire platform stable and available. If you have heard of BlueNote, or have been using BlueNote Monitor or BlueNote Communicator for many years, you have come to the right place.

We are System & Metode A/S, the Danish software company that has developed and supported BlueNote from the very beginning. Today, the technology sits at the heart of Sitemule - our complete modernization ecosystem that runs natively on IBM i.

How we got here

BlueNote was developed to solve a fundamental challenge for every IBM i operator: How do you detect a problem the moment it occurs - preferably before it affects customers?

At the time, most monitoring tools operated from outside the system, which could create delays and blind spots. Instead, we placed the monitoring inside the operating system itself, with direct access to message queues, job logs, and subsystem APIs.

Alerts were sent through the channel operators actually carried with them: SMS.

This made BlueNote more than a monitoring tool. The same SMS infrastructure was later expanded into BlueNote Communicator, which companies used for operational information, delivery confirmations, customer service, and more. At its peak, the solution handled millions of SMS messages per month.

One core capability has been part of BlueNote from the beginning: BlueNote enables you to respond - not just observe. System messages can be answered via SMS. Authorized operators can start and stop subsystems, activate programs, or restart the system via text message, provided their phone number is registered on the access list. This was a significant difference at a time when most monitoring tools could only detect events.

BlueNote today

BlueNote has not disappeared, and development has not stopped.

Together with the three other engines in Sitemule, BlueNote now plays an expanded role:

• IceBreak powers web applications and service-oriented architecture

• IceCap modernizes screens and workflows

• BlueSeries handles business communications

• BlueNote monitors systems and operations

BlueNote serves as Sitemule’s monitoring engine and supports operational reliability across the entire platform.

It monitors not only IBM i jobs and subsystems, but also Sitemule’s other engines and modules. If something stops or fails, BlueNote can detect the event, attempt a predefined recovery action, log the process in Db2, and send an alert.

Your existing solution continues

Nothing you depend on is going away. BlueNote will continue to be available for installation and use as a standalone product. It will continue to be maintained and supported, exactly as you know it today. Your current installation can therefore continue unchanged, while giving you the option to take the next step with Sitemule.

From BlueNote to Sitemule. Because BlueNote is now an integrated engine in the platform, upgrading becomes a natural next step - not a major migration project.

Sitemule brings together web applications, service-oriented architecture, screen transformation, communications, messaging, and monitoring in a single browser-based Workspace running natively on your IBM i.

So when you read about stable operations and high availability in Sitemule, you are reading about the continued evolution of BlueNote.

More than a monitoring system

As the monitoring engine in Sitemule, BlueNote serves as the operational reliability layer across the IBM i platform.

• Real-time monitoring of jobs, message queues, subsystems, user profiles, and defined system conditions directly at the source through standard IBM i APIs - without polling or external agents

• Automated recovery when a job fails or stops because of a pending system message, with predefined actions such as retry, restart, escalation, or automatic response within a defined time period

• Two-way control via SMS, allowing authorized operators to answer system messages, start and stop subsystems, activate programs, and initiate an IPL via SMS

• Alerts via SMS, email, or service calls to external dashboards, with every event logged in Db2 as part of a complete audit trail

• Monitoring of Sitemule’s other engines and modules. If a component stops, the event is detected immediately and the agreed action can be initiated

Everything runs natively on IBM i without external monitoring agents that need to be installed and maintained. The platform’s existing security and authorization model is preserved.

Two ways forward

• You already use BlueNote. Nothing changes in your day-to-day operations. Support and maintenance continue to be provided directly by us, exactly as before. As an existing customer, you already have a significant part of the foundation for further modernization in place. Contact us to learn more about the special upgrade offer for existing customers.
• You want to see the full platform. BlueNote is one of the four engines in Sitemule. Explore how BlueNote works together with IceBreak, IceCap, and BlueSeries, and discover the modules built on top of the engines.