sub ops_do_ssh_qx {
   my ($cmd) = @_;

   $cmd->{ssh_cmd_qx} = 'ssh ' .  $cmd->{user} . '\@' . $cmd->{host} . ' \'' . $cmd->{command} . '\'' . ' 2>/dev/null';

   $cmd->{output} = qx($cmd->{ssh_cmd_qx});
   if ( defined $cmd->{output} ) {
      $cmd->{cmd_ret_code} = $?;
      chomp $cmd->{output};
      if ( $cmd->{cmd_ret_code} ) {
         $cmd->{success} = FAILURE;
      }
   }
   else {
      ($cmd->{ssh_ret_code}, $cmd->{ssh_ret_msg}) = (0 + $!, '' . $!);
      $cmd->{success} = FAILURE;
   }

   return $cmd;
}

##</code><code>##

my $cmd = { name => 'foo',
            user => 'foo_user',
            host => 'foo.bar.com',
            command => 'do_something_useful_here',
            success => SUCCESS
};

##</code><code>##

my $cmd_status = ops_do_ssh_qx($cmd);
if ( $cmd_status->{success} ) {
   do_something_with $cmd_status->{output};
}
else
{
   do_something_with $cmd_status->{cmd_ret_code}, $cmd_status->{ssh_ret_code}, $cmd_status->{ssh_ret_msg};
}

##</code><code>##

   $cmd_status->{cmd_ret_code}
   $cmd_status->{ssh_ret_code}
   $cmd_status->{ssh_ret_msg}