Rally 'round the network manager - proposed network management standards for increased business management efficiency - Technology Information

Communications News, Feb, 1999 by Morris Edwards

To reduce system complexity, Cabletron is developing a native Windows NT version of the platform for its next major Spectrum release later this year. Currently, the software runs on Windows NT but requires translation of Unix code into NT instructions.

Other vendors are taking a different approach to the complexity issue. During the past year, Computer Associates has beefed up its service organization, while Tivoli has increased from 2,000 to 4,000 the number of professionals it uses worldwide to install its Enterprise platform.

Sun Microsystems' Enterprise Services, which supports its Solstice and SunNet Manager platforms, reported more than $1 billion in revenue last June and is the company's fastest-growing business segment.

Hewlett-Packard has taken the most radical approach to simplifying deployment by scrapping the framework architecture in favor of a modular alternative that divides the network into smaller segments so that pieces can be implemented one at a time. HP also unleashed a barrage of new products recently to revitalize its OpenView management line which has been inactive for a couple of years. In addition, it has created a new OpenView business unit headed by general manager Olivier Helleboid.

"The framework approach is not working," Helleboid says. "We are taking a very different approach that focuses on speed of deployment and the availability of Windows NT-centric solutions." Among the new products are a site manager for Windows NT network performance monitoring and a Web-based tool for managing Windows NT and NetWare servers.

HP also launched an Application Quality of Service (QoS) initiative to help network managers define and monitor service levels for specific enterprise applications. The QoS program links several of HP's existing OpenView products with a new tool called HP OpenView Service Navigator which assesses the impact of component failures or performance degradations on specific applications. HP has also introduced a performance management add-on for predictive analysis of network loads and service levels.

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HP's strategy, though, is undermined by CA, which gives away the framework embedded in its Unicenter TNG for free, hoping to make its profit from software and services.

Frameworks are generally recognized as the most secure means for collecting and distributing network information. Once the framework is in place, it becomes more attractive for users to build on it than to choose an alternative approach.

With its open application programming interfaces and shared user interface, the Unicenter TNG framework can tie together applications from CA, third-party developers, and users themselves to provide customized solutions. It can create a single image of the total enterprise infrastructure while simultaneously providing multiple virtual views to support specific business requirements. Depending on the agents used, the views may be able to support service level agreements.

CA has made a major push into predictive analysis with new software agents, called Neugents, that use neural network technology to predict impending problems based on past performance data, giving managers time to take corrective action. Over time, as more historical data is collected, the Neugents reportedly become "smarter," in the sense they can predict failures with greater accuracy. Besides predicting and pinpointing the location of failures, Neugents suggest steps administrators can take to avoid the problems and indicate the probable outcome of each suggested preventative measure.