As corporate networks, and the traffic they carry, continue to grow
in complexity, so does the need for management tools that combine
hardware and application monitoring capabilities in the same
package.
"Traditionally, network management tools have been very narrowly
defined," explained Ivan Shefrin, founder of Response Networks, a
US-based software maker. "You had one for managing your database,
one for your routers, and another for your telecommunications
circuits. Ultimately, corporate IT departments got overloaded with
information. They would have 20 different screens to look at, and
none of the data was tied together."
Aprisma Management Technologies recently announced its new Spectrum
Application Manager tool. US-based Aprisma's entry-level offering,
priced at US$530 (£370) per agent, enables IT staff to view the
status of network hardware and applications such as e-mail and
business software. The solution will work with Oracle, Microsoft
SQL, and Apache software as well as several types of server
metrics, including RAM and CPUs.
Network management kits such as Micromuse's Netcool and
Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) OpenView have long allowed users to
collect information about their IT infrastructure from several
different angles, but Aprisma's offering widens the focus.
"Micromuse's solution doesn't monitor anything," said Corey
Ferengul, an analyst at market research company Meta Group. "It
just consolidates data; from applications, networks, telco
equipment, everything. Aprisma's software doesn't just consolidate
data; it also monitors all that stuff as well. It's the tool of
origination."
To Ferengul, the integrated approach of overseeing both the
infrastructure and applications is the new wave of network
management.
"It's no longer just systems, networks or applications," he said.
"The line has blurred drastically. People need a better integrated
view of how these things play together in order to better identify
where the problems, bottlenecks, and needs for improvement
are."
"This is an evolving trend toward more intelligence in network
management," added Dennis Drogseth, an analyst at research company
Enterprise Management Associates. "The value of integrated
network-management tools is strong in terms of return on investment
and efficiencies. You get a first-pass look at where the problems
are, and you can isolate them to a very specific degree. There are
other efficiencies in terms of how you manage what you manage, for
example, consoles, skill sets and flexibility."
Response Networks also recently unveiled its Web-based Pulsar xSP
platform, which monitors availability and performance from the
end-user's perspective. However, Pulsar xSP is aimed more at Web
performance and e-business transactions.
Tivoli, Computer Associates, HP and BMC Software are widely
considered to be the leaders in network management. But according
to Ferengul, these vendors are responding to pressure for
integrated management tools. For example, HP has widened its
network management focus to include application-monitoring
software, and BMC has done the opposite.
"Everybody's been rounding out their offerings to cover whatever
they were missing, so that they all hit databases, applications,
platforms, and networks," said Ferengul. He added that, while many
companies are still organised in "silos," each with their own
network administrators, the new tools will encourage use of the
same data or tool set.
At this week's Tivoli user conference in San Francisco, company
officials are expected to address network performance and
availability issues as a key area of focus for the coming year.