Management Apps Span a Widening Spectrum

Spreading peace within IT despite organizational and cultural differences is not easy, especially when different tools present shared resources as if they were competing. But such is the price of a quick return in the NSM market.

For those of you pining for big-picture, strategic management behemoths, like those we tested for our comparative review of MoMs (managers of managers; see "Hot MoMs"), join the club--and be prepared to spend beaucoup bucks. Although 50 percent of CIOs surveyed in March by Aberdeen Group say they intend to purchase NSM applications in the next six to 12 months, the simplest MoM will cost $200,000 to get off the ground, plus $40,000 a year for maintenance and thousands of dollars for training, so these are still the purview of an elite group of enterprises.

Much more common are single-use products, most of which are performance-based. These gatherers of SNMP MIB II, Host and RMON usage and error statistics have become increasingly popular, thanks to their ability to work over a large range of networks and systems. In some cases the cost of these products is very low--you might even see a payback after only a few days.

But as useful as performance data is, it's just a piece of what you need to manage a complex network and its systems. The configuration portion of the FCAPS model is the key to getting a handle on a network but it's almost never part of big frameworks and has been difficult for performance vendors to back into, at least so far.

Thankfully, configuration products capable of functioning in the multivendor environment are starting to emerge. Our NSM Configuration Management Solution winner, Orchestream Service Activator, is an example.Admittedly, these standalone products have far to go to be as easy to use and as useful as performance products, and they aren't part of any frameworks. But they will be, and when that day comes, network management TCO will be more than marketing hype 101.Configuration Management Solution |

Network Analysis and Diagnostic Tool | Network Management Suite | Traffic Management and Shaping Solution | Application Management Solution | Desktop/Mobile Management Solution | Systems Management Suite

Configuration Management Solution

Winner: Orchestream Service Activator 3.0, (acquired by MetaSolv January 2003), MetaSolv Software, (972) 403-8300. www.metasolv.com

Orchestream removes some of the differences between vendors' configuration interfaces. This is no small task: These wildly varied command-line and Web interfaces hold network managers hostage, requiring that network operations submit to a single vendor or increase their support costs. Orchestream's accomplishment is a unified interface that crosses network infrastructure vendor lines. This interface is reasonably easy to learn, which lowers operations costs.

Finalists:
• CiscoWorks QoS Policy Manager 3.0, Cisco Systems, (800) 553-6387. www.cisco.com

• Formulator 2.0, now shipping Formulator 200, Gold Wire Technology, (888) 585-9473, (781) 398-8800. www.goldwiretech.com

Network Analysis and Diagnostic Tool

Winner: SolarWinds Engineer's Edition, SolarWinds.Net, (918) 307-8100. www.solarwinds.net

The tools we use on a day-to-day basis are often underappreciated, viewed as nonstrategic. But let's face it: They keep things humming. Our analysis and diagnostic tool winner, SolarWinds' Engineer's Edition, comprises a huge grouping of utilities. From the switch mapper, which shows MAC (Media Access Control) and IP addresses attached to a switch, to the fully functional network-performance application, it offers great value and function.

Finalists:
• AppDancer/FA Network Flow Analyzer, AppDancer Networks, (800) 825-7563, (770) 643-6800. www.AppDancer.com

• Boreal for Network Administrators, InterWorking Labs, (800) 459-9817, (831) 430-3610. www.iwl.com

Network Management Suite

Winner: InCharge Solution Suite, Smarts, (877)2-SMARTS, (914) 948-6200. www.smarts.comNetwork-management suites rank among the most complex of NSM products.Smarts' InCharge Solution Suite has taken the evolution of correlation and root-cause science to its highest degree. Layer 2 discovery with object-orientedoutputprovides a clear view of the network, which is vital in analyzingevents. Like a good doctor, InCharge evaluates the symptoms anduses its understanding of the system's topology to arrive at an educated deduction of theproblem. It offersan encyclopedic knowledge of possible statuses that could fit the fields ofanyevent.And the price, while hardly pocket change, is much less likely than its rivals' to induce sticker shock.

Finalists:
• Aprisma Spectrum xsight, Aprisma Management Technologies, (877) 437-0291, (603) 334-2100. www.aprisma.com

• Netcool/OMNIbus, now shipping 3.5, Micromuse, (800) NETCOOL, (415) 538-9090. www.micromuse.com

Traffic Management and Shaping Solution

Winner: PacketShaper 4500, Packeteer, (408) 873-4400. www.packeteer.comThe job of protecting precious WAN bandwidth falls to products that can monitor, characterize and shape WAN traffic. Our traffic management and shaping solution winner, the PacketShaper 4500, does it all. The product's excellent performance and ease of use yield a return on investment before the ink has a chance to dry on the contract. Additionally, the PacketShaper 4500 characterizes a large number of applications and can identify applications with more than a single signature approach.

Finalists:

• NetEnforcer AC-302 4.2.2, Allot Communications, (800) 204-1364, (952) 944-3100. www.allot.com

• QoSWorks 10000, Sitara Networks, (866) 474-8272, (781) 487-5900. www.sitaranetworks.com

Application Management Solution

Winner: ProactiveNet 4.1.2, ProactiveNet, (877) 277-6686, (408) 935-6800. www.ProactiveNet.comProactiveNet, the NSM product of the year, is easy to set up and administer, but it really shines in its root-cause analysis, gathering statistical performance data from far beyond the common SNMP network infrastructure, drilling down to pinpoint

performance slowdowns. ProactiveNet uses automatically created performance thresholds, logical groupings and its top-notch filtering ability to tag sources of network trouble without overwhelming users with tons of data.

Finalists:
• Internet Path View 1.2, Adlex, (877) 408-0659, (508) 480-6990. www.adlex.com

• Gomez Performance Network 3.5, Gomez, (877) 372-6732, (781) 768-2100. www.gomez.com

Desktop/Mobile Management Solution

Winner: NetSupport Manager 7.0, NetSupport, (888) 665-0808, (770) 205-4456. www.netsupport-inc.com

Managing desktops often requires juggling the needs of many users--don't you wish you could be in more than one place at a time? Luckily for harried helpdesk and desktop-support operators, PC remote-control software continues to improve. NetSupport Manager offers up the most complete set of remote control features with the best centralized management currently on the market.

Finalists:

• Net Op Remote Control 7.01, now shipping 7.5, Cross Tec Corp., (800) 675-0729, (561) 391-6560. www.NetOpUSA.com

•pcAnywhere 10.5, Symantec Corp., (800) 745-6054, (408) 517-8000. www.symantec.com

Systems Management Suite

Winner: BMC Patrol 1.2.0 for Microsoft Windows Servers, now shipping 3.0.01, BMC Software, (800) 841-2031, (713) 918-8800. www.bmc.com

Applications are the reason IT exists, and systems management suites are directly responsible for supporting those applications. It used to be that systems management was for the operating-system-focused, but now the "systems" include the operating system, the Web server, the database ... you get the picture. The data these management suites provide help keep all the plates spinning. BMC Patrol speaks to every one of these components, with the highest level of accuracy and the widest business application support available.

Finalists:
• The Argent Guardian 6.0a, Argent Software, (860) 674-1700. www.argent.com

• PatchLink Update 3.0, now shipping 4.0, PatchLink Corp., (888) 970-1025, (480) 970-1025. www.patchlink.comBruce Boardman is executive editor of Network Computing, testing and writing about network management and systems. He has 12 years' IT experience managing networks and distributed computing for a financial service provider. Write to him at [email protected].

Post a comment or question on this story.

ProactiveNet 4.1.2 ProactiveNet, (877) 277-6686, (408) 935-6800. www.ProactiveNet.com

In order to determine how well your network and its systems deliver applications, you've got to gather all the performance metrics that indicate how well an application is functioning. The application-management product field is very crowded, and getting more so every day. Above the crowd rises ProactiveNet, simplifying and focusing network operations and capacity planning. ProactiveNet spans infrastructure to application and user to operator, and monitors SNMP and applications and systems equally easily, while combining secure Web access into views of what matters most--all this and a quick return on investment to boot. Not stopping at just presenting data, ProactiveNet creates information through flexible and smart thresholds and embedded root-cause analysis.Network & Systems Management Links at NWC.com...

• 2003 Survivor's Guide to Network & Systems Management

• Security White Papers• Management books

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• Discuss Winners and Losers

• Interactive Buyer's Guide: "Management on the Cheap"

... And Around the Internet• The Distributed Management Task Force

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• Multi Router Traffic Grapher

• The SNMP Link