A host of new measurement tools will debut soon, giving net managers better insight into how network applications are performing.
NextPoint Networks will release Version 2.0 of its S3 product next week, expanding the types of applications the tool can monitor and adding the capability to predict application performance based on current trends.
Ganymede Software next week will embellish its Pegasus network monitoring product line by unveiling Pegasus Application Monitor, which will measure the performance of end users' transactions.
And Concord Communications in the next few weeks is expected to expand on its relationship with FirstSense Software and release a product that will collect performance data from end systems.
The software, called PulseCheck, will be able to measure application response times and feed data into Concord's principal database, according to sources familiar with the company's plans. Concord declined to comment, except to deny that the product is called PulseCheck.
Getting feedback
These tools are critical for network managers trying to monitor end-user application experiences and maintain service levels.
"I'm constantly adjusting to improve the response time for end users, but I never see the response time," says Bob Brent, network services manager at Technicolor in Camarillo, Calif. Brent hopes to use NextPoint's new software to measure the response time of the company's AS/400 applications and to find out what kind of performance users are getting when they access Technicolor's forthcoming electronic commerce Web site.
Brent says he also hopes the software will help him troubleshoot performance problems - to determine if the problems are in a service provider's network, on his local network or in an application. "It will give me a clue about where to look in the process," he says.
Riding a trend
The upcoming announcements continue a trend among vendors to unite network and application performance management in one place, putting together different pieces of the puzzle, says Richard Ptak, vice president of systems and application management at Hurwitz Group in Framingham, Mass.
But application performance management is a new field and the management applications are still rather immature. Cheng Hseih, network manager at Hoffman-LaRouche, has been using application monitoring software from International Network Services for about a year. Though he finds the software helpful for ensuring adequate user response time, Hseih notes that building a profile for each application to be monitored is "a slow process."
The software has to be told what applications to watch and what baseline transactions should look like. If the software uses an API, such as Application Response Measurement, calls to that interface need to be written into the enterprise applications being monitored.
Technicolor's Brent agrees that some parts of setting up these systems can be time-consuming, but he adds that the investment pays off. "It's a lot of work to get there, but once you do, you can track down problems in 2 minutes instead of two hours," he says.
NextPoint's next point
Version 2.0 of NextPoint's S3 software will be able to monitor more applications and correlate data concerning application performance with data about network performance. The new version "helps pinpoint performance issues and gives direction as to whether they are in the application or in the network," says Bill Maro, president and CEO of NextPoint.
Previously, the software was preconfigured to monitor only e-mail and Domain Name System applications; now it can watch any application traffic specified by network managers.
The software contains a new module, called Predictive Analyst, which examines performance data over time and predicts future performance. For example, if response time is increasing a certain amount each month, the software can show what the future response time will be if the trend continues. This allows network managers to see when performance might degrade to a point that no longer meets service-level agreements (SLA), Maro says.
S3 2.0 will ship next week, starting at $12,000 for the server software, which runs on Windows NT.
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Revised tool to measure application response time
Network World, 6/11/99.
Vendor product overviews:
Pegasus
S3
First Sense (to be integrated into PulseCheck).
Novell adds zip to ZENworks
Novell unveiled ZENworks 2.0, an upgrade of the company's directory-enabled desktop management tool that includes application management. Network World, 6/28/99.
Revised tool to measure application response time
End users might know an application's response time all too well, but that doesn't mean the network manager knows. To remedy this, start-up FirstSense Software will release an updated version of its response-time measurement tool. Network World, 6/11/99.
Candle illuminates Web page use
Candle has released eBA*ServiceMonitor, a product that measures response times as end users access a company's Web site. Network World, 4/26/99.
HP lays out OpenView unification plan
Network, systems and application management are about to get cozier at Hewlett-Packard, which said it is binding diverse products together with a common user interface and standard data sharing technology. Network World, 4/19/99.
Tools for managing the new enterprise
A look at some application management tools from Intrasoft, Network Associates and Ganymede. Network World, 4/5/99.
Trio tackles apps management
A look at tools from Apptitude, Envive and Concord. Network World, 3/1/99.
