Agilent Technologies, looking to help network managers reduce network usage costs, next week plans to announce the Agilent NetMetrix Billing Center, which monitors and measures network consumption and provides a detailed billing statement in a format similar to a telephone or electricity bill.
The product identifies network utilization by time-of-day, application, protocol, user group, and distance, according to the company.
"The tendency today is you use [bandwidth] when you need it. It's being treated just like [computer] memory," said Anita Manwani, general manager of Agilent's NetMetrix Division. "There is a lot of wasteful behavior that can allow you to control the cost of bandwidth that you go through year to year. The idea here is to provide the network manager [with] information for all the departments."
Inefficient bandwidth usage is a growing concern, with bandwidth costs growing between 15-25 percent annually, said analyst Eric M. Hindin, director of Data Communications Research and Consulting at The Yankee Group, in Boston.
"Networks have traditionally been viewed by users as a free commodity, which is a costly misconception," Hindin said.
The Billing Center provides departments with monthly bills, outlining and itemizing network consumption in dollars and cents, as well as enabling IT managers to reduce network spikes by limiting network usage during peak hours and increasing utilization during off-peak times, Agilent officials said.
Agilent NetMetrix Billing Center will be available next week with prices starting at $200,000, officials said.
Agilent Technologies, a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard Co., is in Palo Alto, Calif. and can be reached at www.agilent.com.
This story from Infoworld.com Copyright © 2000 InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.
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