InteQ refines network management service

InfraServices package helps users pinpoint network application problems.

By DENISE DUBIE
Network World, 12/18/00

BURLINGTON, MASS. - InteQ last week unveiled improved network management services, including the ability to pinpoint the root cause of problems better and notify customers about such problems less than a minute after they are identified.

In addition, the company has added a second data center to provide assurance to customers that its InfraServices won't shut down in the event that one of InteQ's data centers suffers an outage.

InteQ, which has been offering network monitoring and problem alerting services for about a year, is one of a group of companies in the burgeoning management service provider market. Others include Nuclio and SilverBack.

InteQ has installed a new XML-based engine internally that is automating far more of the company's network monitoring and data analysis processes. By using XML technology, InteQ is also better able to customize the kinds of information it supplies to customers based on predefined needs, according to company officials.

In addition, the increased automation makes it easier for InteQ to monitor hundreds of devices per customer network, says Ray Paquet, a vice president at research firm Gartner Group.

InteQ monitors customers' networks from its data centers in Burlington, Mass., and Bedford, Mass., by sending data-collection agent software to customer sites via VPN connections. The data is stored at InteQ and can be viewed via Web browsers by customers, who have access to as many as 75 reports.

Ram Prabhu, manager of corporate telecommunications at Millipore, has been happy with InteQ's service, citing the service provider's ability to pinpoint the root cause of problems that will help him to better define service-level agreements with end users. He says he'd like to be able to differentiate between problems caused by network devices, applications and databases.

Prabhu says InteQ's services, which Millipore is using to monitor enterprise resource planning, user authentication and other servers, lets him deploy IT staffers to more critical tasks.

He also likes the idea of having his network watched around the clock by InteQ, given that a serious network outage could cost the company millions of dollars in revenue.

Pricing for InfraServices is per component on a monthly subscription basis. Generally, it costs $60 to $200 per month, per network component, and $200 to $1,000 per server, per month. Monitoring services for databases may cost more. InteQ charges a one-time start-up fee that equals the first month's subscription fee.

InteQ: www.inteqnet.com