WASHINGTON, D.C. - Network management software vendors will launch a renewed enterprise push at ComNet 2002 Conference & Expo with products designed to help companies make the most of their installed networks.
Retreating from the stalled service provider market, Aprisma, Micromuse, Opnet and many others will try to lure enterprise network executives out of the expected crowd of 30,000 attendees with a range of performance management and security management tools.
Overall IT spending is expected to be up slightly this year, from $750 billion in 2001 to $779 billion, according to analysts at Giga Information Group. But service providers' IT spending is expected to drop $1 billion, to $50 billion this year.
While enterprise companies are spending, they are spending more on software and services, and less on hardware. That means the pressure is on to do more with networks already in place.
"There is an overall trend of trying to do more with less - or at least do as well with less," says Jean-Pierre Garbani, a Giga analyst. "Enterprise network managers must find ways to deliver better or equal IT service and performance without investing in more hardware."
Opnet hopes to tap enterprise users looking to eliminate performance problems with software that shows users in real time where network devices - such as servers and routers - are being over- or underutilized. For example, VNE Server can help users optimize their network infrastructure by showing where to reroute traffic when servers or switches slow down, Opnet says.
Working with network management platforms, the VNE Server collects and correlates performance, configuration and topology data, and generates reports showing bottlenecks and what services or users are affected. The company will debut the beta-test version of VNE Server at the show.
Compuware also plans to woo attendees by making its Application Triage Program generally available. In the program, Compuware has combined its suite of Vantage performance management products with its professional services. For a fee of $10,000, Compuware will identify and solve performance issues on customers' networks. Compuware will let customers know within three to five days why their network is performing poorly and advise if applications should be rewritten or if the network needs reconfiguring.
Doing more with less also means merging important functions like security control with existing management systems.
"Any IT investments must prove to go a long way now, so users are consolidating previously unrelated IT functions within their departments," says IDC analyst Paul Bugala. "In turn, vendors are tightly integrating network security and management, and giving users one point of control."
Micromuse and Aprisma also plan to introduce security management products at ComNet.
Micromuse takes its first step into security management with Netcool for Security Management. This bundle of new releases of Micromuse software will debut probes for Check Point Software and Cisco firewalls. The company also configured its Netcool probes to be aware of security events and also customized its Syslog Probe and Multi-threaded Trapd Probe for security. The company also enhanced its Netcool fault management products with "off-the-shelf" security policies and reports.
Aprisma will show attendees Spectrum Security Manager 1.2, the second release of the product that gives users tighter integration into the Spectrum management console. This release extends further into security the modeling capabilities of Spectrum, letting users model the security environment for remote locations or customer sites.
More performance news will come from these vendors:
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