Cisco enters configuration-management fray

Opsware software to provide multivendor device-configuration product.

Cisco this week plans to make available a configuration-management software suite that will help customers more easily manage multivendor devices across large enterprise networks.

The Proactive Automation of Change Execution (PACE) suite includes two new products, delivered via an OEM deal with Cisco partner Opsware. The software’s multivendor support can be attributed to Opsware’s acquisition early last year of network change and configuration point player Rendition Networks.

CiscoWorks Network Compliance Manager collects and tracks device configuration and change data across enterprise networks. A component of the centralized management console runs on a server, collecting configuration data from devices and reporting back to the console. The Cisco Configuration Assurance Solution provides network-level analytics and vulnerability assessments based on device configuration. For instance, the software could compare whether device-level policies sync up with broader compliance policies on the network.

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Cisco this week plans to make available a configuration-management software suite that will help customers more easily manage multivendor devices across large enterprise networks.

The Proactive Automation of Change Execution (PACE) suite includes two new products, delivered via an OEM deal with Cisco partner Opsware. The software’s multivendor support can be attributed to Opsware’s acquisition early last year of network change and configuration point player Rendition Networks.

CiscoWorks Network Compliance Manager collects and tracks device configuration and change data across enterprise networks. A component of the centralized management console runs on a server, collecting configuration data from devices and reporting back to the console. The Cisco Configuration Assurance Solution provides network-level analytics and vulnerability assessments based on device configuration. For instance, the software could compare whether device-level policies sync up with broader compliance policies on the network.

“PACE will ensure the change you are making is not at odds with a change an operator may have made at 3 a.m.,” says Cliff Meltzer, senior vice president of Cisco’s Network Management Technology Group. “There are too many people touching the network at any given time. The only way to keep track of all the changes is to automatically maintain the configuration files, trap any changes and register them so you can look across the network and make changes with confidence.”

PACE is the second software suite Cisco has launched since announcing last year its intention to develop more network management products. In December Cisco introduced its Network Application Perfor­mance Analysis suite, which includes software applications and services to manage LAN, WAN and application performance.

Network configuration-management technology — also available from such vendors as AlterPoint, Intelliden and Voyence — automates manual tasks, maximizes efficiency and accuracy by minimizing human error, and enhances security through tight access controls and configuration audits, Cisco says.

Products in this category capture and store accurate server and device configurations, use automated features to provision and configure new devices, enforce access and change policies, and monitor actions taken on or in relation to devices. Network configuration tools help maintain consistency across similar devices, ensure critical change data is documented and more quickly restore failed devices.

Cisco’s product could win over existing customers  who want this type of technology but aren’t getting it from their management platform provider, says Zeus Kerravala, of the Yankee Group. Companies such as BMC Software, CA and IBM haven’t delivered products in the network change- and configuration-management market. For its part, HP in June announced OpenView Network Configuration Manager, software based on a licensing deal with Voyence.

According to Yankee Group research, one-third of network downtime is attributed to configuration errors. “Cisco equipment in general is relatively complex to manage and deploy. That’s why it requires a lot of certifications — so these products add manageability to Cisco gear,” he says.