3Com's policy management framework

Policy-based management systems will play a significant role in improving support quality and providing a management foundation for converged networks. Improvements in support quality will come from the enhanced management automation and centralization of network and systems management. Policy definition - particularly for configuration, security, performance and accounting - will help ensure that the connectivity, cost, performance and usage behavior of integrated voice, video and data services meet end user requirements.

In contrast to current manually intensive management software products, policy management systems support centralized definitions of how the network should behave. They also enhance network operation by automating the distribution of those definitions to network components, such as switches, routers and remote access servers. The result should be improved network quality through greater service standardization and automated operation.

Without question, this year marks the beginning of a transition from ad-hoc point-and-guess management to more formalized policy management. As is typical with the first year of a major technology or product shift, 1998 has been dominated by vendor statements of direction, with product availability slated for the latter part of the year.

One example is 3Com's recent announcement of its Policy Powered Network (PPN) management framework. PPN focuses on performance, configuration, security and accounting policy management for data only, as well as longer term converged networks. The initial product target for this year will be performance management (particularly for 3Com's CoreBuilder, SuperStack and PathBulder product lines); broader security, monitoring and accounting support will be rolled out next year. In addition, 3Com is gradually shifting from its vendor-specific first-generation Transcendware policy management products toward support for industry standards, such as the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol and the Common Open Policy Service.

A key advantage for 3Com is that it will be able to leverage its existing experience in performance management to deliver a more streamlined implementation. Another challenge it faces is the effective integration of other policy functionality, such as configuration and security management, which are targets for all the major vendors.