HP and Intel form policy management partnership

As further evidence that the world of policy management is starting to heat up, system giants Hewlett-Packard and Intel recently revealed plans for products based on a policy-based network management blueprint the two companies are developing. The blueprint incorporates existing standards, such as the Common Open Policy Service, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol and Resource Reservation Protocol, but is also pragmatic in its intention to interoperate with the Cisco Assure product family.

The entry of these players into the policy management fray provides further evidence that policy management - if it develops into something other than vaporware - will require mass support from major systems and network players.

Why is this necessary? Because the real value-add of policy management is its ability to define the rules and ensure that networks and networked applications are more effective in their production-level support of business operations. In addition, policy management promises to ease the burdens of already overloaded systems and network managers through better management automation. In order for this to happen, complete end-to-end support must be provided; to achieve end-to-end support, active involvement of the systems and applications vendors is an absolute must.

Does the industry have the mass support it needs from the systems and applications vendor community to make this happen? Well, not yet, but with this statement of intention from two key players, it's clear that we're getting closer.