NetQoS defies classification

Analysts are famous for trying to put things in buckets - but in management software and services that tendency can often prove to be more sophistic than salutary. NetQoS is potentially an innocent victim of this unfortunate, oddly clerical tendency among many in the industry.

NetQoS is an Austin, Texas company that provides a service and software for optimizing the performance of applications over a network. NetQoS provides enterprises and service providers with analyses that help them decide how to optimize line utilization, or who's using what applications the most - and what the impact is to the network. NetQoS is also well suited to parsing out how services and network utilization map to organizational matrices or customer accounts. The scalability, granularity, and flexible, customized approach to data aggregation across many sources and filtering for user-specified parameters are all among NetQoS's more popular features.

NetQoS can take advantage of your investments in equipment that provides Remote Monitoring (RMON) and RMON2 data. It combines the data with on-premise software and remote diagnostics and analysis.

This poses the question: Is NetQoS a software or a service vendor? (The answer for now at least is " service. " ) And if it is a services-oriented vendor, is it a management service provider? (The answer here is probably: who cares?) NetQoS offers a management service, it's true, but it would naturally tend to complement most management service providers, just as they complement more than replace most management software products.

The NetQoS software in the company's NQServer resides on the customer premise. A dial-up connection is sufficient to reach NetQoS consultants who assist IT in the day-to-day optimization of network resources. NetQoS begins with a software architecture that leverages, as mentioned above, existing management sources such as NetScout Manager from NetScout and Pegasus from NetIQ. The architecture is extensible so additional sources can be added over time. NQTracker enables the customized configuration of RMON2 probes in order to look for the most relevant application traffic.

This information feeds a database where NQAnalyzer and NQReporter target a number of preset criteria for analysis, which can help with a range of tasks. These tasks include the effective provisioning of links and identification of unnecessary links. Users can also track unknown traffic; significant increases or decreases in infrastructure; utilization by particular users, user groups, or applications; nontime sensitive applications running during peak hours; and nonbusiness use of bandwidth. Alert notification on exceptions can also trigger real-time corrective actions. Reporting, presentation and analysis are HTML-based.

The scalability of the NetQoS service is one of its consistently appreciated benefits. Users like the fact that the software can query hundreds of probes to generate thousands of reports per hour (10,000 in one case) - which are efficiently consolidated to monitor ongoing network behavior.

Savings in bandwidth and business productivity are among the critical benefits. The ability to map the network requirements to particular organizational, or client/customer environments is also popular. And one consistent value, of course, is the ability to aggregate large amounts of granular data and map it to relevant actions.

It should be pointed out that this is a relatively premier service, at costs in excess of $10,000 per month. Its value proposition becomes most meaningful in larger organizations with thousands of nodes - and then it should be viewed as a strategic complement to existing IT capabilities, not just a " nice-to-have. "

NetQoS is a new, emerging player. Its capabilities are evolving, both in terms of software and service, as it broadens its range of accounts and capabilities. It is worth considering in the present, however, if you have significant networked resources and are looking for a partner to make them efficient.

Dennis Drogseth is a director with Enterprise Management Associates, a leading analyst and market research firm based in Boulder, Colorado, focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise management. Dennis has extensive experience in network management platforms and products and is researching trends in management software and changing IT roles internationally. His 18-plus years of experience in high-tech includes positions at IBM and Cabletron. He has been quoted in the press and is a speaker at industry events. He can be reached via e-mail.

Audrey Rasmussen is a research director with Enterprise Management Associates in Boulder, Colorado, a leading analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise management. Audrey has more than 20 years of experience working with distributed systems, applications and networks. Her current focus at EMA is e-business, SMB/SME and MSPs. She can be reached via e-mail.

Enterprise Management Associates in Boulder, Colorado, is a leading analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise management software and services.

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