Open source management applications disrupted the market a few years back and some of the pioneers in the technology area continue to progress and grow their business.

When companies such as GroundWork Open Source, Hyperic, Zenoss and others announced they would be providing open source applications for network management, many industry watchers questioned how well such tools could manage today's high-end networks. But the companies continue to build on their products to get open source in the door at larger companies.

For instance, Hyperic recently updated its HQ software to Version 3.2, adding features that enable the software to monitor 1.5 million metrics per minute using MySQL as a back-end database. The updated release also includes views that enable IT managers to monitor all downed resources and length of downtime in one page. Hyperic says that feature will help speed problem resolution in large environments. This version also includes capabilities to collect more log data, which the company says increases performance.

Separately, Zenoss announced it had garnered more venture capital cash this month. The company reported it has secured $11 million in a Series B round of investment led by Grotech Capital. On top of bringing in the extra cash, Zenoss also announced it had some 500,000 downloads of its Core product. The company also says it has increased its commercial customer base tenfold, giving customers looking for monitoring tools an alternative to the big four market leaders. 

"Companies are eager for alternatives to the costly and cumbersome network and systems management tools offered by HP, IBM, CA and BMC," said Bill Karpovich, CEO of Zenoss, in a company press release. "Our 500,000 downloads and the rapid growth of our commercial customer base - many of whom are large, publicly traded companies - exemplify this desire for a new approach."

Denise Dubie is senior editor with Network World.