Network and systems management products aren't new and most people in the industry consider the technology a bit boring despite - or maybe because of - the fact that it is essential to controlling change and optimizing performance in today's complex environments.

Professionally, I don't share that opinion because for me something can be both a mainstay tool and an exciting must-have product. And management transcends the toolbox; it's about bringing together human assets by way of skill sets, technology tools and effective processes to ensure smooth operations. Also management technology makers never get the chance to get complacent and rest on their laurels as they need to keep up with the latest trends in enterprise IT shops.

Server virtualization, for one, is sending most vendors back to the start in terms of managing heterogeneous, cross-platform virtual resources. While the majority of production virtual machines can be traced back to VMware's ESX Server, Microsoft's HyperV and Citrix's XenServer could become an attractive option for enterprise IT shops - some of which are already mentioning the high price of virtualizing servers with VMware. Companies such as VMware - which this week announced updates to products designed to manage its virtual environment -- might not be expected to take on multi-vendor hypervisors with its management tools, but Microsoft can't rely on a parent company (EMC in VMware's case) to pick up the heterogeneous management slack.

Management heavyweights BMC, CA, HP and IBM will probably start offering more management as customers begin to demand it, but really the savvy vendor would take on multi-platform management without waiting to hear from its installed base. Successful systems management software today is platform-agnostic and helps customers with mixed Linux, Unix and Windows environments. There is no reason to think moving from physical to virtual will result in more homogeneous environments, and many shops will be deploying Microsoft alongside VMware and continuing to experiment with the open source version of XenServer. Management vendors could edge out the competition they will face in hypervisor providers and start-ups by getting to work now on forging the partnerships that will get them the data they need to manage any hypervisor an enterprise customer decides to deploy.

Whitepapers

• The Trend from UNIX to Linux in SAP(r) Data Centers
• Secure Wireless Printing Options
• Network-Wide Change Management Visibility with Route Analytics
• Getting in Compliance With Government Data Regulations By Leveraging Online Security Technology
• How to Offer the Strongest SSL Encryption
• Maximizing Site Visitor Trust Using Extended Validation SSL

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Webcasts

• Managing the End User Experience-A Real World Example of Success
• Branch Office Trends and Best Practices
• Correlating granular network and application visibility
• Migrating to an MPLS-Based Network
• Round Table Webcast with Forrester Research
• Best Practices for Deploying WAN Optimization for Disaster Recovery

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Special Reports

• WAN Optimization: The Ultimate No Brainer
• Ehternet Services: WAN options mature
• Keeping Spam at Bay
• Network World Executive Guide: The Virtualization Equation
• Application Performance Management Executive Guide
• Executive Guide: Building a Service Oriented Architecture

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