Inside service-level management

Inside service-level management
A look at what Network World’s Technology Tour on SLM will offer

Network World, 1/7/03

Welcome to 2003. Though predictions are still a little glum for IT spending, I believe we’ll still make a lot of progress in moving networks forward. We have to. That’s the long and short of it.

There are a lot of new technologies making their way into the enterprise, such as voice, video and real-time versions of both. These innovations melding with data networks will put a lot of pressure on your network in terms of performance and availability.

Therefore, you have to know what’s happening in your network. As your users put more stock in what your network can do for them, they are going to demand guarantees from you. And budget constraints will have them - and you - watching like a hawk to make sure those guarantees are met.

To help you get your arms around how to set and meet these goals, Network World, as we discussed in an earlier newsletter, is hosting our first Technology Tour of the new year on service-level management (SLM). Rick Sturm, CEO of Enterprise Management Associates, and I are developing a program that will answer all your questions regarding service-level agreements, creating a network architecture that supports SLAs and developing feedback loops with clients.

In his morning keynote, Rick will look at why need SLM tools. What is happening in the marketplace to make them a necessity? He’ll tackle this question and give you an inside look at the players in this field and what they have to offer. He’ll also explain the importance of your role in every aspect of SLM and how, if done right, you can use these tools to contribute to your organization’s bottom line.

In the afternoon, Rick takes you through the nuts and bolts of setting up a SLM system, from knowing what your client expectations are to choosing tools that you can integrate into your network to help meet those expectations. He’ll also share with you the key elements of a successful rollout.

Joining us on-stage will be the top companies in the SLM arena. Each will give a 20-minute presentation on a certain aspect of this topic, offering you an educational look at the issues as well as an overview of their offerings. Computer Associates, Hewlett-Packard, MetiLinx, Micromuse, Smarts and Visual Networks will each help you gain a comprehensive understanding of today’s SLM technologies as well as those that will emerge over the coming months.

2003 is going to be all about building networks that outperform user expectations without breaking the bank. Creating a SLM system that helps you achieve this goal is the best way to start out the new year. Make sure you join me as we kick off our Technology Tour season. For a list of cities and dates for this tour, visit http://www.nwfusion.com/events/slm/index.html. I hope to see you soon.

What do you think? Should high-tech be injected into all the nation's voting systems? Or do you think that too much technology can be dangerous? Let me know at sgittlen@nww.com.

Error 404--Not Found

From RFC 2068 Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1:

10.4.5 404 Not Found

Error 404--Not Found

From RFC 2068 Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1:

10.4.5 404 Not Found

Error 404--Not Found

From RFC 2068 Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1:

10.4.5 404 Not Found