NetCare® network management services — Managing multi-vendor networks

In the past, network management was primarily a centralized endeavor carried out by a virtual priesthood of technicians who stared at arcane command-line screens all day. Now management tasks are distributed to the most appropriate machine, and various tasks executing on different platforms can now be integrated. The centralized point-to-point connections used in the past have been replaced with large clouds of packet/cell switching networks or dual-purpose voice/data ISDN connections. In fact, opening voice circuits to the public has enabled many companies to implement combined voice/data networks. These have resulted in highly effective multi-vendor networks. The primary job of network management is to monitor and report on the status of the entire network. At NetCare® Network Management Services, we track the status of every component in the network, regardless of who the manufacturer is or what type of network it is operating. This paper describes our successful approach to multi-vendor network management.