HP, CA and the CMDB

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DENNIS DROGSETH ON NETWORK/SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT
06/27/05
Today's focus: HP, CA and the CMDB

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* HP, Computer Associates and the CMDB in alignment
* Links related to Network/Systems Management
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: HP, CA and the CMDB

By Dennis Drogseth

This week's column was spawned by two-and-a-half events that
demonstrate the management market's coming of age.

The first event is the OpenView Forum held recently in Denver.
The second event is Computer Associates' recent analyst meeting
in New York. And the "half" event is the availability of
Enterprise Management Associates' second report on the
Configuration Management Database (CMDB) market - which I
promise you is the most complete listing of vendor solutions, as
well as IT perspectives, you can probably find anywhere.

Let's look at some common themes between the two (and a half)
events, and I'll let you decide if this is all mere coincidence
or emblematic of something more.

* Both HP and CA presented a strong focus on architecture. Of
  course, EMA's CMDB landscape is at least as much about
  architecture, or "under-the-covers" evolution, as it is about
  ITIL processes. The very heart of CA's story resides in the
  understanding that enabling technologies should be shared across
  management disciplines. Its MDB (Management Database) is roughly
  the equivalent of a CMDB, a common trusted data store that can
  enable data sharing across virtually all management disciplines
  and applications. HP similarly has a rich architectural story
  with a focus on Web services and service oriented architecture,
  not only as an environment to manage, but also as an
  architectural foundation for data integration. It similarly has
  a committed CMDB direction. HP's architectural plans have
  governed many of its acquisitions from last year, often
  described in terms of model-based automation, in which modeling
  captures relationships and dependencies.

* Integration was a theme in both events - integration both
  across and within each portfolio, and integration with
  third-party products. Both events demonstrated that integration
  is evolving well beyond the event-driven or console-driven
  strategies of the past towards a much more complete sharing of
  information and actions across components and multiple sources.
  Once again, the relationship with CMDB strategies, in which
  federated data stores will need to embrace multi-vendor options,
  is far from coincidental.

* The "a" words - auto-discovery, analytics and automation -
  were similarly highlighted in discussions I had at both events.
  From a CMDB perspective, auto-discovery and auto-population are
  required whenever possible, or else a common trusted (often
  federated) data store becomes, as one IT skeptic once stated,
  "an impossible dream that will collapse of its own weight."
  Analytics and automation are, on the other hand, what the CMDB
  should help enable more effectively across management
  disciplines. Without investments in analytics and automation,
  the CMDB becomes cumbersome and useful for only the most manual
  and least time-sensitive of management tasks.

* Integrated security with a focus on identity management is a
  clarion call at both HP and CA. HP has invested in Select Access
  and TruLogica, and CA has acquired Netegrity for eTrust, an
  entire business unit devoted to security and one of its fastest
  areas of growth. Security overall, and identity management in
  particular, is an area to watch, and once again, it's also
  relevant to many CMDB strategies in managing appropriate access
  to information.

* Business alignment and what the industry now calls business
  service management was a dominant theme in both events. Modeling
  services and understanding services in a business context is
  core (as it is for the CMDB as well) for both HP and CA.

* A more simplified portfolio was also stressed by both
  companies. This is, of course, much needed for both to succeed.
  HP is already moving towards a solutions-based model and CA is
  leveraging the draconian simplicity of its MDB initiative to
  bring much more effective product integration later this year.

This isn't to say that CA and HP have identical portfolios or
strategies. That would be a huge and misleading exaggeration.
Just for starters, half of CA's business is mainframe-related,
while HP is all but exclusively focused on the distributed
management environment.

But the themes of architecture, product integration, attention
to security and identity management, and a focus on the "a"
words are shared by both companies. Is this just a coincidence
of convenient marketing ideas, or is it something more - a sign
that the industry is at an inflection point and beginning to
play by new, and overall more enlightened, rules? Time will
tell, but I believe that the evidence is pointing towards the
latter.

RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS

Integrien fine-tunes system monitor
Network World, 06/27/05
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/062705-integrien.html?rl

BMC ups its standing in identity mgmt.
Network World, 06/27/05
http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm2819
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Dennis Drogseth

Dennis Drogseth is a vice president with Enterprise Management
Associates <http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/>, a leading
analyst, market research and IT consulting firm based in
Boulder, Colorado, focusing exclusively on all aspects of
enterprise management. Dennis has extensive experience in
service level management and network management platforms and
products. He is actively researching trends in management
software and changing IT roles internationally. His 22-plus
years of experience in high-tech includes positions at IBM and
Cabletron. He is widely quoted in the press and is a speaker at
many industry events. He can be reached via e-mail
<mailto:drogseth@enterprisemanagement.com>.
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