HP nabs the prize

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: LISA ERICKSON-HARRIS ON
NETWORK/SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
09/26/05
Today's focus: HP nabs the prize

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Peregrine Systems is a great addition to HP
* Links related to Network/Systems Management
* Featured reader resource
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by NetQoS, Inc.
EMA Report: Managing Your Network for Performance

Managing networked applications with fragmented views across
networks, servers and applications prevents rapid diagnosis of
performance issues and the ability to pinpoint their source.
This analyst report explains how to centralize and simplify the
management of enterprise networks for application performance,
and support cross-organizational collaboration for efficient
troubleshooting, infrastructure optimization, and service-level
monitoring.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=115726
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IS TELEWORK TAKING OFF?

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_______________________________________________________________

Today's focus: HP nabs the prize

By Lisa Erickson-Harris

HP last week announced the acquisition of Peregrine Systems, a
company that would have served as a prize for many would-be
buyers.

Though it has seen its fair share of turbulent times, the
management team at Peregrine successfully pared back the
organization, refocused its product strategy, and perhaps most
importantly tuned its partnership standings. ServiceCenter has
been filling the service desk and asset management gaps for both
Mercury and IBM - IBM particularly for service desk and Mercury
for asset management.

Peregrine has also made progress in the areas of integration, IT
analytics with its Optimal IT, and in creating visibility around
the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) - initiatives that
are all right in the middle of important IT trends today.

HP's primary reason for purchasing Peregrine is to support HP's
Adaptive Enterprise strategy and more specifically to fill its
need for comprehensive asset management products. In addition,
HP expects to take advantage of Peregrine's service desk
strengths to build better service desk software.

HP was very forthright in its articulation of product and
technology plans at the time of the announcement. The company is
rightly focused on customer retention and wants to ensure that
Peregrine's customers remain on board and are not left stranded.
To this end, HP will be supporting Peregrine's announced product
strategy and will begin to merge the roadmap over time with the
expectation that it will take about 18 months for full
integration of the product lines.

One of the most obvious impacts of this acquisition is the
dynamic created in the service desk market. Peregrine
represented one of a handful of dominant service desk vendors in
a market that has a large number of very small help desk
products. Even though consolidation in this market is taking
place, the leading vendors have long been Remedy, Peregrine, HP
and Computer Associates. This acquisition will immediately take
a contender for the number one position out of the running. It
will also create turbulence over time as HP and Peregrine sort
out product details and make choices that directly affect
customers.

Both HP and Peregrine have a CMDB story to tell. Peregrine's
position has supported the idea of a CMDB for many years, with
strengths that include automation capabilities for reconciling
configuration items (CI) and the integration of many disparate
data sources. HP's CMDB covers CIs related to a broad range of
technologies. The two stories together will become much
stronger, though the challenge of mapping services to
infrastructure will need to be resolved - perhaps by keeping
Mercury in the mix with its Appilog technology or by using a
similar technology.

HP's decision to buy Peregrine, in retrospect, seems intuitive,
as it strengthens HP's software group financially,
competitively, and technologically. First and foremost, HP gains
asset management, third-party integration tools, and CMDB
technology that can truly enhance its current position. HP and
Peregrine have been heavily entrenched in ITIL for many years
and made a commitment to a process-based approach long before
the rest of the world - particularly North America - decided
that it was a good idea. Enterprise Management Associates
expects that the ITIL synergy will help to ease the inevitable
culture challenges that exist in any merger environment.

The combined company will need to define its customer base.
Peregrine has historically targeted only large enterprises. HP
has been much more open than that, also targeting small to
midsized businesses. Over the long term, the company will need
to look at how it can cover the whole range from SMB market
through the enterprise, similar to the way BMC does with its
Magic and Remedy product lines.

Finally, Peregrine offers HP a new product, Optimal IT - a
benefit over and above the obvious. Optimal IT puts
sophisticated tools in the hands of IT managers, enabling them
to look at various scenarios and cost components. This new
product introduces yet another competitive environment for HP to
address, but the advantage is that it provides HP with unique
positioning for its service management story. Combining Optimal
IT, a consolidated CMDB, openness through integration, and asset
management capabilities, HP will be much better positioned than
it has been vis-`-vis its competitors.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. McAfee, Omniquad top anti-spyware test
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm6907>
2. IT pros share their tales of making ITIL work
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm7615>
3. The rise of the IT architect
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm7020>
4. Wireless: Volunteers give voice to evacuees
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm7616>
5. How to solve Windows system crashes in minutes
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm7617>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Lisa Erickson-Harris

Lisa Erickson-Harris is a research director with Enterprise
Management Associates <http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/> in
Boulder, Colo., a leading analyst and market research firm
focusing exclusively on enterprise infrastructure management.
Lisa has more than 18 years of experience working in all aspects
of IT, including network administration, software development,
product management, and strategic partnership development. Her
current focus at EMA is service-level management, partnership
strategies, and management systems for the SMB/SME environment.

She can be reached via e-mail at
<mailto:erickson-harris@enterprisemanagement.com>
Download a free copy of the new SLM Buyer's Guide at
<http://www.slm-info.org/>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by NetQoS, Inc.
EMA Report: Managing Your Network for Performance

Managing networked applications with fragmented views across
networks, servers and applications prevents rapid diagnosis of
performance issues and the ability to pinpoint their source.
This analyst report explains how to centralize and simplify the
management of enterprise networks for application performance,
and support cross-organizational collaboration for efficient
troubleshooting, infrastructure optimization, and service-level
monitoring.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=115725
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Network/Systems Management newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/nsm/index.html

Management Research Center:
http://www.networkworld.com/topics/management.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE

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<http://www.networkworld.com/go/trendmicro/trend_frr>
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