NOCs now in charge of application management

Wide Area Networking This newsletter is sponsored by Tripwire The Key to Efficient IT: Change Management Research shows that IT groups that deliver top-notch user satisfaction and greater security also boast two top controls in their infrastructure: monitoring systems for unauthorized changes and defined consequences for them. Learn how improving change control can boost your organization's effectiveness and SOX compliance. Click here to download this whitepaper today. Network World's Wide Area Networking Newsletter, 06/19/07 NOCs now in charge of application management By Steve Taylor and Jim Metzler One of the traditional roles of a network operations center has been to provide fault management primarily for wired networks. Part of this traditional role includes functioning in an environment in which the end point devices are either a desktop computer or a laptop. The role of the NOC is changing in part because the IT environment is changing. For example, while desktop computers and laptops still function as end point devices, in many instances so too do VoIP phones, softphones, PDAs, and smart phones. In addition, these new end point devices are accessing a wide variety of new applications that may or may not have been sanctioned by the IT organization. A more important aspect of the changing role of the network operations group is that while these groups are still responsible for providing fault management, the majority have also assumed responsibility for managing application performance over both a wired and a wireless infrastructure. As NOCs are finding out, application management is notably more difficult than fault management. One of the factors that make fault management relatively easy is that a fault in a switch or router often leads to an outage, which is readily noticeable. Another factor is that it is easy to set alarms to indicate that some component of the IT infrastructure has failed. That being said, one of the primary challenges associated with traditional fault management is that a given outage will usually generate numerous alarms. Typically one of the alarms is associated with the actual outage. VoIP: Lessons from Early Adopters Experts say VoIP isn't a magic wand that will solve all of an organization's communications challenges right out of the box. Learn why VoIP may not produce expected savings and productivity gains, and other lessons from early adopters. Click Here to Watch For example, if an interface on a router is defective, it will generate an alarm. However, alarms will also be generated because the WAN links that terminate on that router interface are not functioning. In this example, the alarms on the WAN links were not generated because there were no problems with the WAN links. Rather, these alarms are symptoms of the fundamental problem being that the interface on the router is defective. Hence one of the challenges associated with traditional fault management is suppressing all of the false alarms that are associated with the symptoms of the problem and not the problem itself. We should point out that we are not saying that fault management is easy. As one IT organization recently explained to us, “We still spend a lot of valuable time chasing down IOS bugs.” What we are saying is that as difficult as traditional fault management is, application management is notably tougher. The next couple of newsletters will discuss this further. In the mean time, more information can be found here.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. For more detailed information on most of the topics discussed in this newsletter, connect to Webtorials, the premier site for Web-based educational presentations, white papers, and market research. Taylor can be reached at taylor@webtorials.com Jim Metzler is the Vice President of Ashton, Metzler & Associates, a consulting organization that focuses on leveraging technology for business success. Jim assists vendors to refine product strategies, service providers to deploy technologies and services, and enterprises evolve their network infrastructure. He can be reached via e-mail. This newsletter is sponsored by Tripwire The Key to Efficient IT: Change Management Research shows that IT groups that deliver top-notch user satisfaction and greater security also boast two top controls in their infrastructure: monitoring systems for unauthorized changes and defined consequences for them. Learn how improving change control can boost your organization's effectiveness and SOX compliance. Click here to download this whitepaper today. ARCHIVE Archive of the Wide Area Networking Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007