The Common Information Model (CIM) is a technology that so far has been relegated to backstage - but vendors claim key developments in coming weeks will hurry CIM into the spotlight. One of the most important events is this week's formal release of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 2000, which will support CIM. Another is the first real interoperability tests among different vendors' CIM implementations, expected to be held next month.
You've heard of application service providers (ASP). Now get ready for a wave of management service providers.
In an effort to give IT managers a more complete view of their enterprise networks, Hewlett-Packard Co. this week will combine its operations and performance management tools, and add new automated functions into the mix.
E-commerce, voice/data convergence and virtual private networks (VPN) are technologies everyone already talks about.
While the old guard of networking was struggling against heavy snow to get ComNet 2000 under way in Washington this week, a new wave of Internet startups was sunning itself in Palm Springs.
Centralized computing power accessed by thin clients is a model that still makes sense, Oracle President and Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison said in a keynote address at Upside's Showcase event in Palm Springs.
Five years ago, Concord Communications saw a niche in network performance reporting, something big net management platform vendors such as Hewlett-Packard and IBM had missed. Concord exploited that niche with its Network Health software and has since become a $40 million company that is king of the hill in that market. Now Concord CEO Jack Blaeser is setting his sights on $500 million in revenue. Network World Senior Editor Jeff Caruso recently caught up with Blaeser to find out more.
Keeping tabs on network management and performance should get easier this week, as several vendors update their management tools with Web-based interfaces at ComNet 2000 in Washington, D.C.
Remember the initial hype surrounding ATM? Its proponents dreamed of a world dominated by ATM, the only technology able to stretch across both the LAN and the WAN, creating a single, unifying network delivering voice, video and data over the same wire to desktops everywhere.
Foundry Networks next week will give e-commerce customers more options for server load-balancing, as the company updates its switch software to match competitors' capabilities.
Some days, you probably get a bit fed up with your network and just feel like scrapping it and starting over. Well, what if you could? What would your brand-new campus network look like? Some companies actually get that opportunity, be they start-ups building new infrastructures or established companies wiring new buildings. Often these networks follow a distinct pattern. With no legacy equipment to consider, executives opt for both hot technologies such as Layer 3 switching and evergreens such as IP and Ethernet. Today's recipe for a new network installation looks something like this:
December 31 may be looming large for many businesses - but for others, the Y2K problem is shaping up to be a paper tiger.
Lucent's recent acquisition of International Network Services (INS) hasn't slowed the combined company, which has released software to give IT managers a unified and customisable view into their networks, applications and business transactions.
After stumbling out of the limelight a few years ago, virtual LANs may be poised for a comeback, thanks to the efforts of two standards bodies.
Several top executives have left Tivoli in recent months, prompting the company to reorganize and regroup.
The most recent emigrants left earlier this month: Tom Bishop, the company's chief technology officer, and Mark McClain, the vice president of marketing.
They join a list that includes Martin Neath, former executive vice president; Mike O'Rourke, former vice president of packaged solutions; Phil Sheridan, former product line manager; and Mike Turner, former vice president of enterprise business solutions.