In recognition that the shortcomings of network management have not been fully overcome, a new association has been formed to find pragmatic solutions to its ongoing problems. It aims to do this through co-operation between manufacturers, and the integration of existing applications, with the first such implementations already announced. Driving force behind AIMS, the Association for the Integration of Management Systems, is Michael Emanuel, marketing director at the Guildford, Surrey-based Network Managers Ltd. He has garnered support from a range of suppliers, including Ascom AG, British Telecommunications Plc, Craycom Ltd and Ungermann Bass Europe. At AIMS’ first meeting, the framework for the association was set out, with broad agreement that competing suppliers would be better off working together to integrate the strengths of different systems, rather than each trying to find all of the answers in isolation. Putting network management where his mouth is, Emanuel says that Network Managers has announced that it is to integrate its NMC3000 product with Layer-8 from Linx NMS Ltd to exploit the former’s alarm and configuration management features with the latter’s inventory management, interconnection management, help desk, change management, financial applications, speech systems management and umbrella network management capabilities. As the first part of the agreement, the latter is to buy the NMC3000 product OEM, while Network Managers is to make Layer-8 available to its resellers throughout Europe. Emanuel cheerfully admits that most of the problems with network management stem from the fact that there are so many different requirements of a network management system. He breaks these down into four categories – the planning, commissioning, the running and plans for expansion. He feels that by trying to cover all of these aspects, any manufacturer is setting itself too hard a task, hence the move to co-operate. The new association does not plan to compete with the work undertaken by the Open Software Foundation and the Network Management Forum, but sees itself as putting a real world perspective on their studies: according to Emanuel, AIMS hopes to tell the American academics where they’re right, and influence them where they’re wrong. As an example of where AIMS aims to influence the Foundation, Emanuel points to the lack of a universal network description language which, he feels, would greatly help both developers and end-users. Indeed, speaking at AIMS first meeting, Janet Cohen of the Cambridge Strategic Management Group likened integrated management to the building of a wall, with the standards committees responsible for the below-ground foundations, and AIMS and its members taking on the visible, above ground construction in the form of specific applications. The group has not decided, however, whether it should continue in its present form, or whether it could operate under the umbrella of the Network Management Forum: this is to be decided in the near future. As well as the companies named above, there were representatives at the Association for Integration of Management Systems meeting were and EWI SA of Switzerland; Cambridge Strategic Management Group; Comdisco Systems; Craycom; Digital Network International; Epilogue Technology; Fulcrum Communications; Linx Communications; Pilkington Communications Systems; Pirelli Cables; Proteon Europe; Sistema from Italy; Gambit; LANNET; North Hills and RND from Israel; Comconsult, Conware Computing Consulting, Fuba Communications, Hirschmann, MbbV Consulting, Schneider & Koch, Ungermann Bass Europe and the University of Kaiserslautern, all Germany.
