New EMA study examines the evolving role of network management technologies and best practices, identifies six emerging megatrends
BOULDER, Colo. Oct. 20, 2008 – Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), (www.www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today released its latest research report on IT network management entitled, “Network Management 2008: Megatrends in Technology, Process, and Organization.”
For this study, EMA surveyed 180 professionals representing a broad range of organization sizes, industries and roles to explore current trends, technologies and practices in network management. Findings reveal how enterprises are increasingly relying upon next-generation network management technologies and practices to drive operational savings as IT looks to deliver business value that helps improve the bottom-line. They also indicate a strong, renewed interest in network virtualization and identify six emerging megatrends within the discipline of network management.
“Our results indicate that change continues to occur in the managed environment as well as the business climate,” said Jim Frey, EMA senior analyst and co-leader of the study. “Despite growing economic concerns, the current outlook on IT spending around the network remains fairly robust. So far, many technology investments are still moving forward and are considered a good way to reduce cost and streamline operations.”
EMA identified six megatrends on how companies are responding to changes in the network management discipline. They include:
- Collaboration for managing web-based applications: the emergent triage model – The challenge of managing the performance of today’s predominantly web-accessible application base has resulted in the convergence of diverse roles. Gaining popularity are cross-domain and multi-party “triage” teams, typically led by network management staff.
- Expanding scope: from data center to remote sites – The network operation team’s scope of responsibilities is growing to include monitoring and managing devices within data centers and remote sites. This often includes the need for active configuration of remote site devices and elements.
- QoE tools and technologies grow in importance for managing networked applications – Organizations are increasingly turning to Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement and monitoring to assess the quality of application and service delivery and as an integral part of support and diagnostic activities.
- Role of WAN optimization: tactical or strategic? – The importance of WAN optimization technologies continues to be scrutinized as organizations look to determine whether or not these solutions play a strategic or tactical role in network and application management architectures.
- Move toward application lifecycle management – Application lifecycle management is emerging as a rallying point for organizations that are building cross-functional teams to achieve truly proactive service quality goals.
- CMDB impact on architecture – The ties between the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and network management architectures are strengthening. Organizations with CMDB deployments underway are recognizing better change management in the networked infrastructure, reducing downtime and improving service performance.
In its analysis, EMA suggests that the network management discipline is playing a vital role within the broader IT operations function, and will likely continue doing so for the foreseeable future. Organizational developments, mixed with process improvements and new technologies, are pushing network management toward a more mature, manageable and business-relevant role in today’s highly connected organizations.
Frey and study co-leader Dennis Drogseth will share some of the high-level findings from the study in a free Webinar on Oct. 22, 2008. To register, visit http://www.www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=909
To purchase a copy of the report, contact sales@enterprisemanagement.com or +1.303.543.9500.
About Enterprise Management Associates
Founded in 1996, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) is a leading industry analyst and consulting firm dedicated to the IT management market. The firm provides IT vendors and enterprise IT professionals with objective insight into the real-world business value of long-established and emerging technologies, ranging from security, storage and IT Service Management (ITSM) to the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), virtualization and service-oriented architecture (SOA). Even with its rapid growth, EMA has never lost sight of the client, and continues to offer personalized support and convenient access to its analysts. For more information on the firm’s extensive library of IT management research, free online IT Management Solutions Center and IT consulting offerings, visit www.www.enterprisemanagement.com.