A look at the Open Virtualization Format Specification

08/27/08

With VMworld 2008 upon us next month, the challenges virtualization presents IT managers is top of mind for many vendors and industry organizations.

IT pros sound off on managing applications

08/25/08

When asked recently about the priorities and challenges involved with managing applications, senior IT professionals had a lot to say.

Government agency plans big power savings with BigFix

08/20/08

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) estimates it can save between $750,000 and $50 million annually if a majority of government agencies implement power management software that would enable IT to program computers to automatically shut down during non-business hours.

Network behavior analysis secures Wayne State University

08/18/08

The IT security team at Wayne State University in Detroit wanted to get better visibility into the traffic crossing the urban institution's main and satellite locations. With some 33,000 students and 10,000 faculty, staff and employees using the network which includes 10,000 internal and 50,000 external hosts, the team turned to network behavior analysis (NBA) software from Q1 Labs.

ASG updates its MetaCMDB software

08/13/08

IT industry watchers embrace the premise of a configuration management database as the necessary foundation to a savvy service management strategy, but the practice of establishing an effective CMDB has yet to be standardized.

What is considered good application performance?

08/11/08

Like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, optimal application performance is in the experience of the end user. It's a subjective matter that can bewilder network managers trying to ensure every app performs as its end users expect. And while the process of determining what optimal application performance is can be ambiguous, it is crystal clear when the goal has not been met and end users are complaining about slow service and non-responsive applications.

Poor application performance translates to lost revenue, research shows

08/06/08

Poor application performance causes more than headaches for end users trying to access resources and network managers hoping to keep workers productive. It impacts a business bottom line and equals lost revenue to many organizations, a recent Aberdeen Research study shows.

Analyze Cisco's NetFlow for free

08/04/08

Network traffic data holds a wealth of information about application response time, network usage and bandwidth consumption. Getting at that data in an efficient and inexpensive manner would help network managers better understand and control their networks.

BMC delivers solid earnings - again

07/30/08

Management software maker BMC kicked off fiscal 2009 with significant revenue increases that have industry watchers confident the company will weather any economic challenges U.S. vendors could face this year.

Blue Cross Blue Shield spots symptoms before network, voice apps get sick

07/28/08

The enterprise network systems department at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) can't spend the majority of its time troubleshooting network, application and VoIP performance issues.

Managing an effective IT workforce

07/23/08

IT managers responsible for staffing their departments can no longer rely only on specific certifications and specialized experience when looking to create an IT team that can address business demands and anticipate future needs.

ITIL-based service management from the mainframe

07/21/08

Large enterprise companies that need guaranteed high performance and scalability for their service management applications might want to consider StreamFoundry's software suite that addresses several tenets laid out in ITIL while running on an IBM mainframe.

Tips for finding IT work online

07/16/08

IT professionals looking for permanent positions in high-tech seem to be facing more challenges than in the past, and numerous online career sites promise to expedite the process with social networking and other features designed to bring the best listing directly to job-seekers' desktops.

New IT job: CMDB manager

07/14/08

Enterprise IT departments looking to successfully deploy and maintain a configuration management database should also consider redefining one staffer's responsibilities and role into CMDB manager, according to a recent report from Forrester Research.

NetIQ automates security processes

07/09/08

NetIQ this week announced capabilities the security and systems management vendor says will apply IT process automation technology to security and compliance policies.

Avocent continues to grow via acquisitions

07/07/08

Avocent recently announced it had signed deals to acquire two companies, both of which the management software vendor says will help customers better manage IT operations from the desktop to the data center.

Belated look at BMC's acquisition of ITM Software

07/02/08

BMC Software a couple of weeks ago announced it had acquired for an undisclosed sum ITM Software, a maker of products that help manage the business side of IT that fall into the technology arena of project and portfolio management.

Apparent Networks makes network and application performance more apparent

06/30/08

Network managers are inundated with a deluge of information daily. Alerts from multiple systems and tools keep them searching for the information that matters most to complete the task at hand.

Alerting service reveals DNS errors

06/25/08

DNSstuff recently announced an updated service that would alert customers if their DNS settings were improperly configured and offer tips on how to remediate the issue before the issues impact network performance.

No pain, no gain when it comes to managing virtualization

06/23/08

Virtualization is the darling of the technology industry right now, but more and more industry watchers are warning IT managers about the dangers of taking x86 server virtualization too lightly.

HP hones in on configuration management

06/18/08

HP this week shared details around the company's work to integrate software technologies - some of which were acquired in HP's many acquisitions, - and enlighten customers to the most recent updates to its software portfolio.

ManageIQ takes on virtual server configuration management

06/16/08

There is no question virtual servers will challenge IT staff when it comes to the many facets of managing systems.

A deep dive into CA's GRC software

06/11/08

CA made news this week with updates across its security and management product portfolios, but the software maker's work in governance, risk and compliance management in particular caught one industry watcher's eye.

CA stages a software comeback

06/09/08

CA this week is making several announcements in two key technology areas for the company: security and management, and the slew of software upgrades has people talking.

Forrester Research examines the mega-management vendors, Part 2

06/04/08

Forrester Research recently examined where the big four management software makers currently stand in the market.

Denise Dubie is senior editor with Network World.