We are merging the network management blog into the BSM blog to align with the way our customers think about IT monitoring.

Learn from Alex Ryals, CTO of Pepperweed consulting, how he helps his customers manage their physical and virtual networks using Network Node Manager i.

Have you taken a look at the new Network Node Manager i 9.1?  Watch a short video demo on what value it brings to you in managing your network?

I am glad to announce that Clarus Systems, Inc, a valued HP Netowrk Management Center partner has just been awarded the HP 2011 AllianceONE Partner of the Year Award at HP DISCOVER in Las Vegas.  Clarus systems is a leading provider of integrated Voice over IP (VoIP) management software and services for Unified Communications.

Our latest release, Network Management Center 9.1 (NMC) is generating a great deal of press since announcement on May 16, 2011. 

Have you seen the new features of ANM 9.10 yet?  If not, please take few minutes (23 to be exact) to take a look at the latest release of the HP Automated Network management (ANM) solution.

HP delivers Network Management Center 9.1 as new demands on network management require secure, integrated, and automated response.
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Listen to the podcast. Find it on iTunes/iPod and Podcast.com. Read a transcript or download a copy. Learn more.

Are you finding your network more difficult to manage?  Are network monitoring and management costs increasing?  Would you like to learn about the latest tools that are helping our customers get cost and complexity under control?

Come to HP Discover and attend sessions, roundtables and meet with the HP network management software experts. 

The HP Network Management Center products latest release for Network Node Manager, Network Automation, and the NNM Smart Plug-Ins is version 9.10, containing many enhancements and major improvements for ease of use. All customers on support should have been notified by now of availability of these releases.

The NNM 9.10 release includes many UI improvements such as right-click actions menu, multi-selection and fewer windows to navigate, with a new analysis pane feature. There are also new security features including multi-tenancy that allows a single server to support and segregate multiple management domains supported by different operators. Improvements are also made to the NNM iSPIs including better reporting interfaces and new reports. Enhancements to performance integration include the ability to report and threshold using baselines, quick analysis views of traffic patterns, easier QA probe management, and many other features detailed in the product ReleaseNotes. Ashish’s blog posting below highlights the benefits of this major release for NMC customers.

Network Automation also has a 9.10 release with improvements, and if you use these Network Management Center products together, you should update them all to 9.10 at relatively the same time to preserve their integrations. More information on NNM can be found in the NNM documentation List for 9.10 and in general for all the HP Software products, documentation is available from the HP Software Manuals portal.

If you have decided to stay on the 9.0 version stream for now, then you should have been notified of the latest patch release specific to NNM, which is called “patch 4” for Linux, Windows, HP-UX or Solaris that contains the latest fixes. Access all HP Software patches from the HP Software Support Online system, using your HP passport credentials. Also note that the NNM 9.0x Documentation List for pointers to changed documentation.

We are pleased to introduce the latest release of HP Network Management Center (NMC) – HP NMC version 9.1

This key themes of this release are an enhanced focus on our managed service provider customers, cloud-readiness, and a new unified communications and collaboration solution. 

Learn how Hana HSBC Life Insurance achieved effective network control with the HP Network Automation software

"In the past, IT managers had difficulty managing our centralized system. Errors would occur when managers had to fix small issues, but now with access control, these kinds of problems no longer occur."

Han-Sang Lim, manager, Hana I&S IT Service Division

Learn how a HP Software customer, Orion, enhanced its operational and engineering communications network by gaining the visibility and control it needed to identify and resolve problems quickly, as well as undertake trouble-free network maintenance and proactive planning for network changes.

BSM Product Marketing hosts a twice-monthly, virtual forum to facilitate a closer relationship between you, our valued partners, and the HP product teams. 

HP APM/BAC team is going on a 6 city (New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Atlanta, Toronto, Columbus) America test drive:  Get a 360 view of your apps.

Join my team, along with an APM9 customer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida on the road for an interactive event where you’ll be able to test drive HP Application Performance Management. 

I am presenting the Network Managment Center overview for the HP Americas partners conference (2011).  Attend to learn how you can utilize HP Software's Network Management Portfolio to boost your profit margins. 

Announcing the launch of the HP Network Management Center (NMC) practitioner's forum where you can interact with other NMC customers and HP Subject Matter Experts to share your experiences, learn best practices and get pressing questions answered.

Learn what HP customers have to say about the benefits delivered by HP's Business Services Management (BSM) offering.

The third general-release patch for Network Node Manager i version 9.0 has been released. NNM 9.0x “Patch 3” for Linux, Windows, HP-UX or Solaris NNM 9.0 servers contains many fixes as well as some minor enhancements including improved device support. The NNM version number is 9.01.003. Be sure to read the installation instructions when installing this patch, as there are new incident configurations that you can load.

You may access all patches from the HP Software Support Online system, using your HP passport credentials. Use the links above or search for the products of interest (such as for example “network node manager”, version 9.00 or 9.01, for your particular OS). More information on the specific content can be found in the patch information along with the download, and you can also refer to the NNM Documentation List for pointers to changed documentation. In general, all product documentation is available from the HP Software Manuals portal.

If you own other HP Software Network Management products, you should also keep current on patches with them. In January 2011 there was a patch released for the NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics (patch02 for Windows or Linux). At the end of 2010, a general release patch for Network Automation (service pack 9.00.01) was released. Users of Network Automation (NA) should also be aware of the HP Live Network community where you can obtain new release packs of NA device drivers and also the optional Network Driver Studio package that allows you to customize drivers for yourself.

For products you own support for, you should get notification of patch availability and have content available also via the HP Software My Updates portal. Prior to any patch installation, always read the patch installation information and follow the instructions carefully. In addition to defect repairs in general patch releases such as these, specific issues you encounter may also be covered via hotfixes available from the HP Software support organization.

Hana HSBC Life Insurance turns to HP Network Automation to centralize network management and gain control over network changes.

If you are planning to join HP in the lovely city of Barcelona, Spain for HP Software Universe and an interest in how to better manage your network, you are in luck.  Customers, partners and HP product and solutions experts will be on hand to share experiences and offer best practices for your network.  Join us for these informative sessions:  

Webcast on helping you cover key steps to proactive network fault and performance management with integrated remediation and detail how HP Automated Network Management can help you.

On 7 December 2010 Ken Gott, from the HP Network Management Center, will cover key steps to proactive network fault and performance management with integrated remediation and detail how HP Automated Network Management can help you...

The second general-release patch for Network Node Manager i version 9 was released in September. The NNM 9.x “Patch 2” contains many fixes as well as some new capabilities, and the version number is changed to 9.01.

You can access patches from the HP Software Support Online system, using your HP passport credentials. Search for the products of interest (such as for example “network node manager”, version 9.00 or 9.01, for your particular OS). More information on the specific content in NNM 9.01 can be found in the ReleaseNotes, and you can also refer to the NNM Documentation List for additional references to new documentation. In general, all product documentation is available from the HP Software Manuals portal.

There is also a separate set of patches that have been released for the 9.0 versions of NNM iSPI Performance for Traffic and NNM iSPI for IP Telephony products with defect repairs. See the individual patch descriptions on in the HP Software Support Online system for “network node manager iSPI Performance for Traffic“ 9.00, to find patches for the Traffic Extension, Traffic Master, and Traffic Leaf and search “network node manager SPI for IP Telephony” 9.00 for the IPT iSPI.

For products you own support for, you should get notification of patch availability and have content available also via the HP Software My Updates portal. Prior to any patch installation, always read the patch installation information and follow the instructions carefully. In addition to defect repairs in general patch releases such as these, specific issues you encounter may also be covered via hotfixes available from the HP Software support organization.

Cloud-based solutions are driving a sharp focus on what lines of business really need from IT services.  Driven by initial enthusiasm around potential cost savings, business stakeholders often run into a less than perfect quality of experience; in some cases, finding out that what they’re paying for isn’t quite what they wanted.  At the same time, IT finds itself in the difficult position of being responsible for service quality while having exponentially more variables to contend with.

Faced with this situation, Seagate IT relied on an HP Business Service Management (BSM) strategy to “Master the Cloud,” and you can too.

Join Steve Katz, Seagate IT Manager, Dennis Drogseth, EMA VP of Research, and Aruna Ravichandran, HP Product Marketing, for this interactive Webinar to learn about:

• End-User Experience Management’s essential role in ensuring Cloud service performance and availability
• What metrics you should expect to negotiate with Cloud service providers and how to measure their effectiveness on an ongoing basis 
• How reconciling multiple monitoring and management technologies into a cohesive service model speeds both performance optimization and restoration of Cloud services 
• Best practices for bridging the cultural, organizational, and technological barriers to effective Cloud service management.

Date: Thursday, October 21, 2010
Time:  2 PM Eastern Time / 1 PM Central Time /  11AM Pacific Time

Cost: free

Register for this free webinar.

Allianz Shared Infrastructure Services (ASIC) provides IT services to financial services firm Allianz Group. A profit center for Allianz, ASIC must meet external benchmarks for cost and quality. HP Network Automation software helps ASIC meet these high standards by automating network change and configuration management.

ASIC runs HP Network Automation software on a virtual LINUX server—not a dedicated server as required by the previous solution. This has reduced hardware costs, including licenses and maintenance, by 70%.

Today, ASIC is able to manage mass network changes with ease and validate compliance with internal and external configuration rules. To learn more about ASIC’s implementation of HP Network Automation software, check out the complete success story here. http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA1-7457EEW.pdf

What’s New in HP Network Automation?  Version 9.0 released!

HP Network Automation 9.0 (NA) allows you to create and maintain a resilient, cost-effective and compliant network via automation, and is the latest release of our award-winning network change, configuration and compliance management software.  NA 9.0 includes a number of platform support enhancements, tighter integration with other HP software products (especially Network Node Manager i software, NNMi 9), and new usability and security features.   

NA 9.0 will now support the latest OS platforms and databases, including:

-          Linux RH 5 and Windows Server 2008 64-bit platforms

-          Oracle 11g and MS-SQL Server 2008

We’ve enhanced usability with a cleaner user interface that preserves menu locations, dropdowns, tabs and order of items.  It’s also consistent with other HP software products, which aides in usability and familiarity.  In addition, there’s a new task quick launch feature to enable one-click launches of pre-defined NA tasks that will streamline your workflow and improve efficiency.

And finally, security is addressed with password management enhancements – you can set requirements and restrictions, and even set up lock-outs for routine maintenance.

Already an NA customer?  Then you are entitled to a free upgrade for the same or lesser node counts, as long as you are on active support.

Interested in what NA can do for you?  Free trial software is available via http://www.hp.com/go/nasoftware.

The first general-release patch for Network Node Manager i version 9 is released. The NNM 9.0x “Patch 1”, as well as a separate “Patch 01” for the NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics 9.0 product contain defect repairs and do not change the base product version numbers.

You can access patches from the HP Software Support Online system, using your HP passport credentials. Search for the products of interest (such as for example “network node manager iSPI Performance for Metrics”, version 9.00, for your particular OS). For products you own support for, you should get notification of patch availability and have content available also via the HP Software My Updates portal. Further incremental patch releases will become available over time.

There are also several new product documents for NNMi available from the HP Software Manuals portal, including new whitepapers and a new revision of the NNMi 9.0 Deployment Reference Guide. Also you can access the latest NNMi 9 ReleaseNotes updates.

If you are using both NNM and Network Automation (NA), another patch of interest is the latest general release patch NA 7.60.02. This patch requires the 7.60.01 patch to be installed first. It contains fixes to NNM 9.0 – NA 7.6 integration.

Finally, if you have the Performance Insight product and the NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics, you may be interested in a new report pack patch 14.10.001 that enables integration between OVPI 5.41 and iSPI Performance for Metrics 9.0.

Prior to any patch installation, always read the patch installation information and follow the instructions carefully.

The HP Software Universe conference is mere weeks away, but it is not too late to sign up. The Automated Network Management track is filled with informative sessions from customer, partner, and HP experts in this domain. No matter what level of knowledge you begin with, you will learn about the great advances we have made in the latest releases and best practices for applying them.

Here is the schedule of HPSU sessions specific to Network Management:

As Michael Procopio pointed out in his March posting, you can use the registration code INSIDER on the Registration Form and get $100 off the cost of the conference.

We hope you can make it!