3Com SA has introduced Network Director, a new network management application that enables faster "change management" of sophisticated networks and scales up to manage medium and large enterprises of 5 000-nodes.
The company plans to deliver a full range of network management products and solutions to help address all business markets from SME to larger enterprises supported by system integrators, and from the single site to the global multinational corporation.
"We are putting the tools in the hands of our customers to manage growing networks of thousands of users more efficiently and be able to adapt to the various changes that often need to be managed in today`s distributed networks," comment Chris van Niekerk, country manager of 3Com SA.
"Building on our success over the past few years with the network management application 3Com Network Supervisor, we continue to expand our management suite with proactive features that offer a combination of ease of use, flexibility and advanced enterprise-level control."
The new 3Com Network Director is aimed at "emerging enterprise" networks from 750 to 5 000 nodes spread out over multiple sites. The package offers network topology-aware configuration, detailed performance reports, RMON remote management support, and historical reporting.
Simplifying installation and helping to ensure consistency, it is a self-contained turnkey application requiring no additional management software to operate. Network-wide configuration of QoS and VLAN, and backup and restore are some of the more sophisticated tools supporting larger enterprise environments.
3Com sees four types of enterprise accounts using network management tools and targets a specific 3Com management offering at each:
* Class 1 - "Basic" - Limited IT staff, including part-time network administrators who need simplified network monitoring and are price-sensitive;
* Class 2 - "Emerging Enterprise" - Require configuration and performance management tools for a growing network;
* Class 3 - "Enterprise" - Need proactive management capabilities, technically very savvy and consider the network a strategic business asset; and
* Class 4 - "Specialised Enterprise / System Integrator" - Must have service and network uptime 24x7, with long product/service evaluation and planning cycle, likely to use customised network management solutions.
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