Following the launch of its local software division and its stated goal to drive about 80 percent of sales through the channel, Hewlett-Packard SA has officially appointed LANmetrix as a strategic partner.
Under the terms of the agreement LANmetrix - a company specialising in data transmission strategies for network performance and management - will have full access to the HP OpenView suite of products.
This, says MD Attila Barath, will assist the company in drilling down through a customer's enterprise infrastructure, analysing the root cause of a network problem and offering a solution. He also believes the comprehensive tool set will help LANmetrix educate the market about proactive network management.
"We have seen many local companies roll out networks without first considering how they will be managed; performance and logistical issues often come under the spotlight only after a disaster. While part of our mission is to provide rescue services in a network crisis situation, we are also promoting the 'prevention is better than cure' message," he says. This is exactly where OpenView comes to the fore. The suite comprises more than fifteen components which work in tandem or independently to monitor and manage a network infrastructure.
"OpenView can be deployed to identify network traffic patterns, automatically poll network devices and identify the cause of crippling data surges or spikes," explains Gary de Menezes, the software business manager at Hewlett-Packard SA.
"Once this information is stored and analysed, it's possible for OpenView to warn administrators of an impending crash - hence 'proactive' management." The product set will also be useful where LANmetrix takes remote control of a network. Outsourcing of this nature has become popular recently, says Barath, as mixed media applications such as voice, data, video and image have started to share the same data cable.
"Once a company sees the financial implications of downtime or poor performance, service level agreements and network optimisation start making sense. Using OpenView at our network management centre in Johannesburg will bolster our outsourcing capabilities and allow our customers to concentrate on their core business."
From HP's standpoint, while this appointment is the first of many in the local channel, de Menezes views it as highly strategic.
"LANmetrix will prove an invaluable resource for taking OpenView tools to market," he says. "Not only can the company add the product to its portfolio and target the large enterprise arena, it can now revisit existing sites with previous versions of OpenView components and build business from there."
HP and LANmetrix are also planning to establish a demonstration facility early next year. This, says de Menezes, will help educate the corporate market on network management issues as well as increase awareness of OpenView's capabilities.
For more information on HP OpenView, surf to www.openview.hp.com.
Share
Editorial contacts