Netcordia's NetMRI 3.0 introduces impact analysis to NCCM

Local IT distributor MICROmega Technologies (MMT), a MICROmega Holdings company, has launched Netcordia's latest contribution to the network management world, NetMRI 3.0, in South Africa.

Netcordia's new flagship software solves the number one challenge that undermines network performance and policy compliance (internal changes to the network, whether malicious or inadvertent) by giving network administrators a crystal-clear picture of every modification, as well as a 'hot' list of likely network problems they cause.

Netcordia's NetMRI 3.0 takes Network Configuration and Change Management (NCCM) capabilities one step further through providing multiple views of the network and every device connected to it, and then showing the impact of changes on interdependent network initiatives.

New diagnostic capabilities outpace anything else on the market, highlighting the potential impact of even the smallest changes, which can - and do - wreak havoc in unexpected ways.

“Updating access lists seems like a no-brainer,” says Don Pyle, CEO of Netcordia. “It should be, but small, routine changes like that can have a devastating impact on network availability, often when you don't expect it and can't afford it.”

NetMRI 3.0 answers the three critical questions that short-staffed IT departments worry about: What is the impact of this change to our network? Is our network compliant with policies and 'gold standards' and can we prove it? Can we operate to our full potential with a limited head count?

“Netcordia's new release is a major step forward in making both new and existing capabilities of its solution more practical and easier to use and share, so operations, support and engineering teams have the information they need to effectively protect business objectives,” explains Jim Frey, senior analyst at EMA.

“For companies to survive in this economy, they need to do more with less, while continuing to uphold strategic network initiatives like assuring adherence with internal 'gold-standard' policies and complying with industry regulations.”

According to a Netcordia survey of nearly 450 network professionals, 64% of network administrators identify internal causes as the greatest threats to network availability, with half of the group citing inadvertent changes as their biggest worry.

The recessionary climate only magnifies the anxiety; bare bones IT teams are hard-pressed to manage the sprawl. Netcordia's survey also reveals how administrators plan to cope: more than half admitted they plan to work longer hours, focus on only mission-critical work, and step up automation efforts.

Mergers and acquisitions add to the challenge, with pressure for rapid integration, peak performance and fail-safe standardisation. At the same time, there are thousands of new devices to manage from many new vendors.

Every device indirectly touches hundreds of other devices on the network. Configuration parameters by themselves may seem fine, until they are assessed in the context of the network and the configurations of their neighbours. The smallest conflict can cause distant devices to slow down, or go dark, sometimes weeks after the change is made.

NetMRI specialises in proactively finding these problems before they escalate into crises.

“It's easy when conflicts or configuration problems show up right away,” says Lou Nardo, vice-president of product management for Netcordia. “More often, they lay dormant. Then something else breaks, and the problems are exacerbated by these hidden issues, creating an expensive, real-time emergency and when pressure is that high, finding that needle in the haystack wastes precious time.”

NetMRI 3.0 distils complex data into easy-to-interpret images and topology views. Each data point can be viewed in rich detail, set in context, and analysed in three ways:

* Timeline dashboard - to show changes over time and visually correlate network health and policy adherence, for faster root cause analysis.
* Topology status views - to see exactly where in the network a change occurred, overlaying both health and policy compliance status, to correlate by topology location and dependence.
* Network Explorer - providing ad-hoc analysis to identify common threads by device attributes, through a rich graphical interface.

“Seeing if a change is made, when the change is made and who made the change has always been a priority for network managers,” says Pyle. “The new product takes it a step further by allowing managers to ensure changes hit both goals of improving performance and upholding 'gold-standard' policies - and that's what makes them heroes.”