Business Research Group releases major integrated network and systems management study.

NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 28, 1995--Against the backdrop of a corporate network environment that has changed dramatically and irrevocably, Business Research Group (BRG) today released the first major study detailing user requirements in the integrated network and systems management market.

BRG's new report, "User Requirements for Network and Distributed Systems Management," unmasks and quantifies a market starkly different than just two years ago. Based on interviews with 300 network management implementors at large- and medium-sized companies, it provides a dramatic and often surprising window into the changing needs of corporations managing campus, regional, national and global networks. Faced with management challenges unthinkable just a few years ago, these companies are immersed in a client/server environment where the installed base will grow 28 percent over the next two years alone.

This report quantifies the most compelling trends that vendors must know to effectively design and sell management solutions to today's corporate buyer. With the average corporation spending $675,000 per year to manage their network, this report provides the marketing intelligence vendors require. Among the issues addressed in the study are purchase behavior, network management economics, the current user environment and in-depth requirements for both network and systems management.

o Purchase behavior. Who makes the buying decision for network and

systems management? Who is the most important influencer? Where do

users buy management platforms, server-based management suites and

administration products? What single information source towers

among all others influencing the network and systems management

purchase?

o Spending trends. How high are corporate management budgets, how

are these dollars allocated and where do they come from? What are

the most effective means users have at their disposal to convince

senior management to open their purse, reach deeply and spend? What

is the cost of a network move/add/change? How much does it cost to

manage remote computing?

o User environment. How do diverse network and systems tasks map to

actual organizations? Is enterprisewide management a myth or a

reality? What are the top ten:

o Managed servers                 o Managed clients
o NMS platforms                   o Server-based management suites
o Systems management products     o Hardware platforms
o NMS OS platforms today          o NMS OS platforms in 1997

o Product requirements. What are specific features, functionality

and high-payoff applications that translate into competitive

advantage in network and distributed systems management? Will the

Desktop Management Interface (DMI) make a difference? What about

object-oriented systems?

A few of the key findings of the study follow:

o Fifty-three percent of corporate users integrate or plan to

integrate network management and systems management.

o Users are ready to migrate to SNMP version 2 now; user deployment

will triple over the next two years.

o In the never-ending quest for network uptime, management has

become mission critical. With the average cost per network

move/add/change approaching $2,400 and the staggering cost of managing

remote branch office networking, now more than ever time is money.

o Microsoft is positioning itself to invade the corporate LAN, once

the sacrosanct territory of Novell alone. Microsoft's Systems

Management Server could be just the vehicle to accomplish this feat,

given that 25 percent of corporate users already plan to buy it.

o The DMI will change users lives for the better, but only if it is

compatible with the existing management infrastructure.

BRG offers consulting services and conducts primary research in the areas of network integration and management, client/server computing, telecommunications, and wireless communications. BRG includes vertical market and company size segmentation across each of these areas.

"User Requirements for Network and Distributed Systems" was written by Greg Cline, director of BRG's Network Integration and Management research service. To interview Cline, contact him at his direct line (617-558-4795). For more information this or any BRG report, contact Sarah Norton (voice: 617-558-4609, fax: [phone], Internet: [e-mail]).

CONTACT: Business Research Group

Sarah E. Norton, 617/558-4609