This fall the company will deliver Knowledge Modules for e-business applications such as those from Ariba, as well as for additional devices and databases. The company has developed Knowledge Modules for storage devices such as the Nishan Systems IP Storage switch and for Fibre Channel gear from Brocade, Crossroads and McData. The company also has modules for Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server databases. It is working on PeopleSoft and Baan application modules. It determines how everything will work optimally together.
Analysts say other vendors have traditionally discovered the physical and logical storage network.
However, they have done little to correlate the two, says Carolyn DiCenzo, an analyst with Dataquest. Since people design storage networks based on application, it's exciting to be able to join the two in a management package. Tools are just starting to be developed for managing Fibre Channel networks. SPM predicts failures before they occur and notifies administrators when monitored devices fall outside defined parameters. Intended to run on NT or Windows 2000 networks, SPM will ship this quarter.