These software packages provide a base architecture and tools to manage complex, heterogeneous IT environments. Some of the tools come from the framework vendor, others are created by third parties, but all are designed to work together. However, competing frameworks may not work with each other, and third parties have to choose between them or port their tools from one to another. In actuality, a framework is more like a nervous system than like a skeleton. It includes the structure and intelligence for coordinating events from the computers, devices, and software applications that populate the network.
Most frameworks have a common object repository and a cohesive user interface.
The repository allows different management tools to store information in a similar location, simplifying trouble shooting, help-desk operations, and reporting. The interface supplies a common console through which the various management activities can be monitored and initiated. On top of this nerve center, other management products offer features for maintaining the health of that network. They address such issues as security, scheduling and workload, network management, storage, performance, resource accounting and charge-back, problem management, and event management for devices such as hubs, switches, and routers. That's what frameworks are all about.