Here, distributed makes all the sense in the world. For example, a multibranch company might use centralized servers for individual campuses, buildings or floors. Savings in hardware and maintenance costs will still accrue, if on a smaller scale. The crucial consideration, no matter how widely a company embraces consolidation, is system reliability. If all the computing resources are put in one basket, managers must watch that basket closely.
Upfront design is critical.
Downtime is a huge no-no. If that server goes down, it's not just a local issue when your system is centralized. Tooling Up for Scaling Up Finally, before you decide on what software management tools to trust with your enterprise, run some on-site tests to make sure your administrators are comfortable with the interfaces and with the kind of information the programs provide. To keep an experienced eye on the health of this system, Wyndham's Dallas IT staff uses Tivoli TM to monitor networking equipment and software. To keep close tabs on its network resources, Dresdner uses HP's OpenView for network control, Micromuse Inc.'s Netcool to monitor uptime and Tivoli's Business Systems Manager for application availability.