Chapter 2. Why Network and Systems Management Systems Fail
Many factors can cause a network and systems management system to work differently from what you would expect. Maybe it is not being deployed as quickly as scheduled, deployment has halted, or it's not providing all the desired functionality required for a world-class management system. Some of the factors covered in this chapter might exist in your organization without causing problems; however, many readers will think, "That's happening to us!"One reason for these scenarios is that network and systems management systems are not given the necessary attention by management to be world-class, fully functioning, fully staffed, totally automated systems. Network and systems management is often seen either as a "check box" that needs to be checked for the next promotion or as a minimal obligation. The "system" as a whole is not taken into account. Both management and the workgroup chosen by management to deploy network and systems management tools frequently have little knowledge of the complexity of their tasks. The workgroups managing networks and systems using products such as OpenView Network Node Manager (NNM) and OpenView Operations (OVO) generally include untrained or inexperienced personnel. The burden placed on them exceeds their abilities and they leave. They are replaced by more untrained personnel. It is like a revolving door.Often, those given the responsibility to manage networks and systems aren't the same personnel who maintain the network. They may not even work for the same company, let alone even be in the same organization. Appropriate access to the systems for deployment of agents or even SNMP read access is hindered or forbidden by "the other" organization. This lack of cooperation between the groups slows deployment to a crawl.The misconception exists that "anyone" can do the job. Sometimes the job is given to a person in the organization with the vision and the knowledge required to perform the tasks, but because of the complexity and time necessary to fulfill management's deadlines and requirements, the person suffers burn out and moves to another organization. The project then dies and the products are blamed for what is actually management's failure to provide adequate personnel, training and funding. Until network and systems managers and their personnel are given the same respect, attention, money, training, and certification as other professionals, network and systems management systems will continue to under-perform and be underutilized, keeping network managers and their teams in reactive mode. |
لطفا منتظر باشید ...
