Crossroads 2002 A-List Award Winners

Micromuse Inc.
San Francisco, CA

Netcool/Visionary
> IP Network Diagnosis

CUSTOMERS AT WORK

Network service providers must address three challenges at once: customer service, network efficiency, and operations costs. Micromuse’s customers are looking to anticipate network problems and get ahead of the game. Companies managing enterprise IP data/voice networks and public IP data networks were among the reference customers. Common strategic objectives included:

§ Improving the reliability of their networks

§ Shrinking the time required for resolving network problems

§ Lowering field service costs

WHY MICROMUSE?

Micromuse provides the Netcool family of realtime network monitoring products. Network operating centers use Netcool to monitor faults and to address problems before they disrupt services. Visionary is a new addition to the Netcool suite that simplifies the data-intensive process of network problem diagnosis. With pre-built rules for standard network configurations and devices, Netcool/Visionary enables network operators to recognize early warning signs, take preventive measures, and, almost immediately, pinpoint problem components. Netcool/Visionary improves reliability from the device layer all the way out to field service operations.

BUSINESS IMPACT

Near-term value: Working smarter has a hard-dollar impact for network service providers. Both internal IT groups and telecommunications operators incur significant costs from customer-visible network problems. Netcool/Visionary enables companies to resolve problems before they become customer-visible.

Enterprise innovation: End-to-end monitoring of complex IP networks creates a tremendous amount of data for network operations centers to manage. Netcool/Visionary allows teams to isolate the signal from the noise. One organization uses Netcool/Visionary to analyze the performance of thousands of network elements. They have used the system to decrease the time it takes to diagnose a network problem by 75 percent.

Technology gains: Netcool/Visionary’s pre-built rules for network hardware from the leading vendors allow companies to immediately implement the tool within their environments. A number of reference customers were able to deploy Netcool/Visionary and see results within a matter of days.

SUCCESS FACTORS

Project strategy: Defining and prioritizing remedies for standard network problems are critical decisions for project teams. Netcool/Visionary’s customers recommend that prospective customers consider potential improvements and trade-offs as they move away from field service–oriented procedures.

Learning: Experienced Netcool family clients found the product straightforward to learn. New customers should allow for engineer training time.

Resources: Netcool/Visionary includes 150 different, pre-built components out of the box. However, companies will need to define and configure symptoms and rules for network elements as necessary.

Fit: Telecommunications companies and global enterprises should consider Netcool/Visionary for use in their network operations.

COMPANY INFO

Micromuse (NASDAQ: MUSE) is a public company with 1,000 employees.

415.538.9090
www.micromuse.com
Published: January 2002