SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- December 15, 1997 -- Micromuse, Inc. and Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced that they have signed an agreement to work together to provide solutions enabling rapid deployment of service-level management technology in ATM switched networks. This technology is based on Micromuse's award-winning Netcool service-level management software.
Under the agreement, Cisco will OEM the Netcool/OMNIbus service-levelmanagement system. The agreement also calls for joint development of Netcool enhancements, including tighter integration with Cisco's network management products and the creation of predefined Netcool rules that will enable out-of-the-box consolidation and rapid processing of high volumes of management data. As a result, Cisco customers will realize the benefits of highly configurable service views and customer resource reporting, with little or no configuration effort.
"Cisco recognizes the growing requirement among service providers and IT executives in large enterprises to provide ongoing proof that they are meeting negotiated service-level agreements," said Theo Forbath, senior analyst with Northeast Consulting Resources, Inc. (Boston).
"Our collaboration with Micromuse will allow us to provide out-of-the-box service-level management solutions and meet the demand for highly flexible, customer-specific scheduling and management of ATM switched services," said Herb Madan, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Network Service Management Business Unit.
"The essence of service-level management is the ability to manage changeand to change that which you are managing," explained Chris Dawes, CEO and founder of Micromuse. "Without adequate service-level management tools, service providers and IT executives cannot hope to provide acceptable service to customers whose demands for service are always changing, particularly when the configuration of the network transport is in a constant state of flux."
Netcool addresses this challenge by building and managing service views in real-time, and by assessing the impact of network problems on critical services. A service view is the set of event data - collected from switching devices, management applications, enterprise-wide servers, databases and other network components - that precisely describes the availability of applications or services as they correspond to service level agreements (SLAs). Because network and system configurations constantly change, Netcool enables authorized operators to build and modify service profiles on the fly, without recompiling or otherwise interrupting normal operations.
Customers stand to benefit tremendously from the combination of the two leading-edge technologies: "As a leading provider of information processing services to financial institutions and merchants around the world, First Data has a strong information technology platform that benefits from the advanced network management capabilities Micromuse and Cisco offer," said Ed Koch, vice president of telecommunications for First Data Resources (Omaha, Nebr.). "We expect that the synergies created by the partnership of Micromuse and Cisco will help First Data meet the challenge of managing an ever-changing network computing environment in the future."
About Micromuse, Inc.
Micromuse is the leader in delivering service-level management technologiesthat produce a tangible return on investment. The company's Netcool suite of applications is used by mission-critical enterprises, Internet service providers, managed network service providers, cellular providers, and other telecommunications firms. More than 100 organizations now rely on Netcool/OMNIbus to manage their enterprises, with over 650 total users at these sites. Customers include America Online, British Telecom, JCPenney, MindSpring Enterprises, UUNET Technologies, WorldCom, and a number of the world's most influential financial investment concerns.
Micromuse is a privately held independent software vendor employing morethan 140 people worldwide. Headquarters are located at 139 Townsend Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94107; (415) 538-9090. The company also has offices in New York, Dallas, London, and Sydney. The Web site is located at www.micromuse.com.
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is theworldwide leader in networking for the Internet. athttp://www.cisco.com.
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