Moving management to the Web

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Some companies, such as Bay Networks or Cabletron Systems, view browser-based functionality as a feature users want now. Others, such as HP, are waiting to see how the standards issues shake out. One thing is sure. In the not-too-distant future, everyone will be managing on the Web.

A fan of HMMP could say just about the same thing. Supporters on both sides talk a lot about "Web-based computing," with developers freed from porting management applications to a host of platforms and able to concentrate on adding functionality.

The difference is that the JMAPI specification is already in the public domain, while HMMP won't be finalized until 1998. By the time that network administrators are freed by HMMP, many developers may have already developed several applications using JMAPI. To many administrators, having to revise a management infrastructure to accommodate two new competing standards will seem like an added burden, whatever the benefits that Web-based management will bring.

The bottom line is that the goal of all vendors is to have Web-based management standards embedded in all devices and applications so that there is seamless, native interoperability throughout the network. But they do have different ideas of how to get there.

That means that over the next several months, network administrators will have to choose from several enterprise management toolsets offering Web-based applications that will use HTTP, Java, and Simple Network Management Protocol in a sort of "management protocol salad."

But never fear, unlike previous transitions from one standard to another, the current confused state of Web-based management will be made salvageable by the ubiquity and openness of the Web. Web-based applications that can be accessed via browsers can simply build on standards such as HMMP or JMAPI without the frustration involved in a platform upgrade.