HP Backs On-Demand By Bolstering OpenViewHP Backs On-Demand By Bolstering OpenView

Hewlett-Packard laid out further plans for its "adaptive enterprise" strategy Monday at its HP Software Forum in Chicago, displaying more than 30 new or enhanced offerings in its OpenView management line and unveiling a raft of other services and tools it said would add flexibility to enterprise IT.

"The evolutionary path we've drawn, the host of new HP OpenView management functionalities we've unveiled, the standards-based interfaces we're driving, all wrapped up with the tight integration we have with partners, [will] help enterprises plan and transition to highly adaptive and cost-effective management for their entire infrastructure," said Nora Denzel, the senior VP of HP's Software Global Business Unit.

HP, like other technology companies such as IBM, has been touting "on-demand" computing of late. While the company calls its initiative "adaptive computing," the meaning and intended result are the same: apply industry standards to a set of hardware, software, tools, and services so IT can build infrastructures and manage complex environments that are more responsive to change and deliver a better return.

HP's chairman and CEO, Carly Fiorina, first outlined her company's on-demand plans last month.

The need comes from the growing complexity of IT, says Judith Hurwitz, head of analyst firm Hurwitz and Associates. "The emerging IT infrastructure must be able to support the ability to proactively monitor and manage all the interactions between customers, suppliers and partners," she says.

The wave of OpenView products and services includes an updated edition of the HP OpenView Network Node Manager featuring improvements to its diagnostic engine that the company said would trim the repair time of network downtime troubles.

Also part of the 30-odd OpenView products is the new HP OpenView Service Navigator Value Pack, which will share a common data repository with HP OpenView Service Desk to give companies a one-look way to manage enterprise IT resources to maintain guaranteed service levels to various departments or branches.

In addition to its enhanced line of OpenView—which HP has repeatedly said lies at the heart of its adaptive enterprise strategy—the company also touted new development tools, services for users, and support for Web-services integration at its Software Forum.

Stressing the importance of integrating its own OpenView with other vendors' wares as the way to make on-demand computing viable to enterprise IT, HP unveiled a new set of developer tools—the OpenView Unified Developer Toolset—that includes an updated integration guide and a new software developer kit for HP's OpenView Service Desk.

At the same time, HP rolled out technologies supporting the company's Web-services management framework for OpenView, and between OpenView and its partners' products. The new tools include ones for analyzing the impact of Web applications and Web-based business processes on the enterprise, and add to the existing OpenView Web Services Management Engine, which HP launched in November.

And in an effort to get the word out, HP also debuted a free Web-based service, HP Software Customer Connection, which will let IT staffers connect with other OpenView users, run E-training sessions and online seminars, and access additional development tools and technical support. Customer Connection is available to all OpenView and OpenCall licensed customers, HP said.

"HP's strengthened its position in 'on-demand' and 'adaptive infrastructure'" with these moves, says Dennis Drogseth, a VP at consulting firm Enterprise Management Associates. "The strength lies in [OpenView's] ability to provide customers with open architectural management capabilities, rather then trying to sell from a bag of goods."