Hewlett-Packard last week announced new functionality for its OpenView Integrated Services Management (ISM) software, claiming it will help automate more critical operations for service providers and companies doing business over the Internet.
HP's ISM suite comprises a range of tools and services used to automate and manage key processes such as service delivery, service assurance, billing and usage. It includes software for order entry management, service activation, service-level-agreement management, inventory management, usage mediation, billing services and a messaging bus.
The enhancements, announced at the HP OpenView Forum 2001 here, are designed to give OpenView end-to-end management functionality, said Patty Azzarello, vice president and general manager of HP's OpenView business unit. With it, users will be able to automate the entire life cycle of a transaction, from service access through service provisioning, usage monitoring, reporting and billing, she said.
"Managing IT is not about the back room anymore," Azzarello said. "It is much more about managing the customer experience."
Last week's announcement builds on HP's efforts to develop management software that offers a bottom-up view of IT infrastructure as well as a top-down view. Such "closed-loop service management" technology will not only allow quick identification and diagnosis of a problem anywhere in a service chain but will also be capable of fixing it, Azzarello said.
