Analysts are predicting that the network and systems management field is going to change in a big way, with enabling technologies getting easier to use, better and more strategic. In fact, it's because these technologies are getting easier and better that forecasters think strategic network management is possible. One such analyst is Patricia Seybold Group's Sue Aldrich, a longtime observer of the network and systems management space whose accuracy rate self-proclaimed psychic Miss Cleo would envy. Aldrich has looked three to five years out and says she sees the need for a completely new kind of management--one that is organized on the basis of maximizing the customer experience.

Aldrich's plan is logical when you think about the current inability of systems to correlate a customer's irritation with a slowly failing transaction. The transaction may not be slow consistently, but it's just irritating enough that the relationship with the customer is slowly being damaged. And damaged customer relationships equal unhealthy bottom lines.

Let's first look at network and systems management as providing business value. How does it do that? By helping track and manage customers' interactions with the business. It's sort of the 21st century equivalent of the small-town atmosphere, where everyone knows you, your family, your likes, dislikes. This knowledge as a background to services offered and goods sold makes for a personal experience--and a loyal customer.

The thinking now is that those businesses that offer customized online services based on all previous interactions with a customer will have a leg up on the competition. And the pitch for network and systems management tools goes beyond just enabling the personal experience, touching on the differentiated services that make me want to use Vendor A over Vendor B. At least, that's the theory and how this stuff will be marketed.

Are you asking, "Then what's the difference between network management and CRM at this point?" Customer relations will drive the new network-management model. Where this differs from CRM (customer-relationship management) is in the need to correlate down the stack into the application, system and network.

Managing this shift will mean the lines between IT functions and business goals will continue to blur. Gathering information about previous purchases and performance interactions will require correlations among client, network, system and application computing platforms. New to network management, the same information needs to be collected across every business system that provides customer service, directly or indirectly. This data will become a customer-performance record, correlating all interactions a customer has with service, manufacturing, distribution, accounting, business partners and, to the degree that it can be known, competitors. This record may then be used to adjust service on an individual basis.

For example, maybe a customer reached a purchase-amount threshold or ran into a distribution snafu; you could respond by rolling out the red carpet or lowering prices. Or the record may be used to generate a shopping list that presents all the items purchased and the date they were purchased as a prompt to the customer. Really leveraging the system will mean cross selling to partners--and even competitors--when an item is not available but obviously part of a purchase.