ProactiveNet's administrative console let you create simple Web page downloads or in-depth, multipage transactions. Client 32 and other non-Web transactions are not supported. The process records key strokes and screens to a script. Once the agents are installed on remote machines, you can add, delete and manage the transactions from a single interface. ProactiveNet's process is much simpler than the hoops Compuware Vantage's agents make you jump through.
ProactiveNet charges for training, professional services and 24/7 support; however, the product is easy enough to learn without training, and we found the phone support during business hours more than adequate.
ProactiveNet 4.1.2, starts at $12,500, ProactiveNet, (877) 277-6686, (408) 935-6800. www.proactivenet.com
Long the gold standard, eHealth Suite is still one of the best performance management solutions on the market. The number of data sources from which eHealth Suite can draw is huge: network devices, servers, applications, transactions, probes and circuits. The biggest difference between eHealth Suite and ProactiveNet is not the price--though eHealth Suite is more expensive in our pricing scenario--but the extensive implementation and administration eHealth Suite entails. For example, eHealth's root-cause tools require thresholds be set manually, based on the user's data transmissions. Also, we had to apply our network-topology knowledge to determine what devices in the network path could be causing a network slowdown.
Concord pioneered assessing network-performance specifics, and eHealth's reporting is unmatched. The product's Health Reports show more than a happy or sad face for each monitored element. Each report includes various health indices that combine characteristics for each device type. A router health index, for example, includes buffer misses, buffer utilization, CPU and faults. The LAN interface index includes errors, discards and collisions. The higher an index's value, the closer it is to a threshold.
Like ProactiveNet, eHealth Suite requires that you learn how changing thresholds will affect events and reports. eHealth Suite clearly documents what the various thresholds are measuring. All eHealth's thresholds come preset and do not change based on normal usage, as ProactiveNet's intelligent thresholds did.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
There are many network courses that can address your present job's priorities and help you gain the needed skills to keep pace with industry changes and new technologies.
