>> CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT: It shouldn't be surprising, given the importance of the CMDB, that advanced configuration management capabilities are crucial to the transformation of IT. Companies such as BladeLogic and Configuresoft on the systems side; AlterPoint, Intelliden and Voyence on the network side; and Opsware on both fronts, represent critical areas to watch and invest in.
And not surprisingly, configuration management, like the CMDB itself, is more like an octopus than a clam, reaching into many areas, including performance and availability, security and compliance, and, of course, change and IT governance.
>> CROSS-DOMAIN ANALYTICS: If you think about what a CMDB enables--a CMDB is, indeed, nothing more than an enabler--the next logical leap is that it allows for superior analytics. After all, CMDBs are about nothing more or less than creating a level playing field on which advanced real-time and non-real-time analytic capabilities can perform like Olympic athletes.
This is true whether the analytics involve correlation or signature-based comparators, predictive algorithms or data mining, or market-disruptive technologies such as Chaos Theory and neural networking. We predict within five years, the focus on data integration and reconciliation from CMDB adoption will lead to an acute interest in analytics. Vendors such as Integrien, Netuitive and ProactiveNet are out in the marketing wilderness today. They won't seem quite so alone in a few years.
>> APPLICATION FLOW MANAGEMENT: Take this as an example of a broader concern--instrumentation and the need for true real-time awareness of service performance across the infrastructure. We define application-flow management as including both packet analysis and conventional pairs-based traffic-volume monitoring. It can support everything from performance management, capacity planning and security management via anomaly detection, to chargeback and service accounting and route analytics. In fact, it represents the most singularly interesting network management area not yet co-opted by framework or platform vendors.
Verizon is demoing crowd analytics technology that uses 5G along with AI and mobile edge computing to give stadium operators insights into the flow of fans throughout a venue.
As we move closer to fully realizing the potential of Wi-Fi 7, it becomes evident that the RF, signaling, and throughput tests are not merely procedural checkpoints but the pillars of excellence in wireless communication.
With low earth orbit (LEO) satellites fast becoming the norm and 3GPP unifying telecom standards around the globe, the satellite IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) sector ought to be looking at a bright horizon. But is this the case?
