Pepperweed Consulting's Chief Technology Officer Alex Ryals discusses HP Network Management Center 9.1 for MSPs, Cloud Management

PITTSBURGH, PA (May, 2011) – Hewlett-Packard annouced the launch of HP Network Management Center version 9.1, adding additional features for managed service providers, cloud computing and unified communications management. For MSPs, HP has introduced multi-tenancy capability and security groups that allow users to separate data and views into secure partitions. MSPs can manage multiple clients, departments or sites within the software console, allowing them the ability to manage 25,000 devices or up to two million interfaces from a single server.

PNMC 9.1 also now suports cloud computing environments whether public, private or hybrid. From within a single console, users can manage availability, performance, configuration and compliance across multi-vendor networks. Also incorporated in NMC 9.1 are features to manage communications and collaboration network environments from a single console.

The software's data retention capabilities have been expanded, allowing for up to 13 months of data to allow IT to analyze trends and forecast network usage.

The upgrades to NMC 9.1 will expand sales opportunities for solution providers, according to Alex Ryals, Chief Technology Officer of Pepperweed Consulting, a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based solution provider specializing in HP software implementations.

“This gives us additional sales opportunities that we didn’t have in the past and a slightly different target audience,” he said. In particular, the multi-tenancy capabilities will make it more attractive to managed service providers.

View the Channel Insider Article Here

“The one thing that we’ve had a difficult time in the past with is selling to MSPs. We have done it and we’ve implemented it in many MSP environments but it requires a pretty significant investment for an MSP because of the cost of all of the hardware,” he said. “They didn’t have the ability to have multi-tenancy before.”

Being able to manage more customers’ networks on fewer servers, he said, helps MSPs and fledgling MSPs do more without having to spend as much on hardware. “Now with a single box we can now do what used to take multiple boxes, using a multi-tenant deployment. It saves costs. I think we have a new way to go after the MSP market that we have not in the past.”

Its features are also a boon to customers looking to leverage the cloud or unified communications, he said, and across industries.

“This applies to almost every vertical. It’s hard to tie down a particular customer it applies to because everybody has a network, and everyone has to manage that network,” Ryals said.

“We try to play into the Fortune 2000 because Network Management Center is a very scalable product, it has a lot of capability and a lot of features, and large Fortune 2000 companies have the largest networks in the world. That’s where network manager can play the best,” he said. “But you can also sell it to the 100-user company.”

About Pepperweed Consulting

Since 1996, Pepperweed Consulting has been a leader in IT enterprise management and integration, working with Fortune 500 clients and large-scale government agencies to integrate their IT silos together allowing CIOs to deliver IT as a strategic and aligned business service. With over 2500 successful IT Integration projects, Pepperweed brings together multi-vendor technology, services, support and enriches them with internally developed components to meet each project's specific goals. As an HP Software Elite partner and the largest global provider of HP software support with over 120 technical certifications, Pepperweed has the experience and training to meet a full range of IT infrastructure integration challenges. For more information, visit www.pepperweed.com