As we discussed in our last three tutorials, we have been reviewing network management theory as it applies to enterprises deploying VoIP (Buyers Guide, Part 1), plus the various categories of functions that VoIP-specific network management tools typically support (Buyers Guide, Part 2 and Part 3).
This final installment provides an at-a-glance summary of the various companies and their products, plus the various categories that they claimed that these products supported.
Two caveats are worth mentioning:
First, the vendors—not Enterprise VoIPplanet.com—decided whether or not their product met the various criteria. Of course, we provided a sanity check between what the vendors claimed and what their product literature detailed, and in a few instances had to raise a question or two. But in the vast majority of vendor responses, this level of scrutiny was not necessary—everyone in this business should know the difference between a protocol analyzer and network design software.
Second, this is a very dynamic market, and one in which existing products are improved and new products are introduced monthly. Therefore consider this information to be a snapshot in time, presumably accurate when the information was transmitted to us, but may certainly have changed in the last few months.
So take it for what it is—a quick summary of companies and their network management products that can assist you in supporting your VoIP network. But also remember that the best tool of all is a well-informed and well-educated network manager!
Copyright Acknowledgement: © 2009 DigiNet Corporation® All Rights Reserved
Author’s Biography
Mark A. Miller, P.E. is President of DigiNet © 2009 DigiNet Corporation®, a Denver-based consulting engineering firm. He is the author of many books on networking technologies, including Voice over IP Technologies, and Internet Technologies Handbook, both published by John Wiley & Sons.
