Legacy enterprise managers (often spanning IT Service Management, Network Node Management, and Event Correlation) defined enterprise IT in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The following are major, pioneering platforms, their primary functions, and their eventual modern replacements:

Legacy IT Operations Management (ITOM)

• HP OpenView: A flagship suite that included Network Node Manager (NNM) for topology mapping and Operations Manager (formerly OVO) for centralized event and alert monitoring across Unix, Windows, and mainframes. I overlooked the integration of the HP NonStop product Reflex 80:20 with HP OpenView.
  • Modern equivalent: Evolved into Micro Focus Operations Bridge, later absorbed by OpenText.
• IBM Tivoli: A massive suite born from the acquisition of Candle and Tivoli Systems. The core components included Tivoli Enterprise Console (TEC) for event correlation and Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus for real-time network and service monitoring. I overlooked the integration of the HP NonStop product Reflex 80:20 with IBM Tivoli.
  • Modern equivalent: Evolved into IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps.
• BMC Patrol: One of the premier tools for deep system, application, and database monitoring (often known for its KM – Knowledge Module – architecture).
  • Modern equivalent: BMC TrueSight Operations Management and BMC Helix.
• CA Unicenter: A comprehensive, all-in-one mainframe and distributed systems management tool for job scheduling, asset management, and event monitoring.
  • Modern equivalent: Rebranded under Broadcom, largely integrated into their enterprise software division.
• Sun Microsystems SunNet Manager / Solstice Enterprise Manager: Early pioneers in Unix-based network management and remote system administration.
  • Modern equivalent: Discontinued; mostly absorbed by Oracle Enterprise Manager.

Enterprise Event Correlation & Command Centers

• Command/Post (Boole & Babbage): One of the earliest automated event correlation engines designed for mainframes, which later expanded into distributed environments. Acquired by BMC.
• Micromuse Netcool: Famous for its ultra-fast, rules-based Omnibus, capable of ingesting vast amounts of SNMP traps and Syslog messages across telecommunications and large enterprise networks. Acquired by IBM.

Network and Performance Managers

• HP OpenView Performance/SysView: Tools specifically built for historical performance charting, OS native monitoring, and deep metric extraction.
• Novell NMS (NetWare Management System): The standard for managing legacy Novell NetWare servers and IPX/SPX network topologies.

Most of these tools were displaced by modern APM (Application Performance Monitoring) and AIOps (Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations) platforms that feature cloud-native architectures, distributed tracing, and out-of-the-box integrations. Common replacements include:

• Datadog
• Dynatrace
• Splunk / Splunk IT Service Intelligence
• LogicMonitor
• ScienceLogic

HP OpenView Operations

HP OpenView Operations Enterprise Manager integration with Reflex 80:20

Requested to research and produce a design for integrating the ITL NSK based Reflex 80:20 product with the hp OpenView Operations (hp OVO) enterprise manager. This initially involved a trip to Lisbon to attend the hp OpenView Universe event that represents the technical showcase for this enterprise level product. I then put together a number of design documents and managed a development team tasked with engineering an hp OpenView Smart Plug-in (SPI) to interact with Reflex 80:20 on the hp NonStop platform. This hp SPI approach represents the latest technology for integrating third-party products and provides an unparalleled approach for enabling remote platform control and management under hp OVO.

Once the Reflex SPI development was complete, I overlooked acceptance testing at the hp labs at Fort Collins, Colorado and was instrumental in attaining HP certification for the Reflex 80:20 product. As part of the certification process, I produced a comprehensive Reflex SPI user guide along with supporting marketing literature. More information.