HP to help manage LANs

Hewlett-Packard will release a set of management tools next week targeted for small and medium-sized local area networks.

HP's (HWP) OpenView Professional Suite is based on the company's Workgroup Node Manager, previously a part of the OpenView enterprise management platform. On top of this software rests software inventory, metering and distribution capabilities, along with server and device management.

Other features include remote access and remote paging capabilities as well as HP Remote Monitoring (RMON) probes, power supply management, and printer management.

HP accomplishes this new suite largely by bundling third party products from McAfee and Symantec with HP management utilities such as NetServer Assistant.

"Right now this is really sort of a marketing package" since the integration is weak, according to Brian Burba, an analyst with International Data Corporation. "In some ways, they're very late to this space."

HP OpenView Professional Suite will ship in October with one license for the server management software--licensed from Symantec--and 10 node licenses for the McAfee and Symantec LAN management products. The product is priced at $1,495.