Open Source Alternative to OpenView?

HP’s OpenView is a reliable, scalable option for enterprise network management. But for some VARs and many midsize businesses, it’s either too expensive or too complex to deploy. In fact, 60 percent of customers are using less than half of the features found in traditional IT management suites, according to Enterprise Management Associates.

That made The VAR Guy wonder: Is there a reasonably priced alternative to OpenView, perhaps from an open source vendor? The answer presented itself last Thursday, while The VAR Guy was sipping a Grande Caffe Mocha (minus the whipped cream) in Starbucks. That’s when The VAR Guy took a call from Tony Barbagallo, VP of product marketing and management at Groundwork Open Source.

Barbagallo described how Groundwork Open Source is designed for small, midsize and large businesses that need server or data center management. The monitoring server costs $16,000 per year to manage an unlimited number of servers. VARs can either resell the solution or they can act as managed service providers (MSPs), charging customers a monthly fee to manage customers’ data centers.

The VAR Guy hasn’t done enough research to determine if Groundwork Open Source is a true alternative to OpenView, Tivoli and CA Unicenter. But the company certainly has its share of true believers. Early investors include SAP Fund, and eager adopters include Royal Bank of Canada, Nutrisystem and Shopzilla.