HP OpenView Impractical for Mid-market Enterprises
HP OpenView, the management software for enterprise infrastructure, is impractical for small and mid-market enterprises said Info-Tech Research Group. Launched earlier this month OpenView is designed for companies with fewer than 200 servers.
Given HP's lack of presence in the mid-market, the research firm recommend IT managers consider LANDesk, Altiris, IBM's Tivoli, or other solutions specifically geared to the mid-market.
In its recently published report on HP OpenView, Info-Tech says HP has no plan to scale OpenView pricing and applicability to enterprises with fewer than 200 servers, so IT managers will need to look to other vendors to bridge the gap.
"HP's new marketing slogan is, 'It's a new game. Play to win.' But mid-sized enterprises faced with server management issues can't get in the game because HP OpenView is designed for Fortune 1000 size companies," said Ross Armstrong, Info-Tech senior research analyst. "We believe it's a missed market opportunity for HP and a disappointment for IT managers in mid-sized enterprises who face the same challenges as those in large corporations."
The firm warns that even though HP has advocated OpenView modules to address the needs of smaller players, there is a danger that this tactic can increase IT complexity within mid-sized enterprises rather than level it out.
HP's lack of an 'OpenView Lite' solution is puzzling, considering nearly half of mid-sized enterprises are currently pursuing a centralised server strategy, Info-Tech's research report states. Server consolidation requires robust tools for provisioning, patch management, and maintaining server health.
For larger enterprises, the good news is that HP just announced release of three new HP OpenView modules supporting Service Level Agreement (SLA) management, asset management, and application recovery designed to address utility-oriented computing.
