Summary

SLM is not only necessaryit is vital in the webbed world that we inhabit. The rapid change and dynamic service chains that are characteristic of newer Web-based services are forcing development of new management systems that can cope with that change automatically, instead of relying on manual configuration and manual system management.

Originally, management systems had simplistic integration; although all the management tools might reside on the same platform and bear a superficial similarity, operators still had to move data manually from one tool to the next. Errors were frequent, and automation was problematic.

Effective tools with more innovative products are coming. Integration is becoming deeper, at the level of data integration, event integration, and process integration. Events detected by one tool will automatically trigger process initiation and automated sequences in a completely different tool, using shared data. These tools can be loosely coupled, which gives great flexibility in tool location and organization. Tools no longer will need to share a single platform; instead, for example, they could communicate with each other using message-based queuing and XML.

The service management industry is undergoing consolidation, and large companies are aggressively acquiring smaller startups. When you need to choose a supplier, you should focus on innovative companies that have a good path to viability, through their own assets or partnering.

SLM is now feasible, although not as simple as we would like. Nonetheless, an exciting and challenging world is emerging, and SLM will be a key enabler of the potential of the Internet.