Software maker System Management Arts Inc. will introduce a new version of its InCharge network analysis system this week with enhanced features it claims will speed the troubleshooting of network, application and server connectivity.

InCharge 3.0, a real-time tool for managing availability, adds the ability to discover layers 2, 3 and 7 elements in a networked system. It can also determine the relationships among those elements to more quickly pinpoint the source and scope of an outage, according to John Greene, vice president of product marketing in White Plains, N.Y.

The new software can automatically discover switches, routers and hosts in the network as well as the applications running on the hosts. With the tool, users can tell whether an application or server is up or down and whether there is a failure in the network. Applications are identified as either available, unavailable or affected by another element.

"Now the customer can see everything that's important on the network," Greene said.

One InCharge beta tester said he believes the tool can improve the efficiency of network availability tests and reduce the fingerpointing that frequently occurs between the network operations and applications staffs.

"It helps in the communication between the groups and increases the level of trust," said David Younoszai, enterprise management practice manager in the network services division of Computer Horizons Corp., in Columbia, Md. "If everyone is working from the same information, they can support each other and won't be in conflict."

The tool's root-cause analysis capabilities now integrate application, system and network analysis through a new InCharge for Application Connectivity module for the suite.

System Management Arts also enhanced the suite's object repository to use the Common Information Model defined by the Desktop Management Task Force.

Version 3.0 will be available at month's end as a free upgrade for customers with maintenance contracts.

The price of the suite starts at $35,000 and runs Solaris, AIX, HP-UX and Windows NT.

Founded in 1993, System Management Arts provides real-time analysis software based on its patented Codebook Correlation technology, which matches network alarms and errors to a library of known problem signatures in real time.

System Management Arts can be reached at (877) 276-2787 or www.smarts.com.

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