HP Software Manages Net Usage

Hewlett-Packard Co. last week introduced new and upgraded Internet management software that officials said gives enterprises and service providers more accurate and up-to-date information on how customers use its services.

The new OpenView IUM (Internet Usage Manager) Prepaid Data Solution enables operators to add prepaid data services to post-paid billing systems and infrastructure without disrupting business processes or adding costs.

Analyst Martin Marshall considers this new capability a significant step toward enabling companies to add Web services, especially since HP is the company behind it.

“If Web services are to take off, you need a way to manage the billing both within the organization and back to an outside organization,” said Marshall, president of the Martin Marshall Group, in San Francisco.

A second new product, OpenView IUM CDMA Solution, extends IUM to third-generation Code Division Multiple Access mobile data networks and adds audit and revenue assurance features, HP officials said.

The Palo Alto, Calif., company also announced OpenView IUM 4.0. The upgraded software adds support for real-time event handling to support convergent mediation requirements. In addition, it also adds IUM Packet Collector to augment existing Layer 4/7 data collection capabilities.

HP also announced Version 2.0 of its OpenView Dynamic Netvalue Analyzer, which adds improved business information access and dissemination and enhanced data modeling capabilities.

All of the new and enhanced products will be available in January, HP officials said. Pricing for IUM starts at $60,000.

The IUM offerings were part of a series of 45 new and upgraded product announcements HP made for its Integrated Service Management line.