Cisco Systems Inc, which already has its own executive, the Internetwork Operating System, is getting deeper into software with a suite of management applications that work with it, in an effort to maintain the lead it holds in Internet and intranet products as new switching paradigms threaten to overshadow it. The first application is Cisco Enterprise Accounting, designed to help users to identify, monitor and control network usage costs, providing a way to manage ISDN usage and costs to create a cost- effective foundation for delivery of new networked applications. It is designed to provide departmental bill-back, end-user accountability, organizational budgeting, capacity planning, growth forecasting and instituting policy-based management. Cisco promises the product will be the first in a family of enterprise network management accounting and billing applications for usage- based costing and operational information of corporate networks and Internet access. Future versions will support additional wide and local area applications. The Enterprise Accounting accounting applications run under Windows95 and provide cost allocation, directory services, call detail records, traffic statistics and exception reports. The accounting applications are enabled with call detail information from a Simple Network Management Protocol Data Collection Engine running under the SunOS Unix with SunNet Manager. This polls, collects, translates and correlates call history information from ISDN routers and access servers. No prices were given for the new software.
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