NetIQ's New Vision: Knowledge-Based Service Assurance

The concept behind the strategy is a simple one and is based on a tighter coupling between network management and security. Knowledge-Based Service Assurance first helps a customer achieve a desired level of "operational integrity" within its IT network, then provides the tools to maintain that integrity in the areas of service management, policy compliance and risk management, said Chuck Boesenberg, chairman and CEO of NetIQ, San Jose, Calif.

NetIQ's current suite of products fulfill the Knowledge-Based Service Assurance vision, a software menu that includes NetIQ's AppManager Suite, NetIQ Security Manager, NetIQ Vulnerability Manager and Security Administration Suite.

As for NetIQ's relationship with the channel, Boesenberg said that in the past three years the vendor has increased its indirect sales from 30 percent of overall sales to 60 percent. Boesenberg said the 60 percent figure was pretty much where the vendor wants to be as far as a balance between direct and indirect sales, but he added that NetIQ could do a better job catering to "MSPs and regional [systems integrators]."

Boesenberg made his comments during a Knowledge-Based Service Assurance launch event in New York on Tuesday.