"OpenNMS helps network administrators track machine uptime,
outage and usage information so they can keep their operations
healthy.
"In the late '90s one of the big buzzword phrases was service
level agreement (SLA). Users entered into contracts wherein service
providers (network services) were bound to supply a certain level
of computing availability. IT departments and vendors were required
to adhere to the SLA, or risk monetary penalties.
"Network management software was born to monitor network
resources, track uptime and automatically alert someone, when a
resource went down. The idea was to automate many of the mundane
monitoring functions and free up the network administrators for
more important jobs... like fixing network problems. Service level
agreements were a definite impetus for network management
software..."
