Mediator tackles management crisis

ObjectStream, a Pleasanton, Calif., software company that has existed for little more than a year, has released a product targeted at solving network management needs that have vexed a generation of carriers.

The product, ObjectStream Mediator, was announced at the Network Management Forum conference and expo in Long Beach, Calif., last week. It performs protocol and object model translation between network elements from multiple vendors and network management systems.

Multivendor networks, particularly Sonet, have become increasingly prevalent among telcos since the early 1990s, but the industry has often viewed the corresponding software translation hurdle as something that could be solved on the fly by systems integrators. Only recently have software companies started to develop organized mediator approaches.

"What the integrators and carriers find is that it is not so simple to solve the translation problem and that they need mediation," said Jack Harrington, president and chief executive officer of ObjectStream.

Mediator looks to change the pattern by offering systems integrators and carriers its packaged solution. The product has a structured library and interpretive software component called Rosetta, which is combined with a managed objected interface. This formalizes and speeds the translation process, said Harrington.