The vast array of high-tech products and services on the market today might loosely be divided into two categories: consumer products (such as PCs and cell phones) and technologies, such as computer servers and networking gear, that operate behind the scenes to keep PCs, cell phones and Internet connections running.

But the growing number of people using the Internet for increasingly complex services has given rise to another level of software that supports the behind-the-scenes gear. This new level, called network management software, works to ensure everything in the back office runs smoothly and is quickly becoming a critical part of large IT departments.

In the early days of the Internet, when people logged on only occasionally for basic text data, it was not so difficult to support a network. These days, though, with hundreds of millions of people demanding an almost constant connection to talk, shop, download music, watch videos or even hold virtual business meetings, IT departments have become vastly complex ecosystems of computers and software layered on top of one another.

Keeping a network humming can be a huge challenge. A recent study by IBM, for example, found that the typical company spends just 30% of its IT budget on computer hardware, with the other 70% used to maintain all the gear.

Network management software helps optimize the performance of high-speed networks by closely monitoring the performance of everything from routers and switches to individual applications. Most major computer and software companies like IBM and HP are active in this area, but a few smaller players are trying to compete with them.

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