"Systar Omnivision is the only capacity management tool for virtualized servers that combines comprehensive frequent data collection at both the hypervisor layer and the guest OS layer with pre-packaged analytics that filter out false alarms and focus attention on both capacity issues that need to be addressed and their root cause," said Bernd Harzog, CEO of Application Performance Management Experts.

OmniVision supports automated capacity management of both physical (Windows, Unix, Linux) and virtual server environments (VMware, PowerVM, Solaris Zones) from a single platform. OmniVision normalizes capacity metrics and saturation risk analysis across all platforms, providing an apples-to-apples view of server and resource capacity.

Evelyn Hubbert, a senior analyst at Forrester Research responsible for IT Service Management, said Systar is a company with history in capacity management and some large installations, but mostly in Europe (though Systar is now expanding in the U.S.)

Hubbert said the company is unique for the following reasons:

• Systar can analyze large volumes of raw data and present actionable information for decision makers in capacity roles -- across the virtual and physical environment.
• Systar can automate the collection of data, and analyze and report on risks, incidents, and opportunities in both physical and virtual server environments.

"The disadvantage is that they are a new name," Hubbert said. "But as many IT clients are just getting into this, particularly in the U.S., that could be a good thing."

Matt Stansberry