Applying network management standards to system management; the case for the common agent

This paper has four main parts. The first part describes the current network and systems management standards. The second part describes efforts to define managed objects for system management based on those standards. The third part gives some guidelines and recommendations on designing managed objects. The fourth part describes software called the POLYCENTER Common Agent developed within Digital to ease support for these multiple management standards and to make developing portable managed objects easier.<<ETX>>