Deployed on trucks, jeeps and other mobile vehicles, the solution ensures the performance and reliability of IP, satellite, radio, microwave, and telephony communications between front lines and commanders in disparate operational posts.
"SPECTRUM is the heart of TITAAN's operational control system," stated Major Anne Iedema, deputy project manager for TITAAN System Design. "The Royal Netherlands Army feels confident it has chosen the right partner in Aprisma to scale its mobile defense and peacekeeping network well into the future."
Aprisma worked with systems integrator SMT Simple Management Technologies B.V. to deploy mobile management technology in support of RNLA's elite TITAAN network.
The TITAAN project won international acclaim at the Network Centric Warfare (NCW) Awards, winning the 2004 Best NCW Program/Initiative from a Coalition Partner. The NCW Awards were established to honor and promote initiatives in the U.S. Department of Defense, Coalition Governments, and the defense industry that exemplify the principles of network-centric warfare and support information age transformation. TITAAN was developed at the Command and Control Support Centre (C2SC), NATO's and the RNLA's Centre of Command, Control, Communications and Information (C3I) Excellence.
The TITAAN management and control solution takes optimal advantage of the combined technological functionality and strengths of Aprisma's SPECTRUM and Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) to deliver cross-domain analysis of network, server, and application information.
"As one can imagine, an Army's operations are fraught with high pressure, constant change, and an ongoing need for timely, precise information day and night," Major Iedema continued. "The Royal Netherlands Army needed a robust management solution that could quickly and efficiently manage voice, video, and high-speed data.
Complicating matters, the network area is geographically diverse and highly mobile -- servers are literally built into trucks and jeeps. The Army needed a flexible, adaptable solution that provided unified management visibility in a challenging field environment."
Centrally operated from the RNLA's Communication and Information Control Centre (CISCC), TITAAN's multi-vendor, multi-technology infrastructure consists of primarily Cisco routers and switches, Windows-based and Linux servers, satellite communication terminals, and radio links supporting voice over IP mobile telephony, geographic information systems, tactical message systems, and file transfer applications. SPECTRUM OneClick empowers TITAAN administrators with anywhere anytime access to actionable fault, configuration, asset, performance, and security information.
Aprisma, a partner in the Microsoft Management Alliance (MMA), developed SPECTRUM Connector for MOM to seamlessly work with Microsoft's web services- and Windows-based frameworks and enable interoperability between MOM and SPECTRUM technology. SPECTRUM Connector for MOM delivers proactive network monitoring, intelligent root cause analysis capabilities, and full bi- directional alert forwarding and synchronization with MOM. SPECTRUM Connector for MOM seamlessly manages TITAAN servers, devices, and applications across IP-based 100 Mbps Ethernet LANs, interconnected by several WANs. SPECTRUM quickly isolates the root cause of problems and notifies field and command post network personnel around-the-clock via Alarm Notification Manager.
"It's critical that the network management solution auto-discover and dynamically model devices across LANs and WANs without requiring extensive field administration," Major Iedema said. "Ease of use is a key requirement for our network operators."
"Microsoft is pleased to work with Aprisma to ensure uninterrupted performance and reliability for the entire NATO communications network," said David Hamilton, director of the Enterprise Management Division at Microsoft Corp.
"This critical, high-profile customer deployment is a testament to the powerful technological partnership between Aprisma and Microsoft," Aprisma President and CEO, Mike Fabiaschi, added. "We look forward to working with them on additional customer deployments."