OMNIPoint is presented as a plan for achieving integrated network management; a set of standards and specifications needed to implement the plan; and a library of managed objects that support the specifications, testing strategies, and guiding documents. In short, OMNIPoint represents a common platform for developing interoperable network management products through a set of guidelines, specifications, and directions. It is aimed at users acquiring network management systems and tools as well as at developers who produce systems and tools.

The contents are presented in four parts along with two appendices. Part 1 presents background material on the network management problem and explains the need for open network management. Part 2 is a user’s procurement guide that provides specifications, a request for proposal template, and requirements cross-referenced to OMNIPoint 1. Part3 is a developer’s guide that establishes the rules for software compliance with OMNIPoint 1. Part 4 is a developer’s commentary, which summarizes the technical documents and provides navigational guidance for developers as well as answering often-asked questions. Appendix 1 contains a list of documents that are referenced by OMNIPoint 1 as of August 1992, and Appendix 2 is a glossary of abbreviations. No index is provided.

OMNIPoint is a product of the Network Management Forum (NMF), a consortium of companies interested in promoting user requirements for open systems. Organizations like NMF have been formed to accelerate the development of vendor-independent specifications for open systems and put them into play in the marketplace. As much as possible, specifications and guidelines are based on existing open systems standards and are intended to be implementable. This approach has the advantage of getting a working product to the marketplace quickly, but operates outside the formal standards process. It can put the user at risk if the product cannot readily comply with changes in standards or does not remain in the mainstream of future standards development.

Given these caveats, the book is well written and clear and provides an adequate level of guidance for the user in preparing procurement specifications and for the developer in designing compliant software. Both users and developers are cautioned, however, that once they embark on this path, it will be important to stay abreast of continuing changes in the standards that issue from the formal standards bodies.