As IT becomes ever-more complex, sophisticated, and extensive, the task of network management is to maintain levels of user expectation against growing technological challenges. To many of those within the IT so tasked it is a thankless undertaking, as no sooner has one performance objective been met than new problems arise that discombobulate the original plan. It is, arguably, an ambition of containment rather than expansion, and even the quest for autonomic management, or self-healing networks, must be seen in that light, against a continuous background of cost constraints.