Oregon is probably the leading state when it comes to using open source software in government, so it is not unexpected to see that at the end of the month they are holding a Government in Open Source Conference.

One of our clients, The City of Portland, will be doing a presentation on OpenNMS. From the program:

The City of Portland has recently implemented open source network and system monitoring using OpenNMS. Currently this is deployed for a City operated network serving external customer agencies including schools and government. OpenNMS was successfully deployed with some customization to allow customers to see web pages of traffic statistics for their network links only. City network staff have full access to all OpenNMS data and functionality. The City is planning to expand the deployment of OpenNMS to monitor network and servers on the City’s production business networks. This session will focus on the challenges and decisions leading to the selection of OpenNMS, as well as an overview of the implementation to date.

OpenNMS allows one to both improve on existing network management infrastructure while cutting costs. In these times, especially in government, this is a Good Thing™.