ollecting data from the managed objects. This manager can also process the data and store infor- mation in the management data base of the intermediate component. The manager in the intermediate component acts as a manager for the agents in the managed objects. The agent in the intermediate component performs the role of sending infor- mation to the top level manager above the intermediate component. It thus acts as an agent for the top level manager. The concept would be clear if you view the intermediate component as an ele- ment manager and the top level manager as a network manager. The intermediate component like the element manager collects data from an element or a set of similar elements. It collects data from the agent on the element (this part acting as manager of the intermediate component) and provides feed to the network manager or top level manager (this part acting as the agent of the intermediate component). The feeder is always the agent and the component that is feed is the manager. OSI Network Management Manager of manager (MoM) Agent Agent Agent NMS Agent NMS Manager Manager Agent Agent Agent Agent Managed objects Managed objects Unmanaged objects Unmanaged objects Figure 5.3 MoM model. The three-tier model satisfies the needs of a network management system. Now consider the scenario where a network manager is required to manage multiple net- works at different locations or networks from different vendors or two heterogeneous networks. This is where MoM fits in by providing a model for a converged network manager for multitechnology, heterogeneous network, mute vendor environments that is the current state of the telecom industry (see Figure 5.3). This model can handle network management of multiple domains as in an enterprise network. The top most level in MoM model is the "manager of manager" (MoM), which is the manager that consolidates and manages a set of network domains by collect- ing data from the network managers that manage individual network domains. The MoM has a separate MDB for s