1. A mediator in a management communications stream established between a network element (NE) and network management systems (NMS), the mediator comprising: a southbound interface for exchanging management data with the NE; a signal processor for processing the management data from the southbound interface to provide management data associated with a management representation of the NE, the management representation corresponding to a logical NE based on a predetermined proportion of resources of the NE; and a northbound interface for exchanging management data associated with the management representation with the NMS.