One of the challenges associated with open telecommunications network management is the integration of legacy systems. SNMP is as open management paradigm of growing importance in telecommunications. This raises the question whether it could also form an appropriate basis for an integrated management of TL-1 based devices. This paper takes a closer look at this possibility. TL-1 and SNMP are compared. Technical issues involved in managing TL-1 based systems using SNMP are investigated. Because

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... f the differences in power and intended operating paradigms, it is argued that the suitability of an according management integration depends very much on the application. Keywords SNMP, TL-1, TMN, legacy systems, management protocols, management gateways, integrated network management, telecommunications network management 1 MOTIVATION Open management architectures and standard management protocols have reached maturity and gained widespread acceptance. This is no longer true only for data but increasingly also for telecommunications. The main driving force for this is the desire to achieve an integrated network management, both in terms of components to be managed and of functionality. With the Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) framework in place and commercial tools available, an increasing number of Q3 interface implementations can be expected in the near future. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) management, although not originally designed for use in the telecommunications arena, plays an important role as well. However, for any of the new standard compliant management systems, it must be taken into consideration that they do not exist in a vacuum but that they belong to a history of network management which cannot be ignored. Two main challenges are associated with this: A. A. Lazar et al. (eds.), Integrated Network Management V