Every once in a while I will hop on Codeplex and search for new tools. As a SQL DBA I have found a lot of great/free tools on Codeplex such as OpenDBDiff and PAL for SQL Server. Today, I discovered the SqlMonitoring tool. The project description is as follows:

The SqlMonitoring tool makes it possible to monitor SQL 2000, 2005, 2008 environments and send alerts to a central database (SQL 2008). A client can be used to view the alerts en perform actions on them. This tool is a good alternative if you do not have the budget or infrastructure for tools like SCOM.

The application is still and beta so I would not risk your reputation trying to sell this to your CEO as your default monitoring tool. In any case, if you are working at a small shop with limited funding then this application would probably be worth a look. If nothing else, you can take the existing source code and get a head start on developing your own monitoring tool.

At my current company, we use a combination of SCOM, HP OpenView and Host Monitor. Having three separate systems is a little confusing at times but the Operations and Infrastructure group claim that they need all three because they each serve a unique purpose. Apparently, the new directive is that SCOM is for application layer monitoring, HP OpenView is for hardware level monitoring and Host Monitor is for availability monitoring. What do you use at your company and why?