USING A COMMON LINK FIELD KEY

Systems and methods are provided for interfacing between an element management system and a network management system in a network. A method includes associating a plurality of physical elements of a network with at least one element management system; providing a network management system; and providing a generic management information base interfacing between the at least one element management system and the network management system. The generic management information base includes a first data structure and a second data structure, the first data structure including at least one attribute common to each of the plurality of physical elements associated with the element management system, the second data structure including at least one value representing at least one of the plurality of physical elements. The first data structure and the second data structure are associated using a common link field and the first data structure and the second data structure are generic.