The drawbacks of centralized network management (NM) were already demonstrated. The growing complexity of computer networks requires sophisticated management strategies for adequate efficiency and reliability. Grid computing technology approaches, characterized by a higher degree of flexibility, scalability, efficiency, and reliability, face still many challenges. It is widely recognized, however, that distributed computing environments bring on many advantages when dealing with these issues. We propose a hybrid hierarchical NM paradigm, based on a composite architecture, integrating apposite Peer-to-Peer and Grid Computing concepts and related technologies.