The monitoring and management of computer and telecommunication networks becomes increasingly difficult as these networks grow in size and complexity. Moreover, several new functional requirements appear for these network management systems in the emerging field of digital multimedia networks. Therefore, the need for scalable and distributed network management systems based on open communication standards remains as relevant as ever. In this contribution, we investigate the use of web services as an open communication standard for network management systems. After a concise description of web services and their possible advantages for network management systems, we present a case study. In this specific case, a web service architecture is used to build a network management system for a data broadcasting network to distribute digital movies. The presented architecture allows several additional management functionalities that are required in such digital content networks.