You are quite welcome. I completely understand the no budget thing and the desire to use open source first.
That said, the multi-conditional alerts you are looking for are also in enterprise. Since Hyperic is designed to be so self-service for you to deploy, we create value around an enterprise offering by increased automation, intelligence (think reporting) and security features that fit more complex and large scale deployments. This is our business model and how we plan to stick around to continue to help and innovate with you.
I am not sure about your scale, but it does sound like you are crossing that complexity access to be better served by an enterprise trial. It may be worthwhile to talk to sales to get an idea about what it may cost before you pursue a trial, and see if you can justify the savings by having this extra stuff out of the box. We're still an open source company, so it is usually pretty affordable.
OK - ! For your sitch though, it sounds like it may be the best way to save time -- and time can equal money. Good luck, and we hope to keep seeing you here!