Network management is a top priority for IT professionals throughout the global marketplace, yet the advancements in technologies and a push toward virtualization is increasing the pressures on these professionals and creating challenges in complete management.
An increased focus on automating processes has also intensified the strategic focus for these players, intensifying the need to prioritize investments. In a recent ComputerWorld post, a closer examination takes place of the top five ways to allocate time and resources within the IT department to best achieve network management goals.
Management tool consolidation across the enterprise – redundant tools across the enterprise are very common and IT managers need to refine their portfolio of tools to streamline processes and maximize investments. Consolidation also offers benefits such as real tool integration, a better service perspective, quick incident resolution and higher service reliability. IT groups that collaboration and agree on a single tool can leverage their buying power, increasing their market advantage.
Network configuration and change management (NCCM) tools – network management is more effective when IT professionals have tools that automatically recognize the addition of new end points added to the network. NCCM tools also help to eliminate staffing challenges as they delegate much of the work to lower-skilled, less expensive staff, while also increasing reliability through consistent execution and increased productivity.
Increase application awareness – to achieve ultimate and efficient network management, IT professionals need to look at network performance alongside information provided about active applications and services, who is using them and their experience in the process. This will ensure the IT department is aware of what apps are being used, which ones drive the use of the network and which ones create problems when slowdowns occur.
Value is in the analysis – monitoring the network may help in understanding what is happening, but it doesn’t lend as much value to network management as a complete analysis. Sophisticated mathematical algorithms are available to sift through charts and graphs to provide information that is valuable.
Leverage existing toolsets – network managers who truly leverage the tools they already have before investing in new applications will make better use of the overall budget and save space on the server. Ask vendors about free connectors to network management tools by way of technology partnerships to achieve optimal performance.
At the end of the day, network management is truly a broad term that can encompass a wide range of tools, applications and processes. The key to doing more with less is maximizing current investments and leveraging tools already in place.
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