Network Management has only become more complex over recent years.

Information technology has

increased in terms of business need, relating even more to competitiveness and organizational success. In an
economic downturn means that IT investments and budgets need to do more with less in maintaining these
services, and continuing to expand them.
Network management is now more than simply watching routers and switches to see if they are online. It now
includes things like software, security, and telecommunications. To put it more generally, network management
manages or maintains anything with an interface or I address that communicates over a network, which
becomes nearly anything plugged in that are used at businesses every day. !ith more remote sites comes the
need to deliver software and services remotely, meaning that systems must be set up to communicate with
these areas effectively and efficiently, but still maintain the core network as well. "ecurity and compliance
policies re#uired to maintain certain business practices also add significant time and effort to IT Network
Management. This is often underestimated, but re#uires a lot of time and resources to read, interpret, and then
audit or change your own system for compliance. In telecommunications, voice over I $%&I' is becoming
more popular, which in essence puts phone services into IT management as well. In addition, don(t forget
that Iv) is coming too, a ma*or network management pro*ect.
+ll of this not only adds services, but also complexity to the network. Not all communications can take place
over *ust any port. Then consider that some traffic needs to stay separate, like voice from data, for best
performance, or sensitive information off the public network. Now imagine having to move these items from port
to port logically and physically over a network, possibly daily, and multiply by your number of connected
devices which could each potentially be a change to the network. To take it even a little further, imagine a
network this complex, and it being changed without knowledge of management. It would cause communication
problems to put it lightly. +ll of this is definitely network management, but far more complex and consuming that
simply managing routers and switches, especially on larger networks. ,ence, administrators and managers
need help to keep everything documented and running well, where network management planning comes in.
-uckily, there is help out there. "everal network management tools and strategies have been developed over
the years to assist with managing certain aspects of the network. !hile some tools are better than others, the
best features of these tools will be seen in this document. "ome best practices for network management have
also been developed. These are intended to provide some general ideas on network management, and how
best to maximize time and investment of resources. It is important to note that these are not specific for any
network, and that your individual infrastructure and design will greatly affect how you utilize or implement the
information here.
Best Practices for Business Processes and Technology
Technology does not manage itself. it takes trained individuals to keep a network running at its best. &f course,
networks can get large, and thus the number of individuals and their time re#uired managing the network
increases dramatically, consuming more organizational resources. ,owever, network management tools and
sound strategies can counteract this increase. Network management tools that gather data and automate
processes are well known, but business strategy should also be considered. This combined solution to network
management planning not only provides technical information on a network, but can be related to several
business processes as well due to IT being a part of most business functions.
/rom a process perspective, network management includes your customers and employees. They either use or
depend on your system every day, and will have up to date knowledge on what(s going on from their
perspective. It is very easy from the back end management perspective to not always see the network from the
other side. 0y involving them in the management process, you can find information about current events and
issues with the network and what can potentially be improved to better the business. It could also provide
information on where bottlenecks or other processes are holding back the business are, so that they can be
adapted to make way for better, collaborative processes. In doing so, you can align the business and IT
strategic needs to work together and formulate a plan that benefits both, improving the overall #uality of the two
individual areas. 1xamples of this benefit could be anything from simply combining pro*ects to save time on
moving ports and network speeds around, to finding an issue in a fundamental IT process that completely
revolutionizes IT and business practices. 2ou never know with multiple perspectives, priorities, and business
areas involved, but having them work together provides the opportunity.
3ommunication is of utmost importance in network management in order to know what is going on, what issues
exist, and how to better maintain and manage the network for the future. but everyone is not always available
to collaborate. The next best practice is creating a library of sorts to help with collaboration and extending the
knowledge of everyone involved in network management. &f course we can never document everything we do,
or it would be all we do. ,owever, important notes and information can be kept securely to provide data when
needed to specific personnel. This can include simply IT information on upcoming pro*ects, or even better
scenario business information as well relating to department priorities or even wish lists. The idea is getting
information out to everyone and that it communicates ideas as they relate to the network everyone uses. +
ma*or feature of this practice is allowing functional business areas to see information from other areas,
improving communication and understanding between them as well. In the end, the library would assist the
organization in becoming interdependent across all departments, integrating services, and better working with
each other. 0y knowing where each other is coming from, network management becomes a team effort that
benefits everyone including the organization overall. !hile clearly a strategy best practice, a network
management tool could also be used to store and distribute the information.
"ecurity and governance compliance are becoming a larger part of IT and business practices, not to mention
the audits that come with them. 0eing fairly new, it has always normally fallen to IT to manage it. but those
times are gone and now it is a full on business function. In addition, consider the complexity of some of the
policies. 3I compliance that deals with credit cards is only several pages long and very detailed. imagine all
the policies your organization may need to comply with that are longer or less clear. 4athering the information
from your own network after analyzing it takes significant time alone. Network management will be involved in
all of these policies, and the tools that can automatically gather information from the network and can better
develop and process that data are the best to find. lease note that depending on what policy or compliance
you are dealing with, certified tools may be re#uired. The scope is what relates this to overall management, as
day5to5day policies likely do not need all the attention of something organization wide or a strategy for
themselves alone outside of simple regular maintenance.
In all of these best practices, the idea is that network management is a business function that happens to be
controlled from IT due to the e#uipment and specific practices of network management. It involves the entire
organization, which re#uires everyone to work together, to operate under one unified strategy, along with using
proper network management tools to maximize time and investment of resources to benefit the organization as
a whole.
Technology Considerations and Adoptions
There is a lot of technology out there. art of network management is upgrading and installing technology, and
choosing that next piece of e#uipment can be a big investment. 1ach piece claims to be the best for your
network, and it is up to you to determine which best fits your own network if and when it is needed. 0elow you
will find a brief plan for adopting new technology into the network or for use with the network in the case of new
tools.
/irst determine what you are using in your organization. Then find out why and who is using them to what end.
In doing so you will determine your technology or tool need by seeing what is performing the same function to
potentially remove and regain resources, and what needs to be improved y something upgraded or new. Then
create your plan for your management strategy for the new e#uipment such as why it is needed, how it will be
used, etc. It is best if this involves phases as well as measurements for success and progress at determined
intervals to ensure it is meeting all re#uirements.
Next is the selection process, where the needs you determined earlier will help narrow the number of selections
available. Now that you know what a new tool needs to do, the selection becomes easier. Make sure to do all
your homework on each potential selection. Things like demos and presentations can help, and compatibility
should be a ma*or concern. +lso, if the tool or product is being bid on, ensure that everything is documented to
avoid future appeals by vendors if they feel there was bias towards another. Then after you make your
selection, follow the plan made earlier to implement and use your selection. This is where the measurements
come in, and they should be used at least at the end of every phase to determine how the new tool or product
is functioning next to expectations and needs. +fter each ma*or step is even better, but this does increase time
re#uired. The scope of your solution can help determine this for you. The measurement process will also
provide a time to adapt the plan and adoption process as needed since it is a sort of stopping point.
Investment and Use of Resources
!ith networks becoming larger, more complex, and responsible for a bigger piece of business functions, time
and resources will naturally increase as well. ,owever, network management tools can minimize that increase,
and possibly even prevent it. !ith any action there is a cost, even using a management tool. 0ut the tools
themselves can also increase or decrease the cost as well through training and how long it takes to use them.
The usual issue is that a tool that is easy to use does not solve all the needs, but one that solves all the needs
is too complex and takes too much time and resources to learn and use properly.
The old approach to this solution was simply getting tools that solved individual purposes, and uses a lot of
tools. This created a lot of overhead and other re#uirements such as specialized knowledge for each one. Then
the larger tools were sought, but were very underutilized due to complexity and inability to use them. !hat
resulted was a lot of information in multiple formats showing so many different things it could only be
interpreted by those who ran the tools, which from all other information here is not network management
performed by the organization as a whole. It creates some disconnect between those who gather and
understand the information from the other business functions.
The new approach is far more versatile. It looks for network management tools that minimize routine tasks and
re#uire little to no maintenance. +lso tools that can be configured provide flexibility in its use, re#uiring fewer
tools overall. +lso, tools that can be upgraded or expanded are being sought, and if the functions are modular
all the better. It improves a single tool that the organization is already familiar with, and minimizes cost by
letting you purchase only modules you need. &ther simple pricing structures are becoming more common as
well with site licenses and maintenance contracts that include and promise upgrades.
Best Technology Features for Networ !anagement
Not all tools or strategies can do everything, nor should they be expected to. ,owever, some features are so
important to network management that they should be included if at all possible. They may be tools, strategic
processes, or relate to both, but a good management solution will include both.
The first feature is the ability to discover and inventory your network and topology. It is very difficult to manage
and maintain what you don(t understand or know exists. 6eep in mind though that discovery is a relative term.
2ou will need to determine exactly how the tool or strategy discovers components, and determine whether it will
provide the view you need.
Next is configuration management, and improving operational efficiency. This could deal with process
automation, or performing7assisting with any other task that will save the organization time and resources.
Naturally the more the better in one tool, as discussed earlier. This also relates to the specific ability of
determining how changes will affect the network. The importance of this specific feature comes from changes
being the most likely cause of problems on the network, up to )89. /inding a tool or strategy that can curb that
statistic will make a good impact on saving time and resources.
The final feature is application performance. This includes not only #uality of experience for the user, but also
diagnosis abilities of the network management tool or strategy. /or experience, it is important that is be usable.
+s discussed earlier, a tool that is not user friendly will not be utilized to it farthest ends, meaning the
investment is not maximized, and network management is not being as efficient as possible. It is even better if
this can be customized somehow. The other performance measure is diagnosis. &f course it should show
certain information about your network, or not be called a management tool or strategy. 0ut if it can show far
more information, and be able to diagnose other problems as well, then it supports network management by
showing that the network is functional, not the problem, and then showing what is. :epth is also an important
diagnosis factor, meaning the ability to drill down into components to see more information. In short, the tool or
strategy needs to be both usable, and show as much information as possible.
!easure "our Planning Progress
+s with any new plan or pro*ect, its progress must be measured to ensure it is providing the needed solution as
well as information on return on investment $;&I'. This is true whether it is a network management tool or
strategy. The time periods at which you measure and metrics utilized must be determined by you based on the
solution you are implementing and your own needs. The most important factor is to be fair and not biased. &nly
showing positive or negative measurements is not an effective way to gauge whether or not the solution is
successful. 0elow are a few metrics and brief descriptions on them that could be used for measurement.
lease remember this list is far from all inclusive, and may or may not be needed by your organization.
!ith the measurement we are looking for an increase in efficiency and investment of resources. This means
less work should be re#uired and re#uire less time to complete things like breaks and trouble tickets. Thus,
some metrics include whether or not the amount of trouble tickets is fewer, especially network related. /or
those tickets, are there fewer repeats, and did it take less time to complete them. /or changes, were there
fewer unapproved or failed changes are good metrics to measure how changes are being made within network
management. More directly, was there a cost or time savings overall and then further detail it into adopting new
components, retiring old e#uipment, etc. /or security compliance, do audits re#uire less time to complete, their
general #uality from reports, and scores can all be measured. +ll of this relates back to the central idea of
reducing cost in all aspects, and making network management an efficient and effective part of business
function.
Networ !anagement For "our Future
Network management is only becoming larger and more complex. The tasks re#uired are a part of the entire
organization, but management still falls to IT. Naturally, with increasing work load comes increased costs, but in
bad economic times this can be hard to achieve. <sing network management tools and strategies combined
can help. In using both at the same time, you are getting all the benefits from a technological automation or
functional ability, and from the process in terms of strategy and how the network will be managed in terms of
business function.
The overall goal is to make management #uicker, faster, and better all the while reducing cost and maximizing
the investment placed into network management. !hile one or other alone can be used, it will not be the best
choice. Technical ability of tools combined with the business processes and strategies for the organization
creates the best chance for a successful solution so all factors can be discovered and analyzed together.
Network management has changed. be ready, and make it into a part of the organization.
Related eywords# Network +utomation, Network Management, eering, "ystems
+dministration, Iv=, Iv), I+M, :N"7:,3, eering