Network Management Strategies for the CIO
What does network management entail today?
Network management has to do with monitoring, tracking, controlling and reporting what's happening
on the network just to maintain network availability and performance. With the explosion of
network-based business services, the actual functioning of a network has moved far beyond just
simply worrying about availability and reliability to also managing the behavior of the
applications and services that are built around that network.
 |
|
|
|
| Richard Ptak | |
|
|
How is the
Requires Free Membership to View
network
manager's job description changing as a result?The manager has to be more aware of the business impact of the events that are taking place on the network so that he or she can intelligently allocate scarce resources and time to events that affect the operation.
Network managers are -- not going to be, they are -- an integral part of the success of the
business, and they have to think not only about maintaining the network and its services, but also
about how the infrastructure, the devices and their operational decisions impact the business. Do
you think most top-level executives understand how network management affects their
businesses?
They lack the technical vocabulary and understanding, but they can see how the infrastructure and
IT and networks are impacting them.
For example, Sarbanes-Oxley and all of the governance legislation has been a terrific tool in
focusing the executives' attention on the need to manage their infrastructures and the network, and
understanding configuration and change management. All of those pieces become very important
because there's no other way to collect the kind of reporting, conformance and compliance
information that's needed to fulfill those technical requirements. For network managers who may not
have considered the business implications of their actions in the past, what advice do you
have?
One of the first things they can do is document the services they offer and the processes they use
to deliver them. And then it's easier to understand what the impact on the business is if some
particular service dies or starts to deteriorate.
|
||||
|
|
|||
|
||||
Is the marketplace keeping pace with these changes?
There's a big gap between what's available today and what's really needed in terms of reliability,
management and capability. But we are making rapid strides -- from a management perspective and
from an operational perspective -- toward improving the overall reliability of networks and
services and so forth. We are not by any stretch of the imagination in nirvana, but we have much
better tools available today, and vendors and solution providers have a much better understanding
of what's needed. Any last words of advice for network managers struggling to adapt to these new
demands?
Don't be intimidated by what you hear from analysts, vendors and solution providers. For the
network management folks, the fundamental task remains to provide efficient, effective, reliable
and available connections. Now what's changed is that you're no longer supporting a backroom
operation. You're now at the forefront of a business challenge, and that's a good thing because
that makes your job more important, and more interesting.
Join the conversationComment
Share
Comments
Results
Contribute to the conversation