Like most IT professionals, I have had the experience many times of walking into a network that I didn’t know, but still had to work with. My first question was always the same – “Do you have a network diagram that I can take a look at?” Unfortunately, just as often the response is a rolling of the eyes followed by a sad shake of the head and something like ” Well, we used to, but I know that diagram is out of date now. We just can’t keep up because the network changes so fast!” That would be followed by me spending a bunch of time trying to figure out the network BEFORE I could even begin to get my project started. There has to be a better way – right?
So, here are my 5 reasons that everyone needs up to date network maps (and how to get them!)
1. You are adding a new (critical) network application. Business changes rapidly, and new business related applications are being deployed all the time. Most people (not IT folks) think that you just add another server that runs the app and away you go. But, you know better. New apps mean new servers, those severs need network connections, they may require more bandwidth or other capacity planning. How can you do all that without understanding the current state of your network? You can’t.
2. Mergers and Acquisitions. Congratulations, your company is growing and you just made a strategic acquisition! Now the hard part – you have to integrate the new companies systems into yours. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to quickly and accurately (and remotely) get a handle on what they have? Sure would.
3. We pay how much for maintenance? I can’t tell you how many times I have been able to show companies that they are still paying yearly maintenance fees on hardware they no longer have in service. Makes the hardware companies happy – makes your CFO very unhappy. You can be the hero that saves the company money – if you only knew exactly what hardware was still in service on the network…
4. The times, they are a changin’ . Not just an old adage, this is the modern reality of enterprise networks. Change, change and more change. Even with the best of intentions, it is almost impossible to manually keep up to date documentation of that change. Maybe you can get away without the documentation. But what happens when they boss asks you what equipment you have on site in China? Uh-Oh.
5. Dammit Jim, I’m a doctor not a network engineer… Something’s gone wrong – apps aren’t responding, the email server is down, and your phone starts ringing. Where to being troubleshooting. With an up to date network map – that’s where. The truth is, you absolutely cannot fix something that you don’t understand. Would you let a doctor operate on you if he didn’t know your anatomy? I don’t think so.
But, here is the good news (yes there is good news). Automated, accurate, and up to date network diagrams are possible if you want them. Software applications can do the work for you and both gather and display the information you need without you having to lift a finger! OK, well you may have to lift your finger a few times to click on stuff – but you get the point.