This past year, the need for automated network diagrams and documentation has really been brought to the attention of many organizations — especially with what’s going on with this great world of ours: the pandemic, the different phases of the way we live, and the complete lockdowns.
When was the last time you were in the office? March 16th, 2020 was the day that almost everyone stopped going to the office (feels like a long time ago), well for most…(except for essential workers). How can you manage the network when you’re not in the building? Network discovery and network mapping tools such as netTerrain Logical have been helping our customers stay on top of the network during the past year’s adverse working conditions.
Network Security
With so many workers suddenly mandated to work at home, security threats from so many workers accessing the network remotely have come up. Every device in the network needs to be documented — if you don’t know what’s in the network, you can’t secure its entrances and exits.
Network diagramming software (such as netTerrain, for example) allows you to discover how many core network devices you’ve got that are facing the outside world – and where they are. You can discover your network’s entrances and exits –and secure them. You can track which versions of a software those devices are running.
Example of a logical network diagram in netTerrain
Minimize Unnecessary Field Visits
Network diagramming software should allow you to discover and map the network in a hands-off manner, without the need to deploy agents. Discover your devices and document them — remotely. Minimize trips to the field and the amount of staff you need to have on-site.
Web-based network diagramming software such as netTerrain gives you a singular platform from which your network engineers can access the same network diagrams – from anywhere in the world (whether you are accessing it from home, a hotel room, or another location).
Speed Up Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting is expensive and requires more staff. At a time when finances are tight and the need to minimize on-site staff is important, reducing mean-time-to-repair (MTTR) is crucial. Network diagram software allows you to know what’s impacted, what’s connected to what, see what has worked to fix an issue in the past, and get network issues resolved in significantly less time.
How? Perform a circuit layout record to track end-to-end network paths, and with a real-time view of your network through network discovery and with polling services, you can visualize the exact location of an outage –and see exactly what’s connected to what –in seconds.
Boost Collaboration
In this blog, we’ve often discussed how network diagram software facilitates communication and teamwork. At a time when your team is scattered, software such as netTerrain allows disparate team members to meaningfully work on the same project. With netTerrain, you can see who’s doing what, what’s already been done, who is logged in, collaborate, mark up diagrams, and create actionable reports that inform decisions.
Minimize IT Expenses
It’s no secret that IT costs are skyrocketing as businesses rely more and more on the infrastructure for most facets of business — and, as we’ve already said here, corporate budgets are tight. With network diagram software, you can reduce IT spending by knowing what you have, identifying underused equipment, reducing overtime devoted to troubleshooting, and spending less on future equipment.
If you would like to try our netTerrain Logical software to see if this will help you get automated network diagrams, please try it out through our netTerrain Cloud website: www.www.netterrain.us or if you need to see a demo, feel free to reach out to our Sales Team at 240-912-6223 x1 or via email at sales@graphicalnetworks.com.