Network monitoring and diagnostic tools – features to consider

We hear it all the time – IT departments are under pressure but budgets and IT staff aren't growing proportionately. Matters only get worse as disruptive technologies like SaaS, VoIP and virtualization begin to proliferate enterprise networks. Yet network administrators are forced to use highly fragmented, complex, and expensive management solutions that don't provide good visibility. At what point does the network administrator go postal or gets fired because the VoIP system cuts out during prime work hours and the CEO can't make his phone calls?

Network Management Has Become More Complex

Network management used to be an easier proposition – there were more people in a given IT department and each had his or her own set of duties. Back then, a lot could be done with homemade scripts. But with the advent of critical SaaS applications, server and storage virtualization, VoIP, and other new technologies, network management has become more complex. The steep learning curves, or time-to-productivity involved with HP Openview, IBM Tivoli and other monitoring and diagnostic solutions can be prohibitive. Also, the speed at which technologies are changing make it difficult to stay current.

Companies Must Now Do More with Less

It is easy to say that organizations must be more current and comprehensive in all aspects of their information technology – network management, backup and other procedures. But most IT departments are stretched and cannot afford to devote the kind of resources necessary to operate the network at optimal levels. In fact, Aberdeen Group reports that a recent study shows 44% of organizations intend on outsourcing a portion of their network management services because of budget or lack of headcount. The reality is that most enterprises count on increased productivity using fewer resources and reward employees who can demonstrate they can do more with less.

If Variety is What You Want, Variety is What You've Got

For companies looking to improve their network management system, the good news is that there are an incredible number of options available to you that offer point solutions for specific network problems or tasks. These options encompass open source, commercial or a combination of the two. Some are open source die-hards and as such, implement applications such as Nagios, Cacti or MRTG for their network monitoring needs. However, if your IT staff isn't well versed in writing code to customize these open source applications, there can be inherent difficulties in implementing them. There are also commercial point-products available in the market, many of which are free. SolarWinds offers a TFTP diagnostic tool from, and Spiceworks offers a PC inventory tool, for example, and so-on-so-forth.

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