Information Technology

July 20, 2006
The Intelligent Pulse for Business Productivity

K.K. Shetty

• Network is the vital framework that carries information to the farthest reaches of the company;
• Companies should have an airtight plan to monitor and manage networks;
• Network managers spend only seven percent of their time planning for the network;
• Intelligent Networking provides automated management of the physical layer;
• It also assists in quick troubleshooting;
• Intelligent Networking solutions decrease network outages and increase workforce productivity;
• The solutions help IS executives save money by managing existing resources.

NEW DELHI -- A corporation lives or dies by its employees' ability to access information, and its network is the vital framework that carries that information to the farthest reaches of the company. Corporate networks handle work as simple as emailing a file to a colleague, or as complex as connecting mission critical applications across vast geographic distances to streamline the supply chain. When it's up and running at peak performance, the network is worth untold millions of dollars in new business opportunities and efficiencies. But here's another fact: when the network goes down, it can cost the company millions in lost productivity.

Network outages affect every aspect of the business, from receipt of orders to customer service. It can severely impact a company's ability to respond to clients' needs, and that can translate into lost orders, dissatisfied customers and missed opportunities. With so much at stake, companies should have an airtight plan to monitor and manage their networks as closely as possible. But too often when network outages occur, they last longer than they should because they're mishandled. Most IS shops react to a network outage by first looking for problems in their application software, then the network software. The trouble is, they're looking in the wrong place most of the time.

At times the problem is in cabling, but IS folks generally look there last. Part of the problem is that physical layer of the network does not have top-of-mind importance in many corporates. The general perception of the cabling issue is, out of sight, out of mind. Unfortunately, a lot of people in a corporation don't recognise the significant impact the network can have on day-to-day business.

Another issue: the physical layer is often so poorly organised that even IS staffers are left troubleshooting blindly. The typical IT network individual is accustomed to seeing the 'mushroom cloud' representing the network. He has no visibility into what's going on inside that cloud that may be relative to physical implementation of changes in the network. Every time an employee shifts cubes, or a new employee comes on board, the IS staff must manually document the move to keep the topology of the network up to date. But the trouble is, manual documentation is time-consuming and tedious and frequently doesn't get done. Depending on manual updates virtually guarantees that the network will get out of control. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that network managers spend only 7 percent of their time planning for the network, according to a study by Infonetics Research.

Solution is Intelligent Networking

Intelligent Networking is a new connectivity management system that provides automated management of the physical layer of networks. When the cabling system is combined with real time infrastructure management software, the connectivity management system allows enterprise CIO's to minimise network downtime, reduce IT staff workload, and streamline moves. Intelligent Networking basically ensures that a CIO manages the network cabling accurately and with confidence. This infrastructure tool provides benefits through out the lifetime of the network and technical infrastructure.

IT executives can now expect to see a return on investment anywhere from six to 18 months after purchase. By implementing Intelligent Networking, a customer can expect some key benefits like mapping of existing connectivity of the networks, including unused office ports or servers, that enable IS technicians to make changes more accurately and also provide accurate representations of the physical layer. The systems can also update the map of the network every time a MAC is created. The new automated system reduces tedious and time-consuming manual procedures, decreases human error rates and also decreases the workload for IS staff.

Intelligent Networking also assists in quick troubleshooting for inadvertent mistakes made. For example - Bill in accounting is moving from the third floor to the fourth, but the technician mistakenly switches his coworker Mary's port instead. In such a situation there are two outages when none were expected. In such a case Intelligent Networking would send out an alert and the technician will not be able to close the work order on Bill until the work is completed.

Parallely, it would open a work order on Mary, alerting the technician about the situation. IS executives with Intelligent Networking can define their own business rules for any event, be it authorisation procedures or connecting and disconnecting. Since Intelligent Networking solutions provide accurate network documentation that pinpoints problems, the result is decreased network outages and increased workforce productivity. These solutions also enable CIO's to proactively analyse network utilisation

Almost 40 percent of most existing networks are underutilised simply because CIO's don't have accurate connectivity data. Intelligent Networking solution, with its accurate representations of the physical layer of the network, helps IS executives save money by better managing existing resources. These solutions also provide stringent security protection. If a cord is disconnected in the network, an immediate alarm will be sent to the IS staff.

All this adds up to a solution that is vital to the efficient management of the central nervous system of any business, the corporate network. By reducing downtime and increasing productivity, implementing this solution is a good bet towards increasing bottom lines. After all what helps the network ultimately helps the business.

(The author is country manager, AMP NET CONNECT, Tyco Electronics)