Troubleshooting

To the non-technical, network performance management may seem like the activities of a secret society.

A network isn’t just a technology backbone that supports a business. It is the business. When networks, servers or apps fail, things can come to a full stop. That is, except help desk tickets. Those will start showing up like a flash mob, descending upon the IT team full of complaints and concerns that take up time needed to solve the problem. It’s a vicious cycle that no IT pro wants to deal with.

Have you ever received alerts from WhatsUp Gold in the middle of the night that a service has gone 'down', only to login and check to see everything is apparently good and happy? Then, just as you're about to logoff, WhatsUp Gold labels the device as 'up' again?

The importance of port management (and every other aspect of network infrastructure) has grown exponentially as our dependence on connectivity has increased. Additionally, with the advent of mainstream IoT technology, port management's role in both IT management and security becomes even more critical.

Last month we polled more than 1300 IT pros from around the world about their challenges with IT complexity. What we heard loud and clear is that there is far too much to get done, but not enough time to do it. Not to mention the time IT spends chasing down problems without full network visibility to find them fast enough.

More complexity, fewer results. This is the general consensus among IT teams everywhere. IT infrastructures have evolved into a Frankenstein of servers, access points, applications, and mobile devices. To throw another wrench in there (pun intended), the tools we implement to control complex business networks end up increasing complexity due to the lack of integration between all of these tools. What you get is a tangled mess of solutions that only complicate matters.

IT pros know all too well the old "have you tried turning it off and on?" trick - but there are some help desk stories that are stranger than fiction.

Today’s IT teams are under a heck of a lot of pressure to support multiple directives. They need to deliver IT infrastructure performance that can support defined business goals, strategies and operations. And very important to their success is complying with their commitments to a defined SLA (Service Level Agreement) with their business owners.

No one template can ensure system stability.

As it grows, your company will probably have an emergency at some point that warrants crisis management in IT. No matter if it's a data breach, natural disaster or product malfunction, you're usually the first blamed for its occurrence and the last credited with resolution. Even in the case of a weather event, sysadmins take the hot seat if user machines aren't up and running quickly. But as they say, people don't remember the mistake — they remember how you handled it.

Take pride in knowing that your company depends on its help desk. And when it comes to information technology problem solving, few skill sets are more valuable to ensure business continuity. Yep, even marketing execs and similar partners pale in comparison to those whose workload is defined by troubleshooting.

Learn how to eliminate time wasters and get 30 minutes of your day back

Technology infrastructure has an expiration date. The problem? It's not stamped on the side of the carton. Or available online. The life cycle of any server, networking device or associated hardware is determined by a combination of local and market factors: What's the competition doing? How quickly is your business growing? Will C-suite executives approve any new spend?

Fashion designers and pop-culture mavens live by trendspotting; they pick up on what people are talking about, and distill it into styles and stories they care about.

GeoEngineers is a small business with enterprise demands and a lot of pressure on its network. As an engineering firm with 400 employees located in 12 offices, managing the network presents many unique challenges. For example, its earth science engineers must be able to back up project files and submit data from the field at any time of day and from any location.

Ratings for the 2014 World Cup are beginning to surpass even the most optimistic television executive’s expectations. With the drama unfolding further after every match, viewers are tuning in with record numbers. While this is proving great for television, it is creating obstacles for organizations and their networks. One of the biggest issues facing IT pros is the bring your own device (BYOD) population.

Maintaining a work-life balance is extremely difficult for some – especially network managers who are on-call 24/7. A great article titled Mobile Network Management Smartphone Apps for On-the-Go Engineers on SearchNetworking.com got us thinking about all the ways network management software for smartphones and tablets helps make network managers’ lives easier and achieve that work-life balance we all try so hard to maintain.