The Features And Characteristics Of Cost-effective Network Management

With the advent of Information Technology in business came the feature of business automation. Automation not only within one's own sphere of work or operation, but in synchronisation with operations outside the local sphere also. This gave rise to networks. To manage individual networks as an integrated entity came in Network Management and nothing on earth this day is worth if it not be cost effective. We therefore end up with Cost-effective Network Management as a necessity for the day's activity.

A network comprises of individual objects, both hardware component and the application or software component. The plethora of objects that make up a network is to be experienced to be believed. A network administrator's job is never a post of envy but one that poses the administrator with problems uncanny. A visual picture of the complete network becomes a necessity for any network manager to be able to work out a solution imposed upon him by some client at a remote site.

The task of the network manager becomes even more difficult due to the fact that the network map is never the same even on successive days at some instance. This occurs as every business house has to continuously adapt to the changes in the market and thereby effect changes in the procedures that he conducts his business. Given this scenario, there is need for such a tool that provides a continuous updated view of the complete network components to the network manager as also allow the network manager to manage the components from a remote location.

One such class of software which provides the various programs that are running across a network as well as the networks hierarchical view is called Managed Services Provider programs (MSP). There are some MSP which do not need any user intervention and called fully automated MSP and there are others which need human intervention at each step. There are MSP which are a mix of these two also. The Network manager's availability and capability would decide which MSP be best suited for a client. The software solution for managing networks accrues high cost saving to the business house. Instead of separate network managers managing every individual network, it could be substituted by just one network manager sitting at one location with this tool to manage the entire network. To judge the ability of an MSP solution, two major issues are taken into consideration. How deep and wide does the software present the network hierarchy to the network administrator and how strong is its reporting process.

Makers of the software would however attach various other features to their product to add selling value to it. Ease with which the MSP software itself could be deployed across the network or how demanding is the software on system resources are such additional features that the makers claim while marketing their products. The prime factor on which would depend the success story of a business house today is how cost-effective a network the house is able to sustain. Managed Service Provider helps is lowering the cost incurred by the business house towards its e-business venture and therefore it can be termed as the most Cost-effective Network Management tool.