Network managers are today increasingly faced with a do what you can with what you`ve got scenario, especially those who work for smaller companies that regard IT as just another part of the business.
However, the reality is that it is this lack of resources that makes it increasingly difficult for network managers to do their jobs - managing and administering networks end-to-end.
It doesn`t stop here, the above results in the inability to enforce network edge security/access policies, which prevents companies from acting quickly against emerging threats, which we all know are becoming more severe and sophisticated.
The bottom line is without the proper management of a network, IT departments lose control over the IT infrastructure and application usage - resulting in an under-productive, vulnerable and downright mediocre network that contributes very little to the optimisation of business processes.
The question is what should network managers do, especially in light of tight budgets and a lack of IT prioritisation? A centrally administered and controlled management policy enables companies to implement acceptable usage policies for individual users or groups, which are in line with business roles, by taking advantage of features inherent in the infrastructure with little administrative effort.
It also eliminates undesirable network traffic and implements QoS (quality of service) mechanisms that again allow IT departments to pinpoint mission-critical business functions, thus prioritising those supporting services.
Further, a centrally administered and controlled management policy acts as an enterprise-wide control point for emerging security threats and scales to adapt to any new ones.
Indeed, supporting network management tools such as Enterasys` Atlas Console and Policy Manager offerings enable companies to simplify and automate the creation and enforcement of user access and network policies to facilitate business-enabled networks.
Whichever way you look at it, by implementing a centrally administered and controlled management policy and its resultant enablers, you`ll be able to overcome budget constraints in an optimised and cost-effective manner.
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