Monday, August 30, 2010

Software Patch Management Within Budget

The use of software patch management easily automates the distribution of problem fixing patches across an entire network. Depending on the software, these updates can be scheduled beforehand or setup to coincide with your development team or third party patch providers. Many programs also offer the ability to scan the computers on the network for any vulnerabilities that require a patch. To have this as a manual procedure can be very time consuming and inefficient. It costs more hours and money to have your IT staff handle this issue one computer at a time. The automated release features of the patch management program can eliminate the waste of so much time and funds and can allow the IT staff to work on other projects. There are several problems with trying to do each installation manually. The computer has to be taken up by an IT worker and this means that two workers are having to wait for the installation. This can all be resolved with automatic scripting so that both the IT worker and the office worker can continue doing other duties.

 

There are many programs to select from. This selection process should be directed at fitting your business needs. Many programs have different features and those are what should be looked at. You want a software that is customizable to your needs as well as easy to use and maintain. Managing patches is one of the many ways to protect your systems from malicious intruders. Hackers are able to get past firewalls and security if one terminal on the network is compromised. This can be an easy fix as long as the patches are maintained.

 

Companies have been disabled or completely shutdown for days because of hackers manipulating security loopholes created by not patched computers. The hackers are able to gain full control of one computer that is not entirely protected and then use it to tie up bandwidth for their own purposes. They are then also able to install viruses and worms on your network.

 

By installing this type of program, all those fears can be put aside. Not only does it fix any errors in programs with patches and updates, it does so without having to spend the man power. It also keeps track of all the information for you, in a tidy report that is generated however often you program it to. If you only want to run patches once a month, it can be programmed to do so. If you want it run every day, that is not a problem either.

 

The software patch management programs on the market make it easy to keep up with the countless patches for all the market software. Your workers will not even have to see the patch taking place except in a few occasions where the computer will need to be rebooted. Your IT staff as well as your office workers will appreciate being able to go about their daily duties uninterrupted by annoying software maintenance. This will increase your productivity as well as the moral of the office and your IT department. Anything that can make a tedious job faster and less intrusive is good for the company.

Friday, August 27, 2010

MSP Software, How To Streamline Your Network Management Business

One of the most important programs at the disposal of managed service providers today is known as MSP software. This type of software is specifically designed to assist network managers with the monitoring and managing of networks. These programs can help network managers assess the efficiency of an entire network, but it can also help network managers assess the efficiency of individual devices and programs within a network as well.

 

Since the task of managing multiple networks is almost impossible to handle for most network managers, this device is an absolute must for most network managers today. Network managers who utilize MSP software can make their services more efficient and effective by assessing the problems a network is facing in a very simple manner.

 

MSP software can provide detailed info about devices within a network. When network managers do not have access to information about individual devices within a network, they often find it very difficult to uncover the source of problems networks are facing. If you are using this software to manage your network though, you will be able to instantly access detailed info about every device within the network in order to assess the source of problems as well as solutions you can use to fix the problems your networks are facing.

 

By reviewing detailed information about individual devices within a network, as well as having the ability to view a network as a whole, you will not only be able to fix problems that may be arising within the network, like an improper use of network devices, insufficient computing power being provided by devices, or other problems, but you will also be able to improve the overall efficiency of your network as well.

 

In fact, this software is so advanced today that it can even alert network managers when a congestion problem is arising within a network. By receiving an alert about a congestion problem within a network before any actual problems arise within a network, network managers can fix it difficult these were congestion issues that may be occurring within a network before they cause any serious setbacks within a network's activities.

 

Network managers rely on all of these features, but one of the most useful features provided by this type of software is the remote access capability. This remote access capability allows network managers to access devices without actually being physically present at the location the devices reside in. By being able to remotely access devices, network managers can fix problems instantly and efficiently in order to provide higher quality and more effective services to their clients.

 

This software generally helps improve the overall efficiency of an entire network, and it can even improve the efficiency of individual devices within a network as well. Network managers can use tools provided by MSP software to assess the overall efficiency of individual devices and provide recommendations to companies about how they should proceed with their software and hardware upgrades in the future.

 

As you can see, MSP software can provide a number of different benefits to a managed service provider. Whether you are managing multiple networks, or you are simply managing one network, this type of software can make your network managing activities and services efficient and seamless overall.

Monday, August 23, 2010

It is nearly impossible to imagine a business today that does not have a significant reliance on information technology. The more complex or larger the business is, the greater the investment in and reliance on computer technology. This is true because the computer has allowed us to communicate much more effectively. The problem arises as the computer begins to take more and more time from management creating inefficiency. The solution is systems management software.

 

Business has long had a need for more information. Management has always sought the answer to such questions as what will sell, when it should be sold, how can we get the product to the consumer quicker, and what inefficiencies are we experiencing. With the advent of the microprocessor, the old adage of be careful what you wish for may be an important consideration. We can now measure so many things and compile so much data that the manufacturing process becomes hard to recognize.

 

The manager is now faced with so much information about every topic that discerning the valuable information from background noise data is seriously problematic. Hiring decisions used to be made following an interview, with questions and answers and the unquantifiable interpersonal ques an interview provides. Today a successful candidate of yore may be electronically eliminated by an insignificant criterion before an interview is even conducted.

 

There is no question that the greater the quantity of valuable accurate data a business has to feed into the decision making process, the more likely a correct decision will be arrived at to the benefit of the company. The problem is knowing how much data is enough, and which data is useful. A manager needs to know what data was collected and under what conditions to understand the information from it. Trying to keep track of all the individual input through his area of operational control necessarily requires precious time sacrificed from running the business.

 

Like all tools, the computer has the potential for enhancing decisions with data that engenders confidence and produces results. It becomes problematic when the tool becomes the driving force in the business. If management is spending more time using the tool than created and delivering the goods and services at the heart of the company, there is a problem. While the information and uses for it grow exponentially, management possesses an ability to use it which remains fairly stagnant, which means there is inefficiency in the process as a whole.

 

There is a means of restoring sanity to the balance of business using computers; the use of the computer to control the information gathering and analyzing automatically. This is, in essence, using a computer to run the computer, and it pays immediate and far reaching dividends. This gives management the ability to make the decision on what data it needs and in what format it wants the information presented. That accomplished, managers can spend their time doing what they were hired to do; run the company and make a profit.

 

If a business is in the manufacturing industry, management does not want or need to spend its time gathering and inputting data about the supply chain, constructing statistical process control charts, or gathering data on trends in the demand for their product or the prices of their supply chain. What they need is that data collected for them by an automated system that collects and collates the information and packages it in a readily identifiable format and delivered to their desktop before the day begins.

 

So while it is important that someone is aware of the collection and interpretation of all the detailed information a company has, there has to be a way to develop that raw data into useful knowledge for each level of management. This is the crux of systems management software, manipulating data collected by software systems to develop actionable information for leadership to run the business efficiently and profitably.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Advantages Of Getting 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 complete network is made up of two components. They are the hardware component and the software component. One has to only see it to believe it so far as the number of individual components that comprise a complete network. When called upon with a problem being experienced by a customer at some remote location the first necessity that the network manager requires is the visual picture of the complete network.

Given the ever changing scenario of any business house which goes with the current volatile market factors, the individual networks that run the business house proceedings are equally altering. A pencil drawn map of the network one day would never match the same drawn on a subsequent day.

A tool which is capable of providing a continuously updated view of the network and its functioning is the need of the day. This software should also have the capability to permit the network manager remotely manage the various components that make up the network..

Software tools that provide this type of facility to the network administrator is called Managed Service Provider. This tool provides a complete overview of the network along with the various programs that are running at each location. It could be a fully automated software, in which case no human intervention is necessary, or it could be a fully manual system. It could also be a mix of the two that is a hybrid between automatic and semi automatic. The choice of which version is to be used would depend on the availability and ability of the network administrator on the company's payroll. Maintaining an individual network administrator at each location and they trying to work out the problem and solution of the network when it occurs would be a costly issue. The software in comparison would be a much lower priced object. No further explanation is required for the cost savings accrued.

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.

Individual companies creating the MSP however add different features in their advertisement campaigns. The ease with which the software can be deployed across the entire network, how much system resources does the software demand, these and many other similar features are used by individual MSP makers in their marketing strategy. 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.