So, first off, what is “network management”? It’s a pair of words put together in millions of I.T. conversations, but it does have a specific meaning. Whenever we refer to network management, it simply means our methods for taking care of our company's network. That means what comes in, what goes out, who can or can’t download what. It is the combo of managing security, speed, stability, and rights: everything from what color ethernet cable you want going to your switch from your wireless routers, to who is allowed to see Facebook from their work computer.
As previously mentioned in the “Getting to Know Network Security” post, keeping a network updated with current firewall and spyware software is a key component, but for this post, we are going to step back and look at how to even start.
The first thing you should do in building a network management system is take stock of your devices. That includes anything that connects to the switches and consequently your servers. I would stop at wireless routers as far as people’s personal devices are concerned. Beyond that, printers, desktops, Smart TV’s, and more are all game. Follow that back up. What kind of switches are those going to. Do you want to use patch panels in between somewhere? How many? Then there is the server, of course. Once you have all of this, what sort of physical maintenance does all of it require?
After the hardware, comes the software. You must decide what kind of antivirus to use and when to update it. You will need to make sure all OSes stay up to date as well. Then, there is software distribution. You will decide who get a license for Office and who is going to stick with something free like G suite. Other software will need to be pushed out based on your company’s needs.
A good way to push out software that isn’t too complicated is to simply host the software on your servers as installers. Let people install as needed after obtaining licenses from you. Some programs like Chrome and such obviously don’t require a license, so those can all be free access from a network IP location.
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