Network Management and Security Plan

Introduction

Network management generally is a service that uses a number of different applications, devices, protocols and tools to aid an organization in monitoring and controlling of effective network resources, both software and hardware, meant to cater for service needs as well as objectives of the network. It has been made possible due to progressive growth in diversity and scale of computer networks as well as its components making network management one of the most vital and challenging issues among administrators in organizations that are increasingly adopting computers in their operations researches Gang (2010). The management of networks within the Handmade Furniture Limited Company seem to be neglected, or applies minimal efforts due to reliance of old fashioned Information Technology networks, protocols, tools and devices. Therefore, there is need for efficient operations, which are free of faults, with computer networks compounded of various platforms of software, hardware, resources, services, and a number of protocols put together and a management plan formulated for maximum utilizations at the least cost possible. Thence, in this paper, the focus is on justification on why Handmade Furniture Limited Company should implement a network management plan, with description and explanation on the elements of a network management plan suitable for the company and finally other options for fostering IT support. For those tackling complex academic projects, seeking engineering dissertation help can be crucial in addressing such intricate topics effectively.

Justification of Network Management Plan

Network management is a large functional field in the Information Technology organization that blankets different disciplines to facilitate the technology to fit into a business that is meant to sponsor asserts Gang (2010). The fast growing IT industry and services have a great capacity to sustain and benefit the company, thus its investment from wired to wireless, from outdated Operating systems to contemporary and updated operating systems are of a great deal. Thence, the following are the underlying issues as to why Handmade Furniture Limited Company needs to implement a network management plan;

Making Network better

Managing network is not all about keeping its existence and facilitating organizational operations as well as maintaining status quo, but it is meant to make the network better than it is at that moment. Among most tech-based organizations, Ren and Li (2010) identify that their administrators strive to optimize bandwidth and manage more devices to foster application and operating system performance, WAN performance, as well as WLAN management are among the most prioritized aspects of IT tools. These priorities mirror the necessity for administrators to maximize on the network they already possess, and in that respect, software that do these automated topology and inventory, manage device configuration and monitor performance in a manner to reap the benefits of a more expensive network but with minimal expenses.

Cost Control

Technology innovations are quite expensive, and so are striving to take on the IT complexity of today by applying an internal team exclusively. Thus a company like Handmade Furniture Limited opting for network management services and plan are meant to augment for internal endeavors in several cases leading to significant cost savings. Network management software is becoming more complex and costly, and at the same time managing network possesses challenges that are becoming more demanding and complicated at the same time outlines Thorleuchter and Van den Poel (2012). In such scenario, the IT department in Handmade Furniture Limited is supposed to implement solutions that offer these basic functions exceptionally well. It is through proactive network monitoring that allow the entire infrastructure components and devices for optimal network performance and at a low cost.

Increase Efficiency

Choosing network management plan and services allows staff to escape the pressure of red alerts as well as blinking lights and pay more attention on the innovative projects that are taking place in Handmade Furniture Limited Company researches Hämäläinen et al. (2012). The kind of network management functions the company could adopt that has the capacity to offload, from monitoring to upgrades, a number of services are present to foster the pace and precision with which the company’s business functions. Importantly, the automation of a business is the most long-term operational excellence, but its implementation network management plan enable integration of resource management with improved automation and orchestration workflow are meant to minimize provision time from days to seconds. It allows the company to develop a flexible network functions virtualization (NFV) surrounding that adjusts in response to the needs of the company and at the same time eliminating the most common deployment risks. Most significantly efficiency of the company’s operations is increased and aids it to offer better client experience.

Increased Flexibility

Wang et al. (2015) studies that network performances as well as reliability are vital for a company with network management responsibilities makes it less complex to make modification to its IT infrastructure or solution set in response to changes in a company like Handmade Furniture Limited. The organization would benefit from its network management plan has the capability to adapt to any network environment which is a tremendous advantage that the company would use in its favor. Therefore, according to Subramanian (2010) in a study on ‘principles and practices of network Management’, the capacity to adopt to future technological advancement will reduced chances of spending on value and resources to redesign its application, devices, protocols and several other since the approaches are already in existence. Once Handmade Furniture Limited Company adopts new IT features, applications, devices and protocols, these IT infrastructures are already designed to be flexible, thus easing maintenance during its application and company’s operations. Another factor of current network features and IT infrastructure is that it can learn as much as possible concerning the network automatically and use the collection of policies the organization has introduced to manage all the things to facilitate updates and changes in relation to the company’s designs and operations.

Elements of Network Management Plan

Network management plan entails different elements of the network that require to be ardently scrutinized so that the functions of the network can be efficient, cost effective and flexible. The recent effectiveness of management equipment as well as practices that are applied in Handmade Furniture Limited Company are assessed below so as the future implementation of the tools for network management are adept. These elements are;

Accounting Management

Handmade Furniture Limited Company needs to save money that can be applied to offer a network to its staff. For these measures to be implemented and utilized, Kim and Feamster (2013) on ‘Improving network management with software defined networking’ report that the accounts department can put up measures for utilization parameters of a network so that the staff using it can be governed on the content they access. Therefore, the company’s management can foster this plan to make sure that its staffs only access the network in promoting and are useful to its functions. Therefore, it is vital to measure all the important network resources as well as how they are put into work within the company.

Hare (2011) on ‘Simple Network Management Protocol’ argues that the person to manage the network requires pointing out the kinds of information that entails accounting that require to be recorded at different nodes. There should be a chosen interval in which the accounting information is transmitted and then the calculations of charges are undertaken. In this manner, the accounting reports are supposed to be created with the control of the individual who control the network, thus the need for the company to save for the implementation of the security management plan.

Security Management

According to Geer Jr. (2015), the network of a company is supposed to be completely sealed from attackers and hackers, to prevent confidential information from leaking to competitors and other malicious individuals. These information entail authentications, financial information, designs of the company, should not be distributed and thence should be maintained within the organization. Security management is concerned with the privacy of these data and also with the monitoring as well as controlling access to the IT infrastructure and other devices installed within the company.

Management of Fault

Within a network, McCabe (2010) identifies that the effects of faults can least to degradation and downtime, and consequently affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation s undertaken within the Handmade Furniture Limited Company. Implementation of fault management plan is a vital aspect so that the network issues can be easily identified and automatically rectified. The staff working in Handmade Furniture Limited Company expects that there exist a reliable and a fast method of dealing with network issues. Some of the staff will only tolerate outages that are occasional but would need to be notified of infrequent outages and expect that the experts fix the issues immediately they occur so as to promote continuation of operations. It is also envisaged that management of fault should depict an effect that is quite minimal on the performance of the network.

Hiring IT Expert

The furniture company can opt to employ an IT expert to deal with issues. The expert has the understanding as well as the zeal to work in the organization in maintaining the IT system secure and functions at optimal. This employee will administer network and data security, as well as directory, group policy, firewalls, antivirus, and email security. Bidwell (2011) claims that an individual can consult staff, clients, vendors and clients in discussion estimation and resolve issues. The same individual will also have a responsibility of preparing estimates that will be used by management for the purpose of planning, organizing and scheduling of work within the company argues DeVaro (2016). All these are meant to secure confidential information of the company. However, hiring an external IT specialist risk the confidential information of the business to exposure, and hidden costs of outsourcing may turn out to be quite costly making that option.

Consultancy from IT Experts

It is vital for the Handmade Furniture Limited Company to outsource support from IT consultants, at time when there is need for repairs or improvements of the IT infrastructure, devices and protocols. According to Bidwell (2011), it is by partnering with an IT consultant company that has specialist that can facilitate the company to navigate through a transition or a repair that are difficult for the staff to deal with. These consultants can also advice the company on how best to use the Information systems that the company will migrate into in attaining the business objectives. DeVaro (2016) identifies that a lot of experience and particular individuals with skillsets is employed to meet the particular need of the company are in this cases taken into consideration. However, it is quite expensive for the company to work with consultants compared to employing a specialist, but most effective as individuals with special knowledge and skills can do better diagnosis and maintenance of IT infrastructure, devices and protocols than a hired IT specialist.

Conclusion and Recommendation

A growing company such as Handmade Furniture Limited Company is supposed to make sure that all its functions remain operational for its sustenance. Therefore, in a quest to employ contemporary technological advancement, network management and security plan measures need to be employed. The reasons behind it are to control cost, increase efficiency and flexibility capable of adapting to changing business and IT environments. Some vital features of network management plan include fault, accounting and se3curity management for effective implementation and operation of the IT infrastructure, devices and protocols for Handmade Furniture Limited Company. Needless to say, the organization can rely on IT consultants or hire IT experts to support its IT. These two options have the capacity to identify, fix and update all features entailed in the IT framework but the underlying issues is consultancy is expensive while employing an expert is cheap but blow quality work experienced. However, it can be recommended that the furniture company should also educate and impact the staff members on how to maintain and sustain the network systems consequently fostering the network management and security plan for the company.

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References

Bidwell, M. (2011). Paying More to Get Less: The Effects of External Hiring versus Internal Mobility. Administrative Science Quarterly, 56(3), pp.369-407.

DeVaro, J. (2016). Internal hiring or external recruitment?. IZA World of Labor.

Gang, C. (2010, November). Data center management plan in cloud computing environment. In 2010 3rd International Conference on Information Management, Innovation Management and Industrial Engineering (Vol. 4, pp. 393-396). IEEE.

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Geer Jr., D. (2015). Less Is More: Saving the Internet from Itself. IEEE Security & Privacy, 13(1), pp.80-80.

Hämäläinen, S., Sanneck, H., & Sartori, C. (Eds.). (2012). LTE self-organising networks (SON): network management automation for operational efficiency. John Wiley & Sons.

Hare, C. (2011). Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).

Kim, H., & Feamster, N. (2013). Improving network management with software defined networking. IEEE Communications Magazine, 51(2), 114-119.

McCabe, J. D. (2010). Network analysis, architecture, and design. Elsevier.

Ren, J., & Li, T. (2010). Network management. Handbook of Technology Management. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Subramanian, M. (2010). Network management: principles and practice. Pearson Education India.

Thorleuchter, D. and Van den Poel, D. (2012). Predicting e-commerce company success by mining the text of its publicly-accessible website. Expert Systems with Applications, 39(17), pp.13026-13034.

Wang, Y., Bi, J. and Zhang, K. (2015). Design and Implementation of a Software-Defined Mobility Architecture for IP Networks. Mobile Networks and Applications, 20(1), pp.40-52.