Tag Archives: IT Asset Monitoring

IT Management, IT Security, Office Management

How important is to know the network inventory?

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What is ‘Network Inventory’?
An IT network consists of various types of hardware (client PCs, servers, printers, and other peripherals) and software as well as the users. The hardware and software are commonly referred to as Network Assets, which constitute the entire network inventory.

At the simplest level, network inventory is a basic list of devices connected within the network. However, at a more advanced level, it can evolve to contain detailed information about software installed, hotfixes applied, services, and much more.

How important is to know your Network Assets?
Managing the IT infrastructure of an organization is undoubtedly a challenging task. The assets in the network get deployed, updated, removed fairly frequently, and often without any set pattern, to support the operational needs of the organization and the overall computing environment (security issues, virus / hacker threats, product updates and enhancements etc.). Keeping track of the users and their access privileges is an integral part of IT management. One of the biggest challenges to managing the network is the lack of comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the network, which are essential for decision-making and planning about the growth and improvement of IT infrastructure.
If you are a network administrator, you have to face these common questions:
  • How many computers (client PCs and servers) are in the network (domain or workgroup)?
  • Which of these computers are active vs. inactive, have been added / modified?
  • What hardware components (CPU, RAM, motherboard, hard discs and partitions, network card / chip, video and audio card / chip etc.) are in those client PCs and servers?
  • What Operating System (Windows) version is running on each PC and server?
  • What Service Packs for the OS have been installed on each PC and server?
  • What software applications (including version, manufacturer etc.) are running on each PC and server?
  • What all services are running on each PC and server?
And many more like these. Without these details you will never know the actual state of your network. Proper network asset management is impossible without the knowledge of the network assets.
What exactly is “IT Network Asset Management”?

IT Network Asset Management (also called IT Inventory Management) is an important part of an organization’s business strategy. It involves collecting detailed hardware and software inventory information, which are used to make decisions about purchase as well as redistribution of hardware and software over time.

IT asset management helps an IT organization manage its systems more effectively, and saves time and money by avoiding unnecessary asset purchase and/or disposing off existing resources.

How do organizations manage their network assets? Is it sufficient for them?
It’s quite common for System Managers / Admins to manually monitor the entire network, at times with dedicated personnel. That’s a challenging task, which is repetitive, error-prone, time consuming, and to a high degree wasteful of qualified systems professionals. A tool that automatically monitors the network for such information and presents a consolidated view helps with the latest status as well as not take up important human resources for such tasks.

SysExpertez: A solution for network asset tracking, monitoring, and management
SARANGSoft SysExpertez is a comprehensive asset, domain, and operations management application with a number of exciting features that help manage IT assets, Active Directory domains, and operations in the network. It automates and simplifies the repetitive tasks and quickly provides accurate results through an easy-to-use interface.

It’s like a set of CCTVs within your network, so that you as the System Manager / Admin can get a full view through the “Admin Console”, as if sitting in a “Control Room”. The powerful Admin Console is super-easy to use with a simple menu-driven UI that also looks and feels great.