Automation entered our lives with the entry of Information Technology. The ambit of automation was not enclosed to a single entity or realm but encompassed realms outside the immediate vicinity of the base or formulating entity. Networks came to be in this manner. With distanced and disparate networks all in the hierarchy of one single project, managing the network became essential. With cost factor being a key factor for any process worth its mention a Cost-effective Network Management System was the demand for the day.
Individual objects make up the network in totality. These objects are both hardware and software components. It needs practical experience to be able to appreciate the large number of objects and their variety that form a network. Uncanny problems are faced by the Network administrator in his day to day work that makes his job extremely demanding.
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.
The task of the network manager becomes even more difficult due to the fact that the network map is never the same even on successive days at some instance. This occurs as every business house has to continuously adapt to the changes in the market and thereby effect changes in the procedures that he conducts his business. Given this scenario, there is need for such a tool that provides a continuous updated view of the complete network components to the network manager as also allow the network manager to manage the components from a remote location. 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.
Cost saving factor of such software requires no amplification. Rather than having individual network manager at each individual physical location trying to talk with each other, one network manager sitting remotely is able to monitor and provide solutions to the individual network system.
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. However there are various other factors and features that each individual company would indicate in their product manifesto. Features like ease of deploying the MSP software itself across the entire network. The demand for system resources that the software be inherent with.
Cost-effective Network management is the key in today's 'e' prefixed business and market which has the factor of profit as one of its prime consideration. The role of Managed Service Provider in bringing down expenditure for managing the networks and its components has been prominent with time and therefore proven to be the most cost-effective tool to manage networks of a business house.