Getting a clear picture of your IT can help your business.
It’s easy to take your network for granted. You connect new computers, switches, servers and other devices to it, and expect it to work. A lot of the time, that’s exactly what happens – but not always. Sometimes, it has a hissy fit and refuses to play ball, resulting in slow speeds, unreliable performance or even complete loss of connectivity. This is when a managed network service can be a godsend.
TMB is set to launch such a service in the coming months, and when we do, our customers will benefit from:
- A complete topology of their network, delivered in minutes.
- Regular reporting of network health and performance.
- Details about all the hardware connected to your network, including IP addresses, manufacturer names and so on.
- Analysis according to best practice advice.
- Remote monitoring for fast resolution of problems.
Why would managed network monitoring be of use to your business, though? What problems does it actually answer?
Bringing Shadow Devices Into The Light
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking your network only consists of your laptops, workstations, servers, routers and switches. You also need to account for mobile phones, tablets, IoT (Internet of Things) devices, network attached storage drives and even printers. In many cases, you may not even know these things are on your network, in which case they’re what’s known as ‘shadow IT’ – systems that are unknown or forgotten about but which are connected to your network.
With TMB’s upcoming managed network service, we’ll be able to tell you exactly what’s connected to your network and what it’s been up to. If, for instance, there’s an old router connected in an empty office and it’s running old, unpatched firmware, we’ll be able to see that immediately and flag it up.
Performance Analysis
Old or poorly configured hardware can cause a bottleneck effect on your network, slowing traffic down to a crawl. Managed network monitoring means TMB can see your whole network in real time, and that enables us to determine where it’s running slowly and what might be causing the problem.
Help Whenever You Need It
Why wait for an IT engineer to reach your business and fix your network if you don’t have to? Our managed network service will offer remote monitoring, so we’ll be able to diagnose and, in many cases, fix network issues without making an on-site visit. Not only is this faster and more convenient for customers, it will also save them the cost of call-out fees, while enabling us to help more of our customers at once.
Plan For The Future
When you’re planning your future IT investments, the more information you have, the better. Instead of traipsing around your office, looking under desks and searching in cupboards to get a complete picture of what needs replacing, you can simply refer to your network report from TMB and get on with it. Not only will this help you decide what you need to buy; it will also give you an idea of what you don’t need to replace: if there’s a device connected to your network that’s barely being used, you can locate it and put it to better use.
Safety First
As well as showing you if there are unsecure devices on your network, managed network monitoring can alert you to suspicious activity too. Whether it comes from an external or internal threat, you can quickly identify unusual or dangerous behaviour on your network and put a stop to it.
Next Steps
We’re still dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s, but our managed network service is close to release. In the meantime, you can register your interest by emailing info@tmb.co.uk or by calling 0333 900 9050. Existing TMB customers can speak to their account manager as normal.