Introduction To Network Assessment
Feeling sleepy because your operating system is taking forever to load? Is your IT department getting a lot of complaints lately? It’s time to conduct a network assessment. There are a lot of network assessment benefits you can get from doing this.
Doing a network assessment gives you an overview of a network’s current condition. It checks which components of a network that needs immediate attention and action. It checks for obsolete hardware equipment. It also checks for outdated software.
Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of a network is important. It is one of the many network assessment benefits you can get. This is the first step in determining a network’s current state. You can think of this as a mapping stage. You are marking components for evaluation.
You will know the best network assessment benefits in the next section. You will later know which network assessment software best fits your business needs.
The Best Network Assessment Benefits To Look For
Conducting a network assessment is beneficial to every business or organization. It gives you a picture of the current status of a network. Here are some of the best network assessment benefits you can get:
| Network assessment benefits | Description | Vendor Support | ITarian |
|---|---|---|---|
| It determines the capacities and limitations of a network. | A network assessment finds the obstacles in a network. It sees the programs consuming a lot of resources. It detects network devices that cause congestion. | This is one of the common network assessment benefits that each vendor offers. | ITarian expands the scope of a network assessment. It provides support to endpoint devices. This feature or benefit is not visible on other product offerings. |
| Doing a network assessment reveals obsolete hardware equipment. |
This process helps IT people in discovering workstations and servers that are too old. This means that these machines are not performing at their best anymore. The wear and tear of computing devices are fast. New models outperform the old ones. New models are being released on a monthly basis. Firmware is also outdated. Firmware refers to the built-in software inside a computing chip. This needs updating as well. Old computing machines or devices slow down network performance. These devices also have vulnerabilities that need patching. Some vendors don’t offer support anymore for their old products. |
This is one of the standard network assessment benefits that all vendors provide. | ITarian’s network assessment tool goes further by doing an in-depth scan. It locates hardware and software components that need updating. |
| Administering a network assessment sets a performance benchmark. | People rely on statistical data for comparisons. A network running at its best performance sets the baseline. A network is not performing well if the benchmark is not met. | This is one of the major network assessment benefits you can get. All vendors offer this. |
ITarian offers a lot of network assessment reports:
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| Doing a network assessment helps in meeting business goals and requirements. | Are the current network infrastructure and performance meeting the business requirements? The results of a network assessment will point to this conclusion. | This is one of the important network assessment benefits. |
ITarian’s network assessment tool utilizes an IT SWOT analysis approach. It is possible using IT checklists, site interview guidelines, and network surveys. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. |
| Conducting a network assessment helps in creating remediations. | Your network assessment tool should recommend solutions after determining the network vulnerabilities. | This is one of the network assessment benefits that not all vendors support. Most of their products offer only vulnerability scanning without any remediation or recommendation. | ITarian’s network assessment tool automates the preparation of detailed risk reports. This also comes with a risk mitigation plan addressing each network issue. |
| A company benefits from a network assessment through proper documentation. | Documenting the network assessment results is necessary. It serves as a future reference. | This is one of the essential network assessment benefits. | ITarian’s network assessment tool creates a list of its findings. It highlights critical issues and recommends probable solutions. |
You now know some of the best network assessment benefits to look for. Choose the right software vendor that will help you meet the needs of your business.
ConclusionYou understand what a network assessment is all about. You also learned the best network assessment benefits that you can get. Finding the right software vendor is up to you. Focus on hardening your network security as well. For more information on network assessment, please click here.
