What Are Network Monitoring and Management Services?

Network management is an encompassing term that refers to the monitoring, maintenance, and management of your company’s IT network.

This is done using a variety of software, solutions, and tools to ensure a smooth-running network with little downtime and high-functioning devices.

Businesses now more than ever rely on their networks and technology to operate and find themselves using more tech solutions each year.

Modern businesses cannot function without proper IT capabilities anymore. The risks and costs of downtime are too high and there’s too much to manage for businesses whose tech stacks continue to grow every day.

What are the Key Components of Network Monitoring and Management?

Network monitoring and management is made up of a few different core components that all combine to make up a holistic approach to network monitoring and management. Here are a few of the core elements:

Network Administration

Network administration is the operational aspect of the network that is focused on making sure everything is running smoothly for users.

Network administrators are typically those responsible for network management as a whole. They control devices and how they interact and configure a company’s local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN) to ensure everything can communicate efficiently and without interference.

Network Maintenance

Maintaining a network involves monitoring and troubleshooting IT issues so that users can access what they need and work uninterrupted by technological hiccups.

This usually involves configuring hardware and software, relieving bottlenecks in performance by analyzing traffic, lag, delays, and bandwidth usage; and scheduling routine maintenance, patches, and updates to keep everything working efficiently.

IT experts will also maintain your network by ensuring your systems are correctly scaled to handle the scope of your operations and make sure you always have what you need to succeed.

This kind of work is typically conducted by an IT team, as opposed to a network security team.

Provisioning

In network security management, provisioning means getting devices with the correct security software set up and ready for use. In practice, this means ensuring devices are:

• Equipped with the correct apps and software determined by the security team that are need to do their jobs • Fully updated with the latest versions of important software to keep up to date—this is especially important in heading off potential zero-day attacks • Up-to-date on security protocols that meet the company’s policies by updating software and managing passwords and access

Parts of provisioning can be automated by network administrators to set up workflows that push updates to new and existing devices. This saves a lot of time for the IT team, especially if your company uses a lot of devices.

Network Security

A crucial part of network management is ensuring your network is secure to protect your business, employees, and customers.

Security management—often conducted through remote monitoring and management (RMM) solutions—allows administrators to manage security protocols for a network from one location, even if parts of your workforce are remote or at a different office location.

Today, having and enforcing an established security policy is an absolute must for businesses to protect information and mitigate threats.

Network Monitoring and Management Services

Managing a network can be a big lift, especially if you’re leaving it up to just a few members of your team who don’t have the time or training to handle all of these important tasks.

Instead, many businesses choose to work with a managed security service provider (MSSP) who can provide access to all of the tools, software, and training needed to maintain a network.

This includes all of the people that make up the entire team of experts that’s needed to properly manage a network and ensure it's secure, updated, and efficient, made up of:

• Cybersecurity Analysts (CSA): Analysts who execute assessment tasks, curate and analyze data, perform daily monitoring, and deploy solutions.
• Cybersecurity Engineers (CSE): Those responsible for assessing and implementing the final cybersecurity solutions.
• Cybersecurity Developers (CSD): A team that develops and maintains custom IT and security solutions and tools.
• Compliance Managers: Experts in compliance regulations that help you define what’s needed to achieve and maintain regulatory compliance in your industry that pertains to you.

The Growth of MSSPs as Network Security Managers

The global MSSP services market is projected to hit $44 billion by 2026, a large increase that's largely because businesses are realizing how important it is to have comprehensive network monitoring.

One of the biggest reasons for growth in this area is the rising need for compliance to meet government regulations, especially in industries that might regularly handle sensitive information or work alongside the government like healthcare, finance, e-commerce, manufacturing, and more.

Compliance presents a difficult task for SMBs who might find it difficult to find employees who have the expertise required to understand compliance standards and the knowhow to execute strategies to meet them.

Partnering with an MSSP like DOT Security is a convenient option for SMBs and other businesses who don’t have budget, people, or expertise to perform these tasks.

Should You Evaluate Your Network Management Capabilities?

If you’re not sure about the quality of your network management capabilities or don’t know where to begin, you’re not alone.

With the 2020 pandemic, a lot has changed very quickly for many businesses, especially when it comes to operating and maintaining their networks that play such a central role in their day-to-day operations.

Whether it’s eliminating downtime, decreasing slowdowns, securing devices and data, or simply monitoring your network closely, implementing proper network management is crucial to modern business.

We recommend that businesses get an expert-led assessment of their IT and security capabilities to get professional help managing their network, discovering vulnerabilities, and understanding potential strategies and implementing them successfully.

To learn more about network management and security, contact DOT Security today to speak with an expert about how network management and cybersecurity can help your business.