Network monitoring is an essential part of day-to-day IT administration. However, monitoring is not designed to catch every issue and vulnerability. Problems often remain undetected until a service disruption or cyberattack causes costly downtime.
To prevent these problems, organizations need to go deeper with a thorough network assessment. The assessment process is designed to uncover security vulnerabilities, outdated firmware and software, misconfigurations, performance bottlenecks and other issues that could impact the network. It should be customized based on the network infrastructure and the organization’s business and operational requirements.
What’s more, a network assessment should not be a one-time event but an ongoing process that provides an up-to-the-minute view of the network’s overall health. In the past, that was all but impossible due to the time and cost involved. Now, however, automated tools enable continuous network assessments with virtually unlimited scope.
The Problem with Traditional Network Assessments
Traditional network assessments are labor-intensive, requiring several engineers working over weeks or months to document every component within the infrastructure and its settings and configurations. Once the inventory is complete, the engineers analyze each component and the overall infrastructure to identify potential issues. The engineers also perform detailed vulnerability scans and set up SNMP monitoring across the environment.
Assessments should be repeated regularly as networks evolve through organic growth, mergers and acquisitions, and changes in technology. IT teams need an accurate picture of the entire network structure to effectively perform administration and management tasks. Assessments should also be performed after an outage or cyberattack to identify the root cause of the problem.
Typically, however, network assessments are only completed every few years to meet audit or compliance requirements. Often, organizations limit the scope of such assessments to make them more practical and affordable. Engineers may only complete an inventory of devices and their hardware-centric connectivity. In many cases, only a small sample of devices are included in the assessment.
Automation Changes the Game
Automation now makes continuous network assessment possible. Automated tools can create a “digital twin” of the network infrastructure that’s updated in real time. Monitoring tools assess the entire network as often as needed to provide a comprehensive view of overall network health. Network behavior is assessed against the functionality needed to support specific IT services and business requirements.
Assessments can be started manually or triggered by events to provide rapid insight into issues as they occur. Automated diagnostics along with dashboards and visualizations enable IT teams to resolve problems more efficiently. When assessments are performed continuously, they can identify minor problems before they become full-blown issues.
Automated tools often come with a library of prebuilt assessments so that organizations can see value quickly. However, IT teams should customize the assessment process so that they gain the insight needed to make data-driven decisions about the network.
The Value of Continuous Network Assessments
Automation transforms network assessments from an occasional box-checking exercise to a valuable tool for network management and troubleshooting. IT teams always have an up-to-date map of network topology and can dig into indicators of network performance, security and health.
Continuous network assessments can provide insight into a range of issues, including:
- Is the network meeting service delivery requirements?
- Does the network have adequate capacity to support mission-critical applications?
- Are there any vulnerabilities that could be exploited by an attacker?
- Are there any deviations from known good configurations?
- Is any network hardware nearing end-of-support or end-of-life?
Although automation is powerful, IT teams may not have the expertise to set up automated tools and determine which metrics they should be gathering. Technologent is here to help. Our Secure Connectivity Practice provides a comprehensive suite of assessment services to ensure that your network provides a robust and reliable foundation for your connectivity needs. If you would like to learn more about continuous assessment or have our team complete a one-time assessment, contact us for a no-obligation consultation.
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