Network Documentation - the How to Made Simple Cover Art

The practical, easy way to document your network. This guide delivers an easy, professional way to document your computer network. Within this book you will learn how to quickly and effectively document the critical parts of your Computer network. You will get fast, accurate information about your network that is critical to solving problems. Information that can help you manage your network better whether proactively before you have issues or when you need it the most… at 2am when a server has crashed or you have lost internet connectivity. Building your network documentation has never been easier with this proven process contained within these pages. You’ll build you network documentation like a pro.

Dallas, Texas – 4/4/12 – Kurtis Kent, CEO of ManageWatch, has released a new book, allowing those who read it a much better understanding of their own computer network. The book captures critical information about documenting your network, and puts it all together in an easy to read and understand way.

Author Interview

Network Documentation – the How to Made Simple FAQ

Q: Why did you write the book?

A: Great question I think, during the 1990s I managed service teams and trained technical staff across the country. As a seasoned Network engineer, business owner, and consultant I understand the importance of good network documentation and have often found that most companies don’t have it, and quite a few engineers are not sure where to start to build it. Although everybody loves to use it <network documentation> when there are issues.  I frequently get asked about how to go about documenting a network and after having seen many examples and books on how to do documentation that were not that detailed and thorough or swung the other way to where you had to have a masters degree to read it. I set out to write a book that was easy to understand for both the small business owner as well as the seasoned network engineer.

I really believe that my background is fundamental to the success of this book and my other books. I worked in the field as a network engineer and consultant and later managed engineers. So I have been exposed to good documentation as well as not so good documentation. I have spent years developing the process on how to develop quality documentation simply with little fuss that collects the fundamental information about a network.

Q: What is the main message to your book?

A: that Great documentation is not that hard to develop, if you understand what you really need. It is easy to create thousands of pages of documentation on a really small network, but the information that is really needed and used on a daily basis to describe the operations of your network that can be handed to another technical professional is critical to supporting the network and not as hard as I hear it made out to be.  With the techniques and process that I teach in this book, the typical SMB owner that has a network and supports it with very little skilled expertise in house can create the necessary documentation of his<her> network. Often I hear that a business owner is being held hostage by their IT staff or consultant. Can you imagine what would happen if the IT consultant/engineer won the lottery and took off to parts unknown?  And all of your IT support knowledge of your environment with them!

Wow….. Just thinking of that sets me on edge. So the main message I guess is to stress the importance of documenting the network and to take the mystery out of how to do it.  It’s a process that I’ve refined down to make it simple and easy to create that oh so necessary documentation that many people are afraid to start because they do not know how to determine where to start, or what data is important or not important. I’ve made it easy to understand for the novice technical savvy person as well as useful for a seasoned senior engineer. For those small to medium business owners that are being held hostage out there, use this book as leverage to end the tyranny of that IT consultant.

Q: Did you learn anything from writing your book?  What was it?

A: Did I learn anything from writing this book…. Now that’s a deep question. This was more or less a refinement of the process and templates rather than a totally new endeavor. That is, I did not do a “brain dump” and package it. There was quite a bit of analysis on what data to collect, what data is really no longer needed as well as updating how to collect it <the data about the network>. My process on how to document a network is always in a state of constant development.

I did spend quite a bit of time editing and updating my automation tools that I developed for network documentation.  I have written numerous scripts and applications that assist me in various capacities. So learning is something that is constantly going on. If I am not learning something new daily, then I hope my funeral was a big success.

Q: What book(s) / author(s) have influenced your life and writing?

A:That is windy road so to speak…..I would have to say that there are many that have been influential towards different aspects of my life at various times. When I was younger, I got started in technology and computers from reading sci-fi, authors like Piers Anthony, <Robert A.> Heinlen, Asimov, Brian Daley, were authors that could take a complex idea or vision, and create a vivid picture that would enmesh you within their vision. These are authors that I could re-read their books numerous times (and have). Their style made it seem so simple and easy, and whether young or old, it resonated with many age groups. My children read some of the same books that I read at their age by these authors, and we both get the same vision, or sense, of what the author is conveying. That ability to break it down to where a fourth grader can understand it is what I have strived for in all of my writings. I would say that there are very few items that were not written with this general principal in mind.

Another very influential author is Dale Carnegie. His book How to win Friends and influence people has been very instrumental to me.  It is a book I try to read at least once a year. My father gave me my first copy when I was around 10 or 11 years old, and it just stuck with me I guess.  One of the biggest lessons learned is how to listen and understand people. So when I communicate or write, I am always looking for that feedback to make my communication better and that much more in tune to what is expected or needed at the time.  I think that is one of the reasons that people seem to rave about my works…. Whether they are a technical person or not, everybody seems to “get” the correct gist of what I am writing in a way that makes sense to them.

Q: Where can the book be purchased?

A: The book may be purchased through the publishing web site as well as online via Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0983277508

About the Author

Kurtis G. Kent is a seasoned Technology leader and business Consultant. He holds many certifications and is the “Go-To” guy when his clients and engineers are looking to solve a problem. He is currently the CEO of ManageWatch where his innovative process and procedures drives the success of its managed Services delivery by providing real metrisc that are managed daily.

ManageWatch is pleased to announce the launch of its brand new website at www.managewatch.com. The network management, cloud computing and network engineering provider unveiled its new site on Monday, February 20, 2012. Designed by Insite of Dallas, a digital agency that provides design and development services for technology platforms including web, mobile and digital signs, the streamlined, polished look of the re-designed site match the cutting-edge mentality held at ManageWatch.

ManageWatch’s new website focused on simplicity and functionality, so that the user would be able to navigate through services and content. The design is sleek, elegant and interactive. ManageWatch hopes that with this update they can improve the service and information given to their clients and potential customers seeking real data and information about their own business.  All website visitors are welcomed to get a Free Quote by tailoring it their company’s specific needs. They are also invited to complete a Free ROI Assessment using their company’s own data, that contains graphs, charts, and extremely well written information regarding where their company falls in the industry. A real-time ROI tailored to a customer’s needs. ManageWatch can then utilize this data gathered to better asses what the potential client really needs to take their business to the next level.

The new site provides a foundation for current and potential consumers alike to achieve what ManageWatch strives to provide: A Better Way to Run a Better Business.

For instance what are you doing with those resources you utilized prior to outsourcing?

Not only can IT outsourcing save you money but it can also allow you to get additional task and objectives completed by redirecting previously tied up resources to complete special projects or goals.

In some instances resources remain in place after outsourcing and you want to take full advantage of them.  The key is to capture those resources and redirect them in a manner that will pay the greatest additional dividends such as, executive reporting, special task, or dbase or web development projects.

Outsourcing is a good business decision, but don’t fail to recognize and direct now free resources to specific goals or task; these projects, when complete, may just be the cherry on the outsourcing cake.

The new office is located adjacent to Texas Instruments at the intersection of 75 and Greenville Avenue. The new space increases ManageWatch’s ability to provide more network management and cloud services and is also 150% larger than the previous office location.

ManageWatch celebrates Open House October 6th 2011.

ManageWatch celebrated it’s new office open house with vendors, partners, and friends. The event was widely attended. Click here to view the rest of the Open House Gallery.

Managewatch FC

ManageWatch Football Club completes another successfull fall season. Stay tuned for spring 2012 soccer results!

Employee Activities

East Texas Harley Ride Fall 2011. Just East Texas to Brownwood.

Texas Big Bend Harley Ride Fall 2010. Great ride, wonderful open roads, beautiful landscape. Great group.

Faced with this challenge, many small business owners are forced to make difficult decisions as to where they can afford to spend money to improve their business. One of the areas in which business owners are on the fence is whether or not hiring a managed services provider is something they can afford. In some cases the cost is not worth the benefits, however there are many situations where cutting costs will end up costing you more money in the long run. Here are a few reasons why managed service providers may be more affordable than the alternative.

Technology- In order to be competitive in this day, small businesses must remain up-to-speed with current technology. The amount of money invested in this area can be quite large, making it necessary to ensure you have someone in your corner who can help manage and support the technology used in your business. While the average person is becoming increasingly well versed in the use of basic technology, there remains a need for experts in the industry to ensure your business can stay up and running on a daily basis as well as in the event of a natural or man made emergency.

Internal IT- Larger corporations have the budget necessary to support an internal IT department that provides expertise and support of the technology used by the company. Small businesses do not have the same resources and often find themselves either without backup or paying a high price when they have to bring in an outside expert.

Services provided by MSP’s- When a small business enlists the help of a managed service provider, they will agree to a contract which covers specific services at a specific price. This allows the the small business owner to see upfront what they are paying for and how it will work in the budget. Some of the services provided by msp’s include; computer and server support, data backup and disaster recovery, network security, custom software solutions, remote network monitoring and technology evaluation and planning. Depending on the business these services can be customized to meet the specific needs of the client, making it possible to reduce costs in certain areas.

There are many reasons why a small business owner might feel managed services providers are not something they can afford. Unfortunately the services provided are often not realized until there is an emergency, where small business owners quickly discover the amount of money spent to “fix” a problem or recover from a disaster is much more expensive than planning for it in the first place. In this case it is not a matter of if you can afford manages services, rather if you an afford NOT to have them.

ManageWatch’s DataVault is true multi-destination, multi-schedule data backups for servers, PC’s, laptops and mobile devices that can be customized to meet your needs.  DataVault is software as a service billed with a low monthly subscription.  A basic annual subscription costs less than most stand-alone backup software packages — let alone a tape-drive or external hard-drive.

If you still think natural disasters are the leading causes of data loss – and that the chances of it happening to you are pretty slim, take a look at the results from a study by Strategic Research Corporation of the leading causes of business continuity and disaster recovery incidents:

• Hardware Failures (servers, switches, disk drives, etc) – 44%.
• Human Error (mistakes in configurations, wrong commands issued, etc) 32%
• Software Errors (operating systems, driver incompatibility, etc)14%
• Viruses and Security Breach (unprotected systems are always at risk) 7%
• Natural Disasters 3%

Establishing a disaster recovery plan can be done in the following four steps:

1) Take a potential risk inventory. Make a list of every potential cause of data loss and the solutions to each. Your list should include losses that won’t affect the business very much, and those that would shut the business down temporarily or permanently. Information Technology experts can assist you with creating the potential risk inventory – as they will have the knowledge and experience to identify possibilities that you are not likely to think of but need to plan for all the same. These IT experts will also be able discuss preventative solutions to guard against each type of potential data loss.

2) Rate each of your potential data loss situations. How likely is it for each of the items on your risk inventory to occur? Rating them in order of importance and likeliness to occur will help you determine where to focus your disaster recovery plan efforts.

3) Develop your disaster recovery plan. Go through each of your potential risks and their solutions, and determine how long it would take you to recover from the loss of data for each risk. Could your business be offline for 24 hours? A week? Depending on the nature of your business, being offline for even just 24 hours could result in your losing customers to your competition. Look at ways to reduce the length of time it would take you to recover from each type of data loss risk.

4) Put your disaster recovery plan to the test. Once you’ve created your plan of action for recovering lost data, you should test your solutions. A disaster recovery plan is just a plan until it can be tested and proven.

Also, use our ROI calculator and get a FREE QUOTE to find out how much you can save by using ManageWatch for IT Outsourcing.

ManageWatch can help you with your most important business information. Server backup and recovery services are featured on the ManageWatch site.

Many companies find that keeping their own network running and up-to-date is expensive. In this economy, most companies are looking for ways to cut expenses in order to survive. There are many online data storage companies currently available, so if your business is looking for an online storage company, here are some questions that you need to ask:

What Features Does This Service Offer?

Look at what features the company offers in its basic package. Most online services offer online file storage, backup services, remote access that allows you to access your data from anywhere in the world, the ability to file share with other employees in your office, and the ability to upload and download files.

How Secure is This Service?

Does the service offer any type of security? Businesses will want a service that offers file encryption, authentication, and password protection in order to keep your information secure. You may also want to know if they offer any type of tracking in the event of a security breach, as well as the ability to lock out former employees after they have left or been terminated. Also, businesses should inquire as to what type of backup plan the service offers in case of any unforeseen disasters such as a virus attack or fire.

Is the Service User-Friendly?

The service should be easy to learn and use, easy to access for the average employee, and not require a computer science degree. If the service is too difficult or complicated to use, look for another service.

How Much Does This Service Cost?

Is the service reasonably priced and does it fit into your company’s budget? Find out how much storage you get for the price.

Does the Service Offer Technical Support?

Even with the easiest to use service, you may one day have a question or a problem that you may not be able to resolve on your own. Does the service offer a customer service hotline, or chat support? Is it available 24/7, if needed?

Use our ROI CALCULATOR or get a FREE QUOTE to find out how much you can save by using ManageWatch for IT OUTSOURCING.

Additionally, it is important to look for a well-established online storage service that has a stellar reputation. Online storage has many benefits for your company. A good service can be cost effective, offer better security, up-to-date software, and unlimited storage space.

• Security-  The managed services provider that you choose should work with vendors that guarantee security.  This is imperative when trusting an outside party to handle and maintain private and confidential data that is crucial to the running of your business.  Service providers should provide detailed proof of security procedures as well as how they intend to keep abreast of changes in the industry.
• Recovery-  Managed services providers are not only contracted to help keep the day-to-day running of your business going smoothly.  They are also an important part of any recovery situation that follows a natural or man made disaster.  It is important to discuss with potential providers what procedures they have in place to guarantee your downtown will be minimal and that you will be up and running as soon as possible after an emergency.  These precious minutes and hours can make or break the recovery of your business.
• Customer Service-  As with any other business, if there is no customer support backing up the products or services, there isn’t much of a commitment from the provider.

Why are these three things important?  To understand you must consider the managed services model.  Managed services providers are hired by a company to provide any or all of the following services:

• website hosting
• network monitoring
• network security
• remote data backup
• recovery services

Originally these services were provided to large corporations while small to medium size companies struggled to maintain an IT budget that was often more expensive then beneficial.  Managed services providers charge a flat, or monthly fee, making it possible for smaller businesses to reap the benefits offered at a much lower price than in-house IT staff or outsourcing on an as needed basis.

The managed services platform continues to grow as many businesses look for ways to reduce costs in this tough economy.  By offering technological services that might otherwise be beyond the reach of a small business budget, managed services make it possible for smaller businesses to remain competitive with others in their industry.  Small business owners must take the time to carefully review and research each provider before signing on the bottom line.  A good managed services provider can change the way you do business- in a positive direction, whereas the wrong choice could be a costly mistake that does more harm than good to your business.

IT Services

Every dollar a small business spends needs to have an immediate and quantifiable return. This is especially true for critical services such as I.T. support. If you are one of the millions of small businesses that depend upon your technology to keep your business running, proactive Managed Services will save you money, improve your efficiencies and reduce your downtime.

The Solution

With the advent of new monitoring tools and the ability to remotely deliver help desk services to small businesses all over the world, Managed I.T. Service Providers have developed proactive maintenance plans for their clients that maximize their uptime and reduce I.T. costs over time. By implementing newly available automated processes, systems can be patched and updated overnight without the need for onsite visits, or disrupting an organization’s work day.

In addition, remote help desk tools and technology allow Managed I.T. Service Providers the ability to react immediately and assist users when they experience day-to-day problems, without forcing them to wait for an on-site service call.

Forward-thinking Managed I.T. Service Providers are also implementing proactive remote Network Monitoring tools and services, which evaluate the performance of systems 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and alert these Service Providers of potential issues before they become work-stopping problems for their clients.

The Details

Implementing and receiving the benefit of these solutions is painless for the Small Business Owner, as Managed I.T. Service Providers can begin delivering these cost-saving and efficiency-improving services soon after deploying specialized software agents on all managed equipment. These agents report device health, service pack and operating system, anti-virus and anti-spyware update information back to the Managed I.T. Service Provider’s monitoring systems, allowing real-time analysis and proactive management to occur.

Specialized software applications installed at the Managed I.T. Service Provider’s location also track all problems reported by their monitoring systems and end-users, and are used to document all steps initiated for resolution. These applications provide a ready knowledge-base of information which grows over time, allowing swift resolution for issues that have been previously documented.

The Benefits

Benefits from Managed I.T. Services enjoyed by Small Business Owners are many, and include increased operational efficiency, the ability to reduce and control their operating costs and gain access to Enterprise-level support. In addition, these Small Business Owners are now able to focus on running their businesses, and not their networks, and receive the peace of mind that comes with the knowledge their networks are being monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

These goals are not easily achieved, particularly for young or small businesses with less financial resources and time available. Having your own successful information technology department can eat up too much of the company’s budget and time resources, and eventually cause a loss of its competitive edge. These disadvantages of maintaining an in-house IT department are why companies of all sizes have turned to using managed service providers to either assist their existing IT department or become their virtual IT department, handling all of the technology involved in keeping their businesses running at optimal levels.

The benefits of using a managed services solution are numerous, but the top 5 benefits of managed services for business include:

1. Benefit from the expertise of a specialist, without having to spend time and financial resources training your staff to become experts.
2. Decrease your technology risks. Your company doesn’t have to worry about losing and trying to replace trained staff members, or about repairing, implementing or replacing complex technology solutions.
3. Enjoy access to the most up-to-date, sophisticated technology solutions without having to invest in expensive equipment.
4. Experience ultimate control over your business technology without having to manage an information technology department. This gives you the time you need to focus on what you do best: your business functions.
5. Reduce stress and improve efficiency of your staff. When you make good use of managed service resources, your staff isn’t tied up with IT concerns and they have more time to focus on tasks that are productive for the business.