Do You Really Know Your Network?
Organizations are complex, and inherently so are their networks. As companies grow and scale, so does their unique network ecosystem, which is comprised of networks, storage hardware, server infrastructure and most importantly applications. This means networks are becoming bigger and more complex and therefore require further monitoring. These systems continuously communicate and depend not only each other but also an organization’s essential software to serve the applications. This raises a problem; is it possible for IT teams with limited resources and personnel to monitor companies’ massive networks?
It is helpful to imagine a network like a spider-web. When each strand is fully intact, the web serves its purpose; it is resilient, quick to repair, and it does so efficiently. However, as a spider web ages and changes over time, the individual connections and dependencies of those strands can weaken and break. As more and more of these strands wear and break over time, the whole web loses its cohesive structural integrity, and thus vulnerabilities emerge. For a spider this may mean no meals, but organizations who fail to understand network dependencies face far greater repercussions.
Application Dependency Mapping solves this problem. It is the process of visualizing a network’s distinct IT hardware components and how they relate to each other. This enables a massive network and every one of its connections to be coherently displayed and understood within a unified dashboard. Applications or software processes often rely on an ecosystem of hardware to function properly, including networks, storage hardware, and server infrastructure. By mapping out the interdependencies between hardware and applications in a network ecosystem, organizations can better understand how to respond to network changes to reduce MTTR and vulnerabilities.
As companies scale, the reliability and performance of applications becomes more important to users. Generally speaking, more users on a network means more potential performance issues; and in the case of an outage, more downtime. This problem can also be amplified by the unique dynamics of an organization.
However, Application Dependency Mapping still has its own issues that requires research before investing. IT team cuts, IT employee or hardware expansions, IT turnover, and company expansions are complex variables that make Application Dependency mapping a significant challenge. Human factors, such as insufficient documentation and employee turnover often mean that application mapping must be done manually. This is a time consuming and highly inefficient process. The ability to use a centralized mapping tool reclaims lost time, and minimizes further disruptions impact on users. Prophet offers advanced Application Dependency Mapping to solve this problem.
Key Benefits
In summary, Application Dependency Mapping is able to provide deep value in 6 ways:
Identify hardware and network issues before they arise
Locate potential bottlenecks in a network as it scales
Identify weak points in your organization
Identify how vulnerabilities relate to specific applications
Significantly reduce Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR)
Enable greater application efficiency & reduced downtime for employees
What does this mean for companies with large networks? Utilizing an Application Dependency Mapping tool like Prophet allows significant cost savings and increased ROI on IT maintenance time. If you could cut a log with an axe, why would you use a stone? Similar logic applies to Application Dependency when considering the manual alternative.
The best time to take steps to implement Application Dependency Mapping is before you have an outage. Contact us to learn how Prophet can drastically reduce your organization's MTTR and costs during an outage. Contact us to learn how Prophet’s Application Dependency Mapping tool can help your organization optimize you IT teams workflow.