Let Me See My Network!

Empower the Biz. Owner to see his networks and monitor it himself.

The all-too-common scenario: You're at home with your family or innocently relaxing. Then, your Blackberry begins to chime. You pick up your little handheld and learn... your network is down or experiencing "technical difficulties." And, this is the night all the file transfers and data back-ups have been schedule, and on top of that, you were submitting your proposal to a huge potential client.
A patch of sweat wets your brow, your heart rate went from resting to around 190bpm, and your kids might have just learned a new four letter word. What is your next step?
You do not know where the trouble is in your network. Is it even my network or is my service provider experiencing problems? All the routers, cables, hubs, etc are a vast maze. You passed on paying out the yin yang for the third party network management who, whenever you spoke with them, sounded like jibberish.

Now, what is your service provider doing? Do they pro-actively monitor your network? So, they already know there is a problem? How about SLAs (service license agreements)? All this information is critical. Most likely if it is some basement bargain priced providers you are in a "predicament." Remember, most of the time and what I am a firm believer in, "you get what you pay for." What are your answers to these questions? If you have a blank mind, better get on this...

However, if you are one of the enlightened ones, you realize telecommunications is an investment for your business. No communications = Business/Customers can't contact you. So, providers that pro-actively monitor networks to the T are where you need to be with your business. For example, the company I work for proactively monitors all its networks. If there are problems you see our trucks EVERYWHERE. Also, most of the networks supplied to you come with network management tools. The user can pull up all the network's statistics. You can pin-point where the problem is. Meanwhile, Mr. Bargain Basement is sleeping, most likely not even aware of the problem with your network. Do you ever even see their technicians?

C'mon, telecommunications are only becoming more critical with our globalizing world.
So, let's be honest here. Being able to see your network at any time is greatly beneficial. You can ping your network. Pin-point when you're peaking with bandwidth or trying to zero-in on problems, you can have more answers than question marks. The smarter and more-respected service providers are providing these services to their clients. Is your provider?

Web states are you friend. Take advantage of them.

~The GURU