Ensure your network is configured and compliant using IBM Netcool configuration capabilities

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A critical part of any decent IT operations function is that the network is configured properly. A poorly configured network is a poorly performing network. Not to mention the security weaknesses and uncertainty inherent in neglecting network configuration. If the business is financial services, then compliance with the security standards required to protect important privacy considerations will be a major goal for IT operations.

Operational costs are also a consideration; there cannot be a costly overhead associated with achieving this level of network configuration standardisation and compliance; in other words, network configuration needs to be automated. This also removes the network hacker; no, I don’t mean an external intruder, I mean the official guy in network operations who loves to fix network configuration issues on the fly; you know who you are!

A large North American bank had all of these network related headaches to give many sleepless nights to the head of IT operations. The IT operations department turned to the IBM Netcool solution for IT Operations to address these business problems. Netcool Configuration Manager is now deployed at this financial services company to provide standardized and automated configuration and compliance management for the network. The level of trust required to hand over the network service configuration to a 3^rd party should not be underestimated. Configuration Manager is unique in IT and network operations with its write access to devices. This trust has been repaid in full with the IBM Netcool solution. Note that the Netcool solution has also enabled to fulfill its regulatory obligations for network compliance auditors.

The IBM Netcool Configuration Manager is also the primary discovery tool for the network by generating a device seed file for the related Network Manager discovery. Configuration Manager is also used to manage parameterized command sets, which are utilized to make controlled configuration changes across the network. As mentioned, Configuration Manager is used for compliance policy management, including on-site policy development to maintain network integrity. The all important role of network configuration and policy changes are configured through the core product or through a custom GUI page.

As the solution is multi-vendor, it is able to manage all of the devices for all of the devices (Cisco and Juniper mainly) and does so for all of the devices distributed across North American branches of the business.

Please visit the following site for more information on Netcool network management and specifically for the Netcool Configuration Manager solution:

http://www-03.ibm.com/software/products/en/tivonetcconfmana

Tom Randles
Product Manager
IT Service Management - Netcool Network Management
http://www.twitter.com/RandlesTom

IBM Service Engage - IT Operations Management

https://www.ibmserviceengage.com/it-operations-management/articles/whats-new-in-netcool