Network Assessment

Streamline device inventory and network auditing

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Save time and effort with network assessment software

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SolarWinds^® Network Configuration Manager (NCM) is built to help you maintain an up-to-date network inventory. The platform can automatically discover and import devices, populating your network inventory report with important device details, including IP addresses, serial numbers, and end-of-support dates.

This level of automation can save you from spending hours manually compiling and updating device information during a network assessment. Similarly, Network Configuration Manager is designed to make auditing networks, detecting network security gaps, and scanning for policy violations easier.

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Centralize multi-vendor device data using a network assessment tool

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Whether you’re scanning devices for network vulnerabilities, identifying devices that have reached end-of-life status, or gathering device data, Network Configuration Manager is built to be a one-stop solution for multi-vendor device management.

NCM is a comprehensive network assessment tool designed to help IT administrators more effectively manage device data for routers, switches, and other network devices from Cisco, Juniper, HP, Dell, F5 Networks, Brocade, Aruba, Ruckus, and more. By storing details in a central location, NCM makes it easier for IT teams to create detailed device data inventory and vulnerability scanning reports.

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Simplify compliance demonstration with automated network assessment

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Network Configuration Manager can help you improve network security through proactive IOS device vulnerability scanning and automated compliance network assessments. Administrators can receive instant alerts if a known vulnerability is discovered during these assessments, allowing them to address the issue accordingly.

Network Configuration Manager also empowers administrators to create detailed reports for DISA STIG, NIST FISMA, and PCI DSS to help them identify possible security gaps in the network.

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Leverage network performance assessments to improve productivity

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IT administrators rely on a healthy, thriving IT infrastructure to keep employee productivity up and running. This is where Network Configuration Manager can help.

NCM is designed to facilitate network performance assessments by storing all critical device details—including end-of-life information and maintenance expiration dates—in one easy-to-access location. With their finger on the pulse of this critical device data, administrators can take proactive steps to avoid costly network downtime.

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Streamline the stages of network assessment to increase efficiency

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Network assessment tools are designed to help IT technicians gather a vast array of device data, analyze it, and compile it into a report for review much more quickly than they can through manual effort alone.

Network Configuration Manager can help streamline network assessment through advanced automation. SolarWinds NCM begins by identifying the devices on your network. Then, it imports, stores, and displays data via interactive dashboards. Periodic polls can also be conducted to keep device data up-to-date.

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Get More on Network Assessments

Do you find yourself asking…

What is a network assessment?
How can an assessment tool help secure a network?
Why is network assessment important?
How do I perform a network assessment?
How does network assessment work in SolarWinds NCM?

A network assessment is a detailed examination of your entire IT infrastructure—your routers, switches, and monitors as well as your security policies, device performance ratings, and management processes.

IT assessments can be conducted proactively or reactively. A reactive IT assessment is conducted when IT administrators need to get to the source of an existing problem. For example, they may be experiencing network latency but unable to identify the root cause. An IT assessment would help them determine whether the issue is resulting from inadequate bandwidth, faulty hardware, packet queuing, or another issue.

Other companies use network assessments more proactively to evaluate the overall health of their IT infrastructure. This allows them to identify areas of improvement and further optimize their networks.

Assessment tools can help secure a network in a variety of ways, including the following:

IOS vulnerability scanning: Robust network assessment tools integrate with the National Vulnerability Database to automatically identify common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) within Cisco devices. Administrators will receive an alert as soon as a CVE is detected, allowing them to upgrade their IOS firmware accordingly.
Compliance assessments: IT administrators can leverage network assessment tools to produce out-of-the-box compliance assessments and reports for DISA STIG, NIST FISMA, HIPAA, and PCI DSS to help identify possible security gaps within the network. Sophisticated tools also offer automated remediation scripts designed to correct violations and help administrators get their networks back on track.
Configuration monitoring: Vulnerabilities typically occur as a result of poorly managed configuration changes. Many network assessment tools are designed to help prevent these mistakes by allowing IT administrators to review and approve proposed changes via integrated change approval workflows. Some tools even use role and access permissions to enable administrators to control who can make changes to devices and configurations.
Device updates: Devices with outdated software, improper file and directory permissions, or unpatched vulnerabilities can put an entire network at risk. Network assessment tools allow IT administrators to build, test, and run configuration changes against thousands of targeted devices to help ensure they’re error-free.
Network auditing: Violations of network compliance and operational policies can compromise network security. With the right network assessment software, IT administrators can be equipped to automatically audit device configurations for compliance according to predetermined, policy-mandated controls. Comprehensive software can even allow these administrators to create remediation scripts capable of quickly bringing out-of-compliance devices back on board.

As your company grows, so does your IT infrastructure. Network assessment can play a critical part in maintaining a healthy, highly functioning network by helping you do the following:

Monitor device performance: Keeping track of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of devices can be difficult. Comprehensive network assessment software is designed to automatically discover devices and display their data via highly visual network maps. These maps help administrators monitor the fault, availability, and performance of all devices within their network. Depending on the tool, this data can even be displayed via customizable dashboards and charts to help you keep business-critical applications running smoothly.
Streamline change management: Performing updates across devices is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and often error-prone. Automated network assessment tools help streamline this process through built-in workflows you can use to review, approve, schedule, and push bulk configuration updates across thousands of network devices in minutes.
Improve security: Network security is a top priority for any IT department. Sophisticated network assessment software will help you quickly scan your network devices’ firmware to identify CVEs and execute remediation scripts accordingly.
Organize device data: Tracking, documenting, and updating device data (including serial numbers, port details, IP addresses, vendors, and end-of-life dates) can quickly become overwhelming. Network assessment software helps bring order to this complex process by automatically importing device data into an easy-to-access location. This database of information is periodically updated to help ensure IT administrators always have access to accurate information. Administrators can also use these databases to create robust inventory reports based on vendor, location, and device type.
Keep costs down: Expired maintenance contracts, unpredicted configuration changes, and device failures can result in costly downtime. Network assessments help IT administrators keep their finger on the pulse of their network health, so they can identify faulty devices or upcoming configuration changes before they bring productivity to a standstill. IT assessments also help administrators identify overused or underused resources and allocate them more efficiently and effectively without additional spending.

A network assessment is a detailed examination of your entire IT infrastructure—your routers, switches, and monitors as well as your security policies, device performance ratings, and management processes.
IT assessments can be conducted proactively or reactively. A reactive IT assessment is conducted when IT administrators need to get to the source of an existing problem. For example, they may be experiencing network latency but unable to identify the root cause. An IT assessment would help them determine whether the issue is resulting from inadequate bandwidth, faulty hardware, packet queuing, or another issue.
Other companies use network assessments more proactively to evaluate the overall health of their IT infrastructure. This allows them to identify areas of improvement and further optimize their networks.
Assessment tools can help secure a network in a variety of ways, including the following:
IOS vulnerability scanning: Robust network assessment tools integrate with the National Vulnerability Database to automatically identify common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) within Cisco devices. Administrators will receive an alert as soon as a CVE is detected, allowing them to upgrade their IOS firmware accordingly.
Compliance assessments: IT administrators can leverage network assessment tools to produce out-of-the-box compliance assessments and reports for DISA STIG, NIST FISMA, HIPAA, and PCI DSS to help identify possible security gaps within the network. Sophisticated tools also offer automated remediation scripts designed to correct violations and help administrators get their networks back on track.
Configuration monitoring: Vulnerabilities typically occur as a result of poorly managed configuration changes. Many network assessment tools are designed to help prevent these mistakes by allowing IT administrators to review and approve proposed changes via integrated change approval workflows. Some tools even use role and access permissions to enable administrators to control who can make changes to devices and configurations.
Device updates: Devices with outdated software, improper file and directory permissions, or unpatched vulnerabilities can put an entire network at risk. Network assessment tools allow IT administrators to build, test, and run configuration changes against thousands of targeted devices to help ensure they’re error-free.
Network auditing: Violations of network compliance and operational policies can compromise network security. With the right network assessment software, IT administrators can be equipped to automatically audit device configurations for compliance according to predetermined, policy-mandated controls. Comprehensive software can even allow these administrators to create remediation scripts capable of quickly bringing out-of-compliance devices back on board.
As your company grows, so does your IT infrastructure. Network assessment can play a critical part in maintaining a healthy, highly functioning network by helping you do the following:
Monitor device performance: Keeping track of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of devices can be difficult. Comprehensive network assessment software is designed to automatically discover devices and display their data via highly visual network maps. These maps help administrators monitor the fault, availability, and performance of all devices within their network. Depending on the tool, this data can even be displayed via customizable dashboards and charts to help you keep business-critical applications running smoothly.
Streamline change management: Performing updates across devices is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and often error-prone. Automated network assessment tools help streamline this process through built-in workflows you can use to review, approve, schedule, and push bulk configuration updates across thousands of network devices in minutes.
Improve security: Network security is a top priority for any IT department. Sophisticated network assessment software will help you quickly scan your network devices’ firmware to identify CVEs and execute remediation scripts accordingly.
Organize device data: Tracking, documenting, and updating device data (including serial numbers, port details, IP addresses, vendors, and end-of-life dates) can quickly become overwhelming. Network assessment software helps bring order to this complex process by automatically importing device data into an easy-to-access location. This database of information is periodically updated to help ensure IT administrators always have access to accurate information. Administrators can also use these databases to create robust inventory reports based on vendor, location, and device type.
Keep costs down: Expired maintenance contracts, unpredicted configuration changes, and device failures can result in costly downtime. Network assessments help IT administrators keep their finger on the pulse of their network health, so they can identify faulty devices or upcoming configuration changes before they bring productivity to a standstill. IT assessments also help administrators identify overused or underused resources and allocate them more efficiently and effectively without additional spending.
A network assessment is generally performed using the following four steps:
Preparation: IT administrators must first enable SNMP on their devices before they can conduct a network assessment using a network assessment tool. Once SNMP is enabled, it’s important to ensure either the SNMP community settings or the username/password are defined on the devices. IT administrators must also ensure the computer they’re using to perform the assessment has unrestricted access to their network devices.
Network inventory: Before device data can be analyzed, it must be gathered. Network assessment software will automatically scan your network and locate devices on it. IT administrators without these tools will need to manually locate and compile the devices they want to include in the assessment.
Network analysis: Once the devices have been located, their data must be harvested. Serial numbers, port details, IP addresses, vendors, and contract end dates are just a few examples of the information IT administrators need to gather during this process.
Network reporting: Two of the most common types of network assessment reporting including compliance reporting and inventory reporting. Compliance reporting for DISA STIG, NIST FISMA, HIPAA, and PCI DSS can help administrators identify potential security violations. Inventory reports based on vendor, location, device type, and other factors can also help facilitate network performance and device health improvements.

"Fantastic resource for managing thousands of endpoint switches at once."

Systems Engineer

Educational Institution

Streamline and automate network assessments to help boost team efficiency

Network Configuration Manager

Improve network reliability using change monitoring, alerting, and configuration backups and rollbacks
Reduce configuration errors by using standardized device configurations and automated deployment
Simplify and improve network compliance to keep infrastructure safe and secure

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Fully functional for 30 days

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