Understanding and documenting your network is the first step in saving yourself money and time when problems arise or when considering bringing in an outside consultant. Many people don’t understand why they should document their network environment, the simple answer is that you run reports on your business to help you make informed decisions, this is similar but regarding your network. When you are considering upgrading computers you have a document you can quickly refer to that will tell you which computer should be upgraded first. Or when a consultant needs to troubleshoot a connectivity issue they can quickly find and eliminate options which will help them solve the problem faster. When a consultant spends less time looking around attempting to figure out how the network was put together and more time troubleshooting the actual problem you will see the best utilization of your money.

The computers, connected devices, routers, and wireless access points are considered your network and should be accounted for in your office. At first this will seem like a daunting task which is why you should attack this procedure slowly. Every time you sit down at a computer or get a free moment, do an inventory of a computer, as time goes you’ll eventually have your entire network mapped and documented. When you inventory a computer you should note important hardware such as the processor, the memory, the hard drive, the attached monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Once complete, move onto software, document what is loaded on each computer and what version of the software is currently installed. This will help you troubleshoot if there is a conflict with other software programs, you’ll know exactly which version is affected thereby informing you which computers will be experiencing issues. You should also document how your computers and devices connect to your router and then to the internet logically and physically. This will help a consultant to be able to figure out if a certain problem is network related or software related.

If you’re not the technically gifted in your firm then find someone who can do it, although, it doesn’t take a geek to document your network. You don’t necessarily have to understand how it all works, you just need to document it. You should also keep documentation updated every quarter as your software updates will change more than hardware. In business we are always looking for ways to achieve better efficiency of not only our time but our money, documenting your network is the best way to do that.