Workflows and Business Processes

Enterprises deploy an increasingly wide variety of NEs as their network requirements and business processes evolve . In this section we look at the workflows and business processes surrounding the way these networks are managed and operated.

Enterprise Workflows and Business Processes

Enterprise network customers are generally the employees of the organization except in cases where e-commerce applications and extranets exist. In such cases, the enterprise network boundary stretches outside the traditional limits and allows specially authorized and protected traffic inside, such as an extranet VPN. Beyond these capabilities, the everyday management of enterprise networks broadly follows a model of:

• NE deployment, upgrades, management, and (proactive) support.

• Trouble ticket-based (reactive) workflows; typically, an NE breaks or needs service (e.g., a VLAN link becomes congested ), and an IT engineer fixes it in conjunction with details entered in the trouble ticketing system. The lifecycle of the problem is recorded in the ticketing system. Using an NMS helps in recording the details of the repair work.

• General policing ”minimizing traffic-generating file downloads from the Internet (and other hazardous activities) and implementing policies such as virus protection.

• Connecting the network to other networks, such as SP networks and remote sites.

Some of the NE types deployed by enterprises include:

• Switches ”ATM, Frame Relay, MPLS, X.25, and Ethernet

• IP Routers

• PABXs/soft switches

• SANs

• Servers

• Wireless devices (base stations , access points, and exchanges)

The types of issues that crop up in managing enterprise networks with devices like these are:

• Fault analysis and rectification

• Rebalancing traffic after adding new hardware

• Billing

• Performance analysis

• Security

• Creating virtual connections

To illustrate a typical problem, imagine that an enterprise PC has been inadvertently disconnected from a VLAN during a network reconfiguration. The result is an inability to log into the network, access email and the Web, other such problems. This can be quickly fixed with no measurable loss of revenue (apart from wasted time).

An enterprise uses its network to carry out its day-to-day activities rather than as a means of generating revenue. However, network downtime can be very costly. Also costly is the maintenance of multiple incompatible management systems. Consolidation of these is a useful enterprise network management goal.