Advanced Networking - Coursework Example

Running head: ADVANCED NETWORKING Advanced Networking xXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Business intelligence June 16, 2009 Introduction XYZ is a European organisation which has a leadership position in the field of payment processing, relationship management, e-services etc. It has a multi-tiered complex Information Technology (IT) system which is networked with equally complex architecture having interconnected multiplatform business critical applications. The huge size of the organisation can be guessed by its year 2007 volume of credit and debit card transactions which grossed to 4 billion. The organisation is looking for evaluation and strategies to improve grey in the fields of Fault management, Configuration Management, Network management, Security Management and Account Management. Finally, the organisation is interested in developing a network Management tool to automate & simplify the areas mentioned before. This paper attempts to provide a strategic solution in all the areas of Fault management, Configuration Management, Network management, Security Management and Account Management. Fault Management Fault Management is defined as the process of monitoring, identifying, correcting the errors in any system. The Fault management is of two types - Passive and Active. The Passive fault management is also knows the breakdown management as in this case the designated person or system does not work towards correcting the fault until the system has broken down. In case of the active fault management, the complete system is monitored by an automated system which keeps on checking all the network connections and keeps sending the report to an operator. The operator, through a set of parameter values, determines if the values are in "safe" range else the remedial action can be taken before the breakdown of the system happens. The Fault Management systems are designed to operate in auto modes i.e. the system takes action on its own to correct the problem or else it sends an SMS, automated call to the escalation for any kind of human intervention to correct the problem. The following schematic diagram explains this system more clearly. Diagram 1: Schematic of the Active Fault Management System Following techniques are used to repair the faults identified in the network of the IT System - Remove / neutralize fault, using redundancy Retry without intervention (time redundancy) Reconstruct data/state (data redundancy) Work-around (configuration redundancy) Substitution (code redundancy) Tolerate fault: reduce service quality Reduce speed, reduce precision Use default, omit faulty parts Supportive functionality: Checkpointing - Dynamic Reconfiguration Organization of Fault Management at XYZ enterprise XYZ enterprise would be using all the techniques mentioned in the previous section to efficiently handle the Faults at the enterprise's complex system. The management would be pro-active with the agreed safe parameters along with formal documentation on the escalation procedure. Configuration Management Configuration Management is defined as the process of managing the software source code or any "configuration" items in its integrated format. All the changes to the configurable items are version controlled and are stored in software which allows the configurable items to be updated only after a set of processes are followed. Configuration Management helps to identify at any point of time, the current software code version, essential characteristics of the codes and any dependencies amongst the codes, if any. Unless, there is a methodology to manage the software codes, the changes to software can be a minor discomfort to a major issue with a potential to bring down the mission critical business applications. Another important use of the Configuration Management process is the reduction of development effort in applications by re-using the existing software available in the organisation. The identification of the characteristics of the existing source in the organisation is possible only when the Software configuration process is rigidly applied in the organisation. Configuration Management also includes the baselining and version control of the Quality control related documents like Application design, test plan etc. which are essential for developing any applications. There are three levels of Configuration Management which are - Version Control, Configuration Control and Configuration Management. The version control involves the development of actual atomic entity which is being developed and hence needs to be assigned numbers at each level while Configuration control deals with the development of the application involving the configurable groups of entities. Finally, Configuration Management is higher level term which encompasses the various areas related to delivery and support to the specific customer, grouping of common problems, identify and store the solution to the recurring problems, monitoring the quality and the development process of the product. Various techniques for version control are as follows: Revision, versions and variants and variants Variant production Identification and selection of versions Various techniques for Configuration control are as follows: Product Structure Configuration description Build Support Various techniques for Configuration Management are as follows: Managerial issues like Quality control board, Configuration responsibility, Configuration Management plan, Project worker Change control Release support Process Management Following Diagram clearly identifies the roles in Configuration Management Department. Diagram 2: Schematic of the Configuration Management Department roles Organization of Configuration Management at XYZ enterprise A configuration management department needs to be setup at the XYZ Enterprise which would have the responsibility to ensure that the identified configurable items are being managed well and the change management happens without making any downtime. The department would execute its' responsibilities by using the techniques described in he previous sections. Account Management Account Management is defined as the process of identifying, obtaining, monitoring and developing the key customers. The account management process is the lifeblood of any organisation as without this process the customer management can not be efficient and hence there is a danger of losing the customer. The account management process needs to be designed from a long term strategic perspective rather than the short term profit gain. Key account management is defined as the account held by customers who are most profitable to the organisation or have the potential to become profitable in future. The development of these customers who are part of these key accounts is critical to the business success as the major share of the organisation revenue comes from there. The process of managing an account consists of the study of an account, mapping the client, assessment of the opportunity, planning and setting up the objectives, networking with the key customers, having discussions with the key customers with intent of influencing and engaging them, then finally following up with them on their experience with the organisation and further requirements. Organization of Account Management at XYZ enterprise As the business verticals of XYZ are in varied areas, the account management system would be of critical importance and software which can take care of the various area of operations like high volume electronic transactions, specializing in electronic payment services, card processing, client relation management, and e-services would be employed to take care of all the related activities. The technique of long term strategic plan would be used rather than a short term benefit. Network Management Network Management is defined as the process of managing the groups of software and hardware wired together in a way to give a reliable performance in a highly secured environment. The performance of the network must be above expectation such that the speed of access remains the same for users and the network is reliable in order to have rare system shutdown cases. The security of the network is important to ensure that there are no external threats to the network and no computer within the system is exposed to virus, malwares or spywares. The network management is controlled by an Administrator who ensures that the proper resources are being used in the network and for any failing or slow response process. The administrator also takes care of any housekeeping activities in the network. The network maintenance team in the network management does the job of repairs and performing upgrades to the systems, as and when required. The maintenance may involve both preventive and breakdown maintenance. The network provisioning also includes the process of adding new network for any new process to be set up in the shop. The following schematic diagram represents the characteristics of a network management department: Diagram 3: Schematic of the Network Management Department Organization of Network Management at XYZ enterprise As given in the above diagram, the network management at XYZ enterprises would be achieved by dividing the operations into five departments to handle the complexities in the multi-tiered architecture. Security Management Security management is concerned with the management of the various threats to the organization's software. The improvements in the Information systems world have seen a parallel development of the threats to it. These threats include the software programs which install self into the victim software systems and infect the systems to hamper the regular operations. The spywares and malwares are the recent threats from the internet. These are programs which get automatically downloaded to the victim system as soon as the victim clicks on the spoofed link (The visible information is different from what is obtained after the clicking). Web crawlers are another variety of threats which are designed by the web sites with a purpose to browse through the content of the victim sites. Web crawlers or spiders are usually "harmless" but in certain cases they may be harmful to the security as well because they capture the user id and password of the user to compromise the information accessible to that user. Risk mitigation: The above mentioned risks can be mitigated by installing an effective anti-virus system with continuous upgrade to it. The security firewall can be installed to prevent any threats due to web crawlers, spywares and other malwares. The firewall can be used to prevent access to any known websites which propagate this kind of software. Employees can also be educated to proactively take actions so that such attacks are not triggered due to their direct or indirect actions. In addition to the above mentioned threats, the organization is also vulnerable to the limitation in the software systems designed to handle the Internet based selling business of the organisation. There should be continuous review of the capability of the system against the business needs to ensure that the business and the Information technology strategies are aligned together. Organization of Information security at XYZ enterprise The Information security department needs to be formed in XYZ Enterprise as there is no such department existing currently. The department would have personnel who would have the responsibility to ensure that all the Information security standards are in place and are audited on a regular basis. The department would also come up with the documents, control and procedures which are required to be implemented as part of Information Security management. Essentially, this department would be the central governing body to ensure that the Information Security standards are implemented as laid down in the ISO 17799. The department head would be reporting to the Operations head of the XYZ Enterprise to ensure that all the suggested improvements are implemented with the speed and any non-conformity is addressed immediately. The third party accesses would be limited and the accesses would be subjected to scrutiny by this department. The accesses would be revoked as soon as an employee leaves the organization or if the third party contract is over or gets revoked. Any outsourcing to the third party would need to be approved by the Information Security department which would cross check the credentials of the organization before permitting the outsourcing of the task. Information security incident management Information Security incidents would be managed by a system where the incident would be generated by the person getting affected by the incident while the handling of the incident is done by the Information security department. Business continuity management Business continuity from the perspective of Information Security is a very important aspect in ensuring that the business does not get impacted and continues to operate Business-As-Usual (BAU) in the adverse situation like the failure of existing system or and untoward incident. Suggested Network Tool for XYZ Enterprise The network management software or tools are designed to continuously monitor and diagnose the problem in an active an active communications network. They also collect the statistics for administration along with fine tuning details. There is plethora of products available in market for managing the network. Few of them are listed as below - IBM's NetView HP's OpenView Sun's SunNet Manager Novell's NMS. CISCO network Management toolkit IBM was the one of the first organisation to recognize the importance of Network management software and hence developed Netview in 1986, which has now developed into highly advanced and developed network management tool. The IBM's Netview is recommended for the XYZ system as it has all the features to manage the fault, security, network and account. Additionally, the software has the management feature for problem, operations and change management. IBM's NetView follows the systems network architecture (SNA) and is part of Open-network architecture which is performed centrally by using management platforms like NetView and others. The security management is not a strong feature of the NetView hence a separate vendor may be engaged for the security systems of XYZ Enterprises. Any of the large scale antivirus providers can be chosen with the regular virus definitions update can be chosen for the purpose. References Time Electronic Textbook v4, Chapter19 Configuration Management (1997), [Internet], Available from: , Accessed on: 15 Jun 2009 Cheverton, Peter, Foss, Bryan, Hughes, Tim and Stone, Merlin, Key account management in financial services: tools and techniques for building strong relationships with major clients (2004), Published by Kogan Page Publishers Network Management (2009), Available from: < http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=network+management&i=47891,00.asp>, Accessed on: 15 Jun 2009 IBM Network Management (2007), Available from: < http://www.filibeto.org/sun/lib/networking/internetworking_technology_overview/IBM_Network_Management.pdf>, Accessed on: 15 Jun 2009 Read More