CASE STUDY: Paessler gives big four services firm networking usability and transparency

Digital disruption is revolutionising how business is conducted around the world, and if organisations fail to evolve and transform, they risk being left behind by their competitors.

As information is moved onto digital platforms, the concept of access has never been more important to a business' bottom line.

Subsequently, the reliance on IT systems as the backbone of an organisation has never been more prevalent.

The pressure to not only adapt, but also to ensure the availability of information, has heightened the importance of keeping the IT network alive.

As a result, organisations, including one of the big four professional services firms in New Zealand, have turned to network monitoring tools to ensure a seamless digital experience.

Effectively managing data-driven insights requires a robust team supported by the right equipment, as well as the right IT infrastructure.

Despite the size of the organisation, the professional services firm lacked a centralised view of its entire network and was dependent on multiple disparate monitoring tools for insights.

The IT team wanted something that would not only make their lives easier but also create more stability within the environment.

They also needed a robust and scalable network monitoring solution that provided ease of use

"We did have other monitoring applications but there were challenges around configuring alerts that were making life hard for the team," says a senior systems engineer at the firm.

"If key IT administrators were out of the office, there would be lack of visibility over the network – this was a huge risk to be taking, especially given that our network underpins everything we do.

It was clear the business needed to consolidate its segregated network and establish an all-in-one monitoring solution that would enable proactive troubleshooting of its IT infrastructure.

It was simple; this professional services firm needed a system that could centralise IT monitoring to ensure full 24/7 network visibility across the entire team.

It needed to be easy to deploy and manage, ensuring no single person was responsible for troubleshooting issues.

The IT team looked at multiple software vendors and solutions, but after a long evaluation process chose PRTG, a brand the group had previous experience with.

"A number of team members had experience with PRTG and were able to provide insights into its usability, ease of implementation, and the overall running of the software. We decided to trial the solution, during which time we compiled feedback from the team before implementing the technology fully," says the engineer.

The transition to PRTG was part of an internal initiative that took place over a one-month period and they're now monitoring over 1,800 sensors across their network.

"Thanks to the change to PRTG we now have a holistic view of our infrastructure and network," notes the Senior Systems Engineer.

He adds that this view of the network has been made available across the business for staff to better understand how the network is running.

The ability to use customisable dashboards has made the process easier for both administrators and general staff to digest the relevant data being made available.

In preparation for deployment, IT administrators from this professional services firm participated in PRTG training with Red Education to learn how to customise the software to their environment and create specific maps and sensors to meet business demands.

"PRTG took two minutes to set up – literally! It was excellent from a business continuity and usability standpoint. The team is able to get what they need – be it alerts or tickets – and they can do this from across multiple devices," says the engineer.

An Interactive Experience PRTG has revolutionised the IT department of this professional services player, eliminating the need for multiple applications and isolated alerts.

The network sensor dashboard is now central to all members of the team, including service desk operators, to instantly understand if problems are beginning to develop and why.

"People around the IT department had no visibility into what was going on within the IT system or if critical issues were occuring. Now we have a snapshot view and can see what is going on, even when the core team are out of the office.

"PRTG has given us more real-time interaction with our network than we could have imagined, and we can only see more benefits as time moves on," concludes the engineer.