I really think the first job of an IT Director is human inventory. It’s not always about your network management tools or network management software. That is, what is the competency of the staff to install, implement (including scripting like Perl or Ruby), and maintain an IT solution. This has a huge impact on whether a department implements a commercial, a do-it-yourself, or an open source solution. Have you, as either an IT Manager or person who works in an IT department, really thought through the capabilities of the organization? You can’t begin to enter the evaluation or review process of a vendor’s solution unless you understand the true skill set of your own organization. It won’t be a pleasant day at the shop if you’ve installed and scripted MRTG only to find out later that no one else in the organization knows how to modify or reconfigure the product. Remember rule #1, when you’re on vacation, Murphy’s Law strikes!
So, take stock. Are there scripters on staff? Are they people who just like to do their jobs and go home, or are they passionate about IT? That is, if you find one of the IT guys in the office late at night writing a CLI for no reason other than it’s “cool”, then you’ve got a passionate guy. He’ll be willing to learn new stuff. On the other hand if you have a bunch of nine to fivers whose skills are more usage and maintenance, then you’re probably looking at a different solution.
All I’m saying is that IT Network Engineers come in different flavors, and although an open source solution versus a commercial solution may provide little functionality difference, you need to understand internal skill sets before you chose the platform that’s not only best suited for your network, but also best suited for the majority of people in your IT department. The worst thing you can do is implement a highly customized solution that only one person can coax information out of. The right solution is one which delivers the information you need in an actionable form while providing an intuitive, easy to use interface that your entire IT team can drive.
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