IT and Infrastructure Cockpit

In many companies and government agencies tools are used to manage the infrastructure. In the area of IT, these are inventory systems, monitoring systems, CMDBs, software distribution, helpdesk, NAC and similar. All systems have one thing in common, they automatically record IT components and store them. The next software products we use to manage our physical infrastructure such as buildings, air conditioning systems, access systems, fire extinguishing systems emergency power and gas.

With the next systems we manage our external service providers and their SLA’s. In addition, we have medical technology in hospitals and production IT in industry.

Most of these systems are isolated solutions and like to keep the data to themselves. Each of these tools has a specific purpose and is a specialist in securing networks, in
software distribution or protecting IT systems.

We bring together the collected data from these specialists in our asset management software. We enrich this with additional attributes from other specialists or our own data. We then link these systems to the company’s processes and services and assume risks and availabilities from them.

We then know which systems are data protection or emergency relevant and how to deal with them. We assign the hardware and software managers and the services required for operation.

At the click of a mouse, we know who is allowed to access the electrical systems and who is responsible for the outage with the Internet provider. We can see all the necessary data at a glance and that in one solution.

IT Changes

Why are changes to technical components or services sometimes so risky?

For many of these components, a failure or planned shutdown has a major impact on the organization.

1st example

The internet service is shut down and no one can send mails (offers), external services like banking or ordering and logistics cannot be accessed. Planned and all are informed then all is well. If not all were informed, then problems arise.

  1. If a system needs to be shut down, how do I know who to inform?
  2. Do I know all direct and indirect users of the systems, especially for servers and switches.
  3. Do I know which time-critical activities are currently taking place in the company?

However, if I can see which business processes are using my server, then I can inform the responsible parties in a targeted manner.

2nd example

The warehouse and logistics software are switched off to install an update. Since everyone thought that no one was working on the weekend, no one was informed. Unfortunately, goods that were quickly produced for a customer were to be loaded onto a ship.

The trucks were there to pick up the goods. However, the logistics department needed the software to create the documents for shipping and customs documents.

During this time, labels for shipping cannot be printed, the high-bay warehouse is inactive and goods to be delivered cannot be taken from the warehouse system. Unfortunately, in the port the ship is waiting for delivery and this costs in berth fees.

The goods arrive too late to the customer and contractual penalties threaten. This is exactly what happened in 2021 and can be prevented by sending an e-mail to the person responsible for the logistics process.

Conclusion:

With smart2project you have a comprehensive asset management thanks to intelligent links from many systems. It enables you to easily onboard new employees in IT, medical technology, production IT or facility management.

– You know who is responsible for the systems
– You know immediately where the systems are located
– You know which processes and services this system supports
– You know the function of the system, its SLA and its dependencies

Sort of like a CMDB.