There are lots of IT audit and inventory tools on the market, but how do you pick the right one?    Here is a list of key questions to guide you towards the right decision:

Question 1: Do you need one tool, or several?

Many organisations have a range of network audit and monitoring tools, employed on different parts of their network, with different tools being employed for different platforms, protocols, user languages and information gathering requirements.

However, the danger with multiple tools, audits and reports, is that it can result in some areas being overlooked and others overlapped. That is why, at iQuate, we have developed a single cross platform and cross protocol tool that ensures a comprehensive network audit and employs a consistent methodology and delivers unified reporting data.  Of course that also results in significant cost and efficiency benefits.

Question 2: Do you want a tool, or a suite?

Frankly, most vendors don’t just want to sell you a network audit and monitoring tool, they want to sell you a SAM, ITAM, or ITSM suite.  Maybe that is what you need, but you may just want a best in class monitoring, or audit tool that integrates with any of other IT management products you already have.

iQuate solutions are vendor agnostic, scanning all software and hardware, and integrating with all SAM, ITAM and ITSM suites. We focus on providing the fastest, most accurate and least invasive network audit and monitoring solutions. How you want to use the data our tools produce, well, you decide.

Question 3: How fast do you want it to be?

For most network audit and monitoring tools there is a trade off to be made between speed and bandwidth requirements. Our technology overcomes this problem. It does not interfere with users, or networks.

iQuate’s solutions have been developed to scan entire networks, on a pan-national and even global basis. For example, an international mining company has just scanned its network of 10,000 machines across 6 continents, using just a 256k connection to its offices in developing countries.

Uncovering, almost 700 devices that previously went undiscovered, as well as a host of under-licensed and over-licensed software applications, the detailed audit was completed in just 2 days. With the initial audit completed, the entire network is now monitored on a daily basis for changes, or modifications.

Our solutions break the speed record when it comes to network monitoring and audit – typically auditing more than 1,000 machines per hour on a network and refreshing data daily for 10,000 plus machines.

Question 4: Are you happy to use agents?

Traditionally, most network audit and monitoring tools have deployed agents in order to complete their work. In other words, a device, or machine will be identified and scanned, once it has had a software agent installed.

The problem is that installing and updating agents generates its own work. The fact that agents may require regular upgrades adds to this.

Not surprisingly installing agents, has become unfashionable and as a result you won’t find it mentioned in vendor brochures.  In some cases another term is being used.

But when is an agent an agent?  Many solutions on the market claim to be agent-less, but do briefly install a small script, e.g. activeX, on client machines during the audit process.   That can result in bandwidth, footprint, access and accuracy issues.

iQuate employs the latest technology to conduct a deep scan of network devices without installing software.  Our tools scan networks to identify all network accessible devices, not just those with agent software installed.  That simplifies and speeds up the network scanning process greatly.

Question 5: How accurate do you want to get?

What information do you need? What level of accuracy will you settle for?

Because most organisations are already scanning their networks they already have an estimate for the number of devices, applications, etc. on their networks. But, our methodology identifies on average 10% more devices on a typical network that existing network audit or inventory tools.

Question 6: Do you want it customised to your network?

Networks in large organisations are complex and sophisticated and further more each one is different.

That is why the configurability of network monitoring and audit tools is important. Plug and play solutions that cannot be tailored to the specific nature of your network inevitably most compromise on the level of accuracy achieved.

iQuate’s solutions can be configured to your network. At its simplest that may mean enabling the system to ‘go really fast on this part of the network, and really slow on another’.

It will also involve determining the parts of the network to be scanned, the protocols to be used, the information to be gathered, etc. It will even involve determining the languages users in different countries want to use when running the software.

Our ISACA certified auditors and engineers will guide you through set up and installation process, while the system configuration can be modified at any time to meet your needs as they evolve.

Question 7: Can it be tailored to your information needs?

Knowing what devices exist on your network is important, but your need for information will go well beyond that. For example, physical hardware (e.g. CPU speed, free disk space, etc.), software installed and usage levels, status of; patches, virus definitions, back-ups, or encryption software, etc.

What questions do you want answered? What level of detail do you need? Our solutions allow you to interrogate your network for the information that is important to you at any particular point in time. You set the questions and our solutions will deliver the answers.

Question 8: How flexible is it in meeting your evolving needs?

You can configure our system at any time to meet your needs as they evolve, both in terms of how your network is audited and what information is gathered. That means it won’t go out of date.

iQuate provide a range of best of breed network audit, inventory and monitoring tools.  They are faster, more accurate and more flexible.