[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":8716},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-posts":3},[4,210,481,845,1023,1083,1210,1327,1367,1399,2026,2419,2889,3023,3137,3217,3310,3372,3614,3734,3882,3931,3995,4060,4129,4425,4574,4642,4681,4753,4846,4997,5042,5109,5154,5254,5376,5503,5587,5693,5794,5867,5978,6044,6095,6207,6254,6330,6402,6449,6525,6613,6681,6761,6857,6940,7005,7089,7219,7355,7438,7680,7730,7777,7826,7894,7963,8070,8155,8212,8304,8344,8450,8579,8661],{"id":5,"title":6,"author":7,"body":8,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":189,"description":190,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":193,"meta":194,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":196,"seo":197,"slug":198,"stem":199,"tags":200,"__hash__":209},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopha-message-bus-multi-tenant-nmis.md","How opHA and the opHA Message Bus Make Multi-Tenant NMIS Actually Work","FirstWave",{"type":9,"value":10,"toc":177},"minimark",[11,15,18,21,26,29,32,35,42,46,49,52,55,59,65,68,71,74,80,84,87,93,96,99,102,105,109,112,115,134,137,143,147,161,169],[12,13,14],"p",{},"Network management for one customer is a solved problem. Running NMIS on a single server, polling a few hundred devices, and watching one dashboard works fine.",[12,16,17],{},"Network management for a hundred customers is a different sport. Suddenly you need tenant isolation that actually holds, geographic distribution that does not melt your WAN, real-time visibility that survives a server outage, and one operations surface that your NOC can actually work from. Most architectures collapse somewhere along the way. Either tenants leak into each other, or operators end up with a wall of dashboards, or the platform falls over the first time a primary server reboots.",[12,19,20],{},"This is the problem opHA was built for, and it is the reason FirstWave introduced the opHA Message Bus as the next-generation architecture for distributed NMIS. If you run a managed service, a carrier network, an ISP, or a global enterprise, this post is for you.",[22,23,25],"h2",{"id":24},"what-opha-actually-is","What opHA Actually Is",[12,27,28],{},"opHA is the high availability and distributed-management product for NMIS. It coordinates multiple NMIS instances, primary servers and pollers, into one logical platform. Operators see a consolidated view, customers stay isolated, and the underlying infrastructure can sit in different data centres or regions without your team having to think about it.",[12,30,31],{},"There are two architectures inside the opHA family. Classic opHA uses a scheduled-pull model between pollers and the primary. It is the right choice for smaller distributed deployments where minute-level sync is fine. The opHA Message Bus is the newer architecture: a peer-to-peer message bus that streams events, configuration, and health data between primaries, pollers, and mirrors in real time.",[12,33,34],{},"For multi-tenant deployments, the message bus is the architecture that earns its keep.",[12,36,37],{},[38,39],"img",{"alt":40,"src":41},"Diagram showing opHA classic and Message Bus architectures side by side","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FophaMB-Draft.png",[22,43,45],{"id":44},"what-the-message-bus-changes","What the Message Bus Changes",[12,47,48],{},"A scheduled-sync architecture is fine until the gaps between syncs start to matter. The moment you have a customer asking why an event from a remote site took ninety seconds to land in the dashboard, or a regulator asking how you guarantee no events were lost during a failover, scheduled sync runs out of room.",[12,50,51],{},"The opHA Message Bus replaces that with a continuous stream. Every peer (primary, poller, or mirror) is connected to the bus. Events flow the instant they are generated. Configuration changes propagate as soon as they are committed. Daemon health is visible across the estate in real time. Messages are replicated across peers, so a server failure does not lose the events that were in flight.",[12,53,54],{},"The operational benefit is concrete. Mean time to repair drops because operators see what is happening as it happens, not on the next sync. SLA breaches caused by missed events stop happening because events are not missed. Failover stops being a manual incident-response exercise, because primary failover is automated and the bus carries the state forward.",[22,56,58],{"id":57},"what-it-looks-like-in-practice","What It Looks Like in Practice",[12,60,61],{},[38,62],{"alt":63,"src":64},"opHA Message Bus Home view showing peer cards and daemon health","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopCharts_opha-message-bus-page.png",[12,66,67],{},"The opHA-MB Home view is the operational centre. Each peer card shows peer type, heartbeat, streaming state, node count, ophad health, and the live status of every NMIS daemon (opchartsd, opeventsd, opconfigd, nmis9d, omkd, ophad). In a small lab you might have two pollers and one mirror. In a real production deployment, you might have pollers in Chicago, San Francisco, and Frankfurt, each with a paired mirror in another region, each carrying one to two thousand nodes.",[12,69,70],{},"The point is that the screen does not change. The cards get smaller, the numbers get bigger, the geography spreads, and the operational model stays the same. Operators learn one view, and that view scales from a single rack to a global topology without retraining.",[12,72,73],{},"The same is true at the service layer. opHA Message Bus carries service-level state, not just device state. SSL expiry checks, port checks, application stack checks, anything NMIS or opCharts is tracking, all stream into one consolidated view. KPI cards summarise the global state at a glance. The table drills into individual checks. Operators triage from one place, click through to the source poller, and resolve faster.",[12,75,76],{},[38,77],{"alt":78,"src":79},"opEvents events streaming via opHA Message Bus","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopEvents-op-ha-messagebus.png",[22,81,83],{"id":82},"why-this-matters-for-multi-tenant-deployments","Why This Matters For Multi-Tenant Deployments",[12,85,86],{},"Multi-tenancy is where the architecture decisions you made on day one come back to either help you or hurt you. The opHA Message Bus was designed for the multi-tenant case from the beginning, and it shows up in three places.",[12,88,89],{},[38,90],{"alt":91,"src":92},"opCharts consolidated view across multi-tenant opHA-MB deployment","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fophamb-opcharts.png",[12,94,95],{},"First, tenant data stays separate end-to-end. Each tenant's nodes, events, and configuration are isolated at the data layer, not bolted on with filters that someone could disable. A poller can be dedicated to one customer, shared across customers with strict isolation, or run in a hybrid model where a few large customers get their own pollers and the long tail share. Operators see one consolidated view across every tenant. Customers only ever see their own data.",[12,97,98],{},"Second, you scale by adding peers, not by spinning up parallel NMIS stacks. Add a customer, add their pollers, point them at the message bus. Most MSPs do not want a separate NMIS stack per tenant, and with the message bus they do not need one. The architecture handles isolation without forcing the duplication.",[12,100,101],{},"Third, the operations surface stays single. One platform to operate, one platform to bill against. Per-tenant counts roll up into the same management views your operators already use. Onboarding a new customer becomes a poller-deployment exercise, not a platform-deployment exercise.",[12,103,104],{},"For carriers and ISPs, the same properties translate into carrier-grade distributed monitoring. Pollers in every PoP, mirrors in adjacent regions, real-time event streaming back to the NOC, and zero event loss across the lot. That is what the message bus delivers, and it is what scheduled-sync architectures cannot.",[22,106,108],{"id":107},"when-to-move-to-the-message-bus","When To Move To The Message Bus",[12,110,111],{},"If you are running classic opHA today and your deployment fits comfortably (a few hundred nodes, a single primary, sync latency that nobody is asking about), there is no urgency. Classic opHA continues to be supported and continues to be the right architecture for that size of deployment.",[12,113,114],{},"The signals that it is time to look at the message bus are familiar:",[116,117,118,122,125,128,131],"ul",{},[119,120,121],"li",{},"You are crossing the threshold where one primary cannot carry the load",[119,123,124],{},"You are adding a third or fourth geography and the WAN bandwidth bill is starting to hurt",[119,126,127],{},"A customer or regulator is asking you to prove zero event loss",[119,129,130],{},"Your operations team is spending real time on failover scenarios that could be automated",[119,132,133],{},"You are pitching multi-tenant monitoring as a service, and the answer to \"how is data isolated\" needs to be stronger than \"we filter by group\"",[12,135,136],{},"When any two of those are true, the message bus is the right move.",[12,138,139],{},[38,140],{"alt":141,"src":142},"Message bus decision graphic for distributed network monitoring","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FMessage-Bus-Blog-Graphic.png",[22,144,146],{"id":145},"where-to-go-next","Where To Go Next",[12,148,149,150,155,156,160],{},"The dedicated ",[151,152,154],"a",{"href":153},"\u002Fproducts\u002Fopha-message-bus\u002F","opHA Message Bus product page"," walks through the architecture, the screenshots, the specifications, and the multi-tenant model in more depth. The broader ",[151,157,159],{"href":158},"\u002Fproducts\u002Fopha\u002F","opHA page"," covers both architectures and helps you pick between them.",[12,162,163,164,168],{},"If you want to see the lab view and the production view side by side with one of our solution engineers, ",[151,165,167],{"href":166},"\u002Fdemo\u002F","book a demo",". It is the fastest way to understand what your deployment will actually look like.",[12,170,171,172,176],{},"opHA and the opHA Message Bus are part of the ",[151,173,175],{"href":174},"\u002Fproducts\u002Fnmis\u002F","NMIS 9"," platform from FirstWave. Built for the teams that cannot afford to miss a thing.",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":180},"",2,[181,182,183,184,185,186],{"id":24,"depth":179,"text":25},{"id":44,"depth":179,"text":45},{"id":57,"depth":179,"text":58},{"id":82,"depth":179,"text":83},{"id":107,"depth":179,"text":108},{"id":145,"depth":179,"text":146},null,"Network Management","2026-05-12","MSPs, telcos, and ISPs run thousands of devices across thousands of customer environments. Here is how opHA, and specifically the opHA Message Bus, give them one platform to manage all of it without sacrificing tenant isolation, real-time visibility, or fault tolerance.","md",false,"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopha-mb_diagram.png",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fopha-message-bus-multi-tenant-nmis",{"title":6,"description":190},"opha-message-bus-multi-tenant-nmis","blog\u002Fopha-message-bus-multi-tenant-nmis",[201,202,203,204,205,206,207,208],"opHA","opHA Message Bus","NMIS","multi-tenant","MSP","telco","ISP","distributed monitoring","oPlVFwQjCdyCMTUb2OT-KDLT0DdArhh0ta-uIWf-rt4",{"id":211,"title":212,"author":213,"body":214,"categories":187,"category":463,"date":464,"description":465,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":187,"meta":466,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":467,"seo":468,"slug":469,"stem":470,"tags":471,"__hash__":480},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fit-asset-management-for-compliance-nist-iso-cis.md","IT Asset Management for Compliance: NIST, ISO 27001, CIS Controls, and Essential Eight","FirstWave Team",{"type":9,"value":215,"toc":443},[216,219,222,226,229,232,235,239,244,247,254,260,263,267,270,273,276,280,283,289,295,298,302,305,311,317,323,326,330,333,336,342,348,354,360,364,367,371,374,378,381,385,388,392,395,399,402,408,414,420,424,427,430,434,437],[12,217,218],{},"Open any major cybersecurity compliance framework and read the first requirement. Whether it is CIS Controls, NIST CSF, ISO 27001, or the Australian Essential Eight, the message is the same: you cannot protect what you do not know about. A complete, accurate, and continuously maintained inventory of IT assets is not just a best practice, it is the foundation upon which every other security control is built.",[12,220,221],{},"Despite this universal agreement, asset inventory remains one of the most commonly failed controls in compliance audits. The reason is straightforward: most organizations still rely on manual processes that cannot keep pace with the reality of modern networks.",[22,223,225],{"id":224},"the-compliance-foundation-why-asset-inventory-comes-first","The Compliance Foundation: Why Asset Inventory Comes First",[12,227,228],{},"Compliance frameworks do not place asset inventory at the top of their control lists by accident. It is there because every subsequent control depends on it.",[12,230,231],{},"You cannot patch systems you do not know about. You cannot enforce access controls on devices you have not inventoried. You cannot detect unauthorized software on machines that are not in your asset register. You cannot respond to incidents affecting systems that are invisible to your operations team.",[12,233,234],{},"This is why asset management is Control 1 in the CIS Controls, a foundational element of NIST's Identify function, a mandatory requirement in ISO 27001, and a prerequisite for multiple controls in the Essential Eight. It is the control that makes all other controls possible.",[22,236,238],{"id":237},"framework-requirements-breakdown","Framework Requirements Breakdown",[240,241,243],"h3",{"id":242},"cis-controls-v8-controls-1-and-2","CIS Controls v8: Controls 1 and 2",[12,245,246],{},"The Center for Internet Security places asset inventory as the first two controls in their prioritized framework, and for good reason.",[12,248,249,253],{},[250,251,252],"strong",{},"Control 1: Inventory and Control of Enterprise Assets"," requires organizations to actively manage all enterprise assets connected to the infrastructure, including end-user devices, network devices, IoT, and servers. The control specifies that organizations must use an active discovery tool to identify assets connected to the network and update the asset inventory. Passive methods like reviewing DHCP logs are not sufficient. The inventory must be updated on at least a weekly basis, and unauthorized assets must be addressed within a defined timeframe.",[12,255,256,259],{},[250,257,258],{},"Control 2: Inventory and Control of Software Assets"," requires organizations to actively manage all software on the network so that only authorized software is installed and can execute. This demands a software inventory that is accurate, current, and reconciled against approved software lists. Unauthorized software must be identified and addressed.",[12,261,262],{},"Together, these two controls establish the visibility baseline that the remaining 16 CIS Controls build upon. Without them, controls for vulnerability management, access control, malware defense, and data protection cannot function effectively.",[240,264,266],{"id":265},"nist-cybersecurity-framework-identify-function","NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Identify Function",[12,268,269],{},"The NIST Cybersecurity Framework organizes its guidance into five core functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. Asset Management sits within the Identify function as category ID.AM, and it is the starting point for the entire framework.",[12,271,272],{},"NIST ID.AM specifies that organizations must inventory physical devices and systems (ID.AM-1), software platforms and applications (ID.AM-2), and map data flows and communication paths (ID.AM-3). The framework requires that these inventories be maintained and that resources be prioritized based on their classification, criticality, and business value.",[12,274,275],{},"NIST is explicit that the Identify function is foundational. Organizations that skip or underperform on asset management will find that their Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover capabilities are built on incomplete information.",[240,277,279],{"id":278},"iso-27001-annex-a8-asset-management","ISO 27001: Annex A.8, Asset Management",[12,281,282],{},"ISO 27001, the international standard for information security management systems, addresses asset management in Annex A.8. The 2022 revision restructured the controls, but the requirement remains clear.",[12,284,285,288],{},[250,286,287],{},"A.8.1 (User Endpoint Devices)"," requires that information stored on, processed by, or accessible via user endpoint devices be protected. This presupposes that you know what those devices are.",[12,290,291,294],{},[250,292,293],{},"A.5.9 (Inventory of Information and Other Associated Assets)"," requires that an inventory of information and associated assets, including owners, be identified and maintained. The inventory must be accurate, up to date, consistent, and aligned with other inventories.",[12,296,297],{},"For organizations pursuing or maintaining ISO 27001 certification, auditors will expect to see a demonstrably complete asset inventory with defined ownership and classification. An inventory that was last updated three months ago and maintained in a spreadsheet will raise immediate audit findings.",[240,299,301],{"id":300},"essential-eight-the-australian-baseline","Essential Eight: The Australian Baseline",[12,303,304],{},"The Australian Cyber Security Centre's Essential Eight mitigation strategies include several controls that depend directly on asset inventory.",[12,306,307,310],{},[250,308,309],{},"Application Control"," requires organizations to restrict which applications can execute on workstations and servers. Implementing application control is impossible without first knowing what applications are installed across your environment.",[12,312,313,316],{},[250,314,315],{},"Patch Applications and Patch Operating Systems"," require organizations to apply patches for known vulnerabilities within defined timeframes. To do this, you must know which applications and operating systems exist in your environment and which versions are running.",[12,318,319,322],{},[250,320,321],{},"Restrict Administrative Privileges"," requires organizations to manage and limit privileged access. This requires visibility into which accounts have elevated privileges on which devices.",[12,324,325],{},"At every maturity level of the Essential Eight, comprehensive asset visibility is a prerequisite. Organizations cannot demonstrate compliance without it.",[22,327,329],{"id":328},"the-itam-challenge-why-most-organizations-fail","The ITAM Challenge: Why Most Organizations Fail",[12,331,332],{},"If every framework requires asset inventory and every security professional knows its importance, why do so many organizations fail at it?",[12,334,335],{},"The answer is operational, not strategic. Most organizations understand the requirement. They fail at the execution because they rely on manual processes that do not scale.",[12,337,338,341],{},[250,339,340],{},"Manual inventory is slow."," Cataloging devices by hand, walking the floor, checking spreadsheets, reviewing procurement records, takes days or weeks. By the time the process is complete, the data is already stale.",[12,343,344,347],{},[250,345,346],{},"Manual inventory is incomplete."," It captures devices that someone knows about and remembers to document. It misses shadow IT, personal devices, forgotten test systems, and anything that was provisioned outside of the standard process.",[12,349,350,353],{},[250,351,352],{},"Manual inventory is unsustainable."," Even if a team conducts a thorough inventory effort, maintaining it requires discipline that few organizations can sustain over time. Staff turnover, competing priorities, and the sheer volume of network changes ensure that manual inventories degrade steadily from the moment they are created.",[12,355,356,359],{},[250,357,358],{},"Audit preparation is reactive."," In many organizations, asset inventory only receives attention when an audit is approaching. This leads to frantic \"audit scrambles\" where teams spend weeks trying to reconstruct an accurate picture of their environment. The result is often incomplete, inaccurate, and unconvincing to auditors.",[22,361,363],{"id":362},"how-open-audit-solves-itam-for-compliance","How Open-AudIT Solves ITAM for Compliance",[12,365,366],{},"Open-AudIT addresses the ITAM challenge by replacing manual processes with automated, agentless discovery that runs continuously.",[240,368,370],{"id":369},"agentless-discovery","Agentless Discovery",[12,372,373],{},"Open-AudIT scans your network using SNMP, WMI, SSH, and Nmap-based techniques to identify every connected device without requiring software agents on endpoints. This means it discovers managed devices, unmanaged devices, network equipment, printers, IoT devices, and anything else with a network presence. No device is excluded because someone forgot to install an agent on it.",[240,375,377],{"id":376},"automatic-inventory","Automatic Inventory",[12,379,380],{},"Every discovered device is automatically cataloged with detailed attributes: hardware specifications, installed software, operating system version, network interfaces, user accounts, running services, and more. This inventory is structured, searchable, and available through both the web interface and a RESTful API.",[240,382,384],{"id":383},"continuous-monitoring","Continuous Monitoring",[12,386,387],{},"Scheduled scans run on whatever frequency your organization requires, daily, weekly, or hourly for critical segments. Each scan updates the inventory, detects new devices, identifies removed devices, and records any changes in configuration or software. The result is an inventory that is always current, not one that reflects a point-in-time snapshot from weeks or months ago.",[240,389,391],{"id":390},"pre-built-compliance-reports","Pre-Built Compliance Reports",[12,393,394],{},"Open-AudIT ships with more than 250 pre-built reports designed specifically for compliance use cases. These reports map directly to the control requirements of CIS Controls, NIST CSF, ISO 27001, and the Essential Eight. When an auditor requests evidence of a complete asset inventory, a software inventory, or a hardware configuration baseline, Open-AudIT produces it on demand with timestamped, verifiable data.",[22,396,398],{"id":397},"beyond-inventory-configuration-baselines-change-detection-and-vulnerability-scanning","Beyond Inventory: Configuration Baselines, Change Detection, and Vulnerability Scanning",[12,400,401],{},"A complete asset inventory is the starting point for compliance, but it is not the finish line. Open-AudIT extends beyond basic inventory to provide additional capabilities that address multiple compliance controls from a single platform.",[12,403,404,407],{},[250,405,406],{},"Configuration baselines"," allow you to define a known-good configuration for a device type and then compare every device of that type against the baseline. Deviations are flagged automatically, making it straightforward to identify devices that have drifted from your approved configuration standard.",[12,409,410,413],{},[250,411,412],{},"Change detection"," records every modification to every device between scans. When software is installed or removed, when a network interface configuration changes, when a user account is added, Open-AudIT records it with a timestamp and makes it available for audit. This directly supports change management controls across all major frameworks.",[12,415,416,419],{},[250,417,418],{},"Vulnerability scanning"," in Open-AudIT v6.0 cross-references discovered software and firmware versions against the NIST National Vulnerability Database using CVE v6.0 data. This means the same platform that inventories your devices and tracks configuration changes can also identify which assets are running software with known vulnerabilities, closing the gap between asset management and vulnerability management without requiring a separate tool.",[22,421,423],{"id":422},"conclusion","Conclusion",[12,425,426],{},"Compliance starts with visibility, and visibility starts with discovery. Every major cybersecurity framework agrees that a complete, accurate, and current asset inventory is the foundation of an effective security program. Yet most organizations struggle with this foundational control because they rely on manual processes that cannot keep pace with the reality of modern networks.",[12,428,429],{},"Automated, agentless discovery solves this problem by building and maintaining your asset inventory from observed network data rather than human documentation. When the inventory is always current, compliance evidence is always available, and the gap between what you think is on your network and what is actually there disappears.",[22,431,433],{"id":432},"get-started-with-open-audit","Get Started with Open-AudIT",[12,435,436],{},"Open-AudIT's free Community edition supports up to 100 devices with full agentless discovery, automatic inventory, and compliance reporting capabilities. Download it today and take the first step toward continuous compliance readiness.",[12,438,439],{},[151,440,442],{"href":441},"\u002Fdownload\u002F","Get Open-AudIT Free",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":444},[445,446,453,454,460,461,462],{"id":224,"depth":179,"text":225},{"id":237,"depth":179,"text":238,"children":447},[448,450,451,452],{"id":242,"depth":449,"text":243},3,{"id":265,"depth":449,"text":266},{"id":278,"depth":449,"text":279},{"id":300,"depth":449,"text":301},{"id":328,"depth":179,"text":329},{"id":362,"depth":179,"text":363,"children":455},[456,457,458,459],{"id":369,"depth":449,"text":370},{"id":376,"depth":449,"text":377},{"id":383,"depth":449,"text":384},{"id":390,"depth":449,"text":391},{"id":397,"depth":179,"text":398},{"id":422,"depth":179,"text":423},{"id":432,"depth":179,"text":433},"Compliance","2026-03-26","Every major compliance framework starts with the same requirement: know what you have. Learn how automated IT asset management with Open-AudIT satisfies NIST CSF, ISO 27001, CIS Controls, and Essential Eight asset inventory requirements.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fit-asset-management-for-compliance-nist-iso-cis",{"title":212,"description":465},"it-asset-management-for-compliance-nist-iso-cis","blog\u002Fit-asset-management-for-compliance-nist-iso-cis",[472,473,474,475,476,477,478,479],"compliance","NIST","ISO 27001","CIS Controls","Essential Eight","asset management","ITAM","open-audit","1EShwskAVMNsxpPrTolUej-G7L9xGKGqsVs3VW24HZw",{"id":482,"title":483,"author":213,"body":484,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":464,"description":831,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":187,"meta":832,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":833,"seo":834,"slug":835,"stem":836,"tags":837,"__hash__":844},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-vs-netbox-which-is-right-for-your-network.md","Open-AudIT vs NetBox: Which Is Right for Your Network?",{"type":9,"value":485,"toc":810},[486,489,492,496,499,502,506,509,512,516,643,647,651,654,657,661,664,667,670,674,677,681,685,688,692,695,699,702,706,709,713,719,722,725,728,732,735,740,757,762,776,781,792,794,797,800,802,805],[12,487,488],{},"If you manage network infrastructure, you have almost certainly encountered both Open-AudIT and NetBox in your research. Both tools occupy the broad category of network infrastructure management, but they approach the problem from fundamentally different directions. Understanding those differences is critical to choosing the right tool for your organization, or deciding whether you need both.",[12,490,491],{},"This post provides a fair, thorough comparison to help IT leaders, network engineers, and security teams make an informed decision.",[22,493,495],{"id":494},"what-is-netbox","What Is NetBox?",[12,497,498],{},"NetBox is an open-source infrastructure resource modeling application originally developed by DigitalOcean and now maintained by NetBox Labs. Built on Django and Python, it functions primarily as an IP Address Management (IPAM) and Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) tool. NetBox serves as a \"source of truth\" for network infrastructure, a centralized place where teams document IP allocations, rack layouts, cable connections, circuit details, and device inventories.",[12,500,501],{},"With over 15,000 GitHub stars and backed by $55 million in venture capital funding, NetBox has built a strong community and a growing ecosystem of plugins and integrations. Its REST and GraphQL APIs make it a popular choice for teams building network automation pipelines with tools like Ansible and Terraform.",[22,503,505],{"id":504},"what-is-open-audit","What Is Open-AudIT?",[12,507,508],{},"Open-AudIT is an agentless network discovery and IT asset management platform developed by FirstWave. Where NetBox asks teams to document their infrastructure, Open-AudIT goes out and discovers it automatically. Using protocols like SNMP, WMI, and SSH, Open-AudIT scans your network, identifies every connected device, retrieves detailed configuration data, and builds a comprehensive inventory without requiring agents on endpoints.",[12,510,511],{},"With over 20 years of development history and deployment across more than 150,000 organizations worldwide, Open-AudIT has evolved into a full compliance and security platform. Version 6.0 introduced AI-driven compliance checking, CVE-based vulnerability detection, and pre-built report packs aligned with frameworks like NIST CSF, ISO 27001, CIS Controls, and the Australian Essential Eight.",[22,513,515],{"id":514},"head-to-head-comparison","Head-to-Head Comparison",[517,518,519,535],"table",{},[520,521,522],"thead",{},[523,524,525,529,532],"tr",{},[526,527,528],"th",{},"Capability",[526,530,531],{},"Open-AudIT",[526,533,534],{},"NetBox",[536,537,538,552,565,578,591,604,617,630],"tbody",{},[523,539,540,546,549],{},[541,542,543],"td",{},[250,544,545],{},"Network Discovery",[541,547,548],{},"Agentless, automatic discovery via SNMP, WMI, SSH, and Nmap",[541,550,551],{},"No built-in discovery; relies on manual entry or external sync scripts",[523,553,554,559,562],{},[541,555,556],{},[250,557,558],{},"Compliance Reporting",[541,560,561],{},"250+ pre-built reports mapped to NIST, ISO, CIS, Essential Eight",[541,563,564],{},"No native compliance reporting",[523,566,567,572,575],{},[541,568,569],{},[250,570,571],{},"IPAM",[541,573,574],{},"Basic IP address tracking via discovery",[541,576,577],{},"Deep IPAM with prefix hierarchies, VLANs, VRFs, and IP range management",[523,579,580,585,588],{},[541,581,582],{},[250,583,584],{},"DCIM",[541,586,587],{},"Device inventory and location tracking",[541,589,590],{},"Full DCIM with rack elevations, power distribution, and cable management",[523,592,593,598,601],{},[541,594,595],{},[250,596,597],{},"Vulnerability Detection",[541,599,600],{},"Built-in CVE v6.0 cross-referencing against the NIST NVD",[541,602,603],{},"No native vulnerability detection",[523,605,606,611,614],{},[541,607,608],{},[250,609,610],{},"Deployment Complexity",[541,612,613],{},"Install and scan in under an hour; no agents required",[541,615,616],{},"Requires PostgreSQL, Redis, and manual data population",[523,618,619,624,627],{},[541,620,621],{},[250,622,623],{},"AI Features",[541,625,626],{},"AI-driven compliance engine for automated framework mapping",[541,628,629],{},"No native AI features",[523,631,632,637,640],{},[541,633,634],{},[250,635,636],{},"Licensing",[541,638,639],{},"Free Community edition (up to 100 devices); Professional and Enterprise tiers",[541,641,642],{},"Free open-source core; NetBox Labs offers paid enterprise features and cloud hosting",[22,644,646],{"id":645},"where-open-audit-excels","Where Open-AudIT Excels",[240,648,650],{"id":649},"automatic-agentless-discovery","Automatic, Agentless Discovery",[12,652,653],{},"Open-AudIT's greatest strength is its ability to discover what is actually on your network without any manual effort. Point it at a subnet, provide credentials, and within minutes you have a detailed inventory of every responding device, including hardware specifications, installed software, operating system versions, network interfaces, and open ports. No agents to deploy. No spreadsheets to maintain. No guessing.",[12,655,656],{},"For organizations that do not have a perfectly maintained CMDB or are inheriting infrastructure from acquisitions, mergers, or departing staff, this discovery-first approach delivers immediate value.",[240,658,660],{"id":659},"compliance-and-audit-readiness","Compliance and Audit Readiness",[12,662,663],{},"Open-AudIT ships with more than 250 pre-built reports designed for compliance auditors. These reports map directly to control requirements in NIST CSF, ISO 27001, CIS Controls v8, and the Australian Essential Eight. When an auditor asks for evidence that you maintain a complete and current asset inventory, Open-AudIT produces it on demand, because the data is continuously discovered and updated, not manually maintained.",[240,665,597],{"id":666},"vulnerability-detection",[12,668,669],{},"Version 6.0 introduced integrated vulnerability detection that cross-references discovered software and firmware versions against the NIST National Vulnerability Database using CVE v6.0 data. This means the same tool that inventories your network can also identify which devices are running software with known vulnerabilities, without requiring a separate vulnerability scanner.",[240,671,673],{"id":672},"time-to-value","Time-to-Value",[12,675,676],{},"Open-AudIT can be downloaded, installed, and running its first network scan in under an hour. There is no complex data migration, no schema design, and no need to manually populate device records before getting value from the tool. The network tells Open-AudIT what exists, not the other way around.",[22,678,680],{"id":679},"where-netbox-excels","Where NetBox Excels",[240,682,684],{"id":683},"ipam-depth","IPAM Depth",[12,686,687],{},"NetBox offers one of the most comprehensive IPAM implementations available in any open-source tool. Its hierarchical prefix model, VRF support, VLAN management, and IP range tracking make it the tool of choice for network engineers who need precise control over address space allocation. If your primary challenge is managing IP address assignments across a large, complex network, NetBox provides capabilities that go well beyond what a discovery tool can offer.",[240,689,691],{"id":690},"data-center-infrastructure-management","Data Center Infrastructure Management",[12,693,694],{},"For organizations that operate their own data centers or colocation facilities, NetBox's DCIM features are exceptional. Rack elevation diagrams, power distribution tracking, cable path documentation, and physical device placement provide a level of facility management detail that is outside Open-AudIT's scope.",[240,696,698],{"id":697},"plugin-ecosystem","Plugin Ecosystem",[12,700,701],{},"NetBox's plugin architecture has fostered a growing ecosystem of community-contributed extensions. From BGP session management to network topology visualization, plugins allow teams to extend NetBox into areas that the core product does not cover.",[240,703,705],{"id":704},"automation-apis","Automation APIs",[12,707,708],{},"NetBox's REST and GraphQL APIs are designed for integration with infrastructure-as-code workflows. Native support for Ansible inventory, Terraform providers, and webhook-driven automation makes NetBox a natural fit for teams that manage infrastructure programmatically and need a single API-accessible source of truth to drive their automation pipelines.",[22,710,712],{"id":711},"the-key-differentiator","The Key Differentiator",[12,714,715,716],{},"The fundamental difference between these two tools comes down to a single question: ",[250,717,718],{},"How does your source of truth get built?",[12,720,721],{},"NetBox is a source of truth built on documentation. Its value depends on the accuracy and completeness of the data that humans (or scripts) enter into it. When teams are disciplined about maintaining their records, or when automation pipelines handle data synchronization, NetBox provides an authoritative reference that drives downstream processes.",[12,723,724],{},"Open-AudIT is a source of truth built on discovery. Its value comes from going out and observing the network as it actually exists, regardless of what any documentation says. When the network changes, a device is added, a configuration is modified, a rogue device appears, Open-AudIT detects it automatically.",[12,726,727],{},"Neither approach is inherently superior. But for most organizations, the reality is that documentation drifts. Networks change faster than teams can update records. Shadow IT appears. Devices get provisioned outside of official processes. In that context, a discovery-based source of truth tends to reflect reality more accurately than a documentation-based one.",[22,729,731],{"id":730},"which-should-you-choose","Which Should You Choose?",[12,733,734],{},"The right tool depends on your primary role and use case:",[12,736,737],{},[250,738,739],{},"Choose Open-AudIT if you need to:",[116,741,742,745,748,751,754],{},[119,743,744],{},"Know exactly what is on your network right now",[119,746,747],{},"Prepare for compliance audits with minimal manual effort",[119,749,750],{},"Detect unauthorized or rogue devices automatically",[119,752,753],{},"Identify vulnerabilities across your device inventory",[119,755,756],{},"Get operational visibility quickly without a large implementation project",[12,758,759],{},[250,760,761],{},"Choose NetBox if you need to:",[116,763,764,767,770,773],{},[119,765,766],{},"Manage complex IP address allocations across multiple sites and VRFs",[119,768,769],{},"Document physical data center infrastructure including racks, power, and cabling",[119,771,772],{},"Build automation pipelines that consume a structured source of truth via API",[119,774,775],{},"Maintain a network design document that drives provisioning workflows",[12,777,778],{},[250,779,780],{},"Consider using both if you need to:",[116,782,783,786,789],{},[119,784,785],{},"Discover and audit what actually exists (Open-AudIT) while maintaining an authoritative design record for what should exist (NetBox)",[119,787,788],{},"Feed discovered data from Open-AudIT into NetBox to keep your documentation aligned with reality",[119,790,791],{},"Cover both compliance\u002Fsecurity requirements and infrastructure planning\u002Fautomation use cases",[22,793,423],{"id":422},[12,795,796],{},"Open-AudIT and NetBox are not direct competitors so much as they are tools that serve different primary needs. Open-AudIT answers the question \"What is actually on my network and is it compliant?\" while NetBox answers \"How is my network designed and how should it be configured?\"",[12,798,799],{},"For many organizations, the most powerful approach is to let Open-AudIT discover and audit the network continuously while using NetBox as the design authority and automation driver. But if you must choose one, the decision comes down to whether your most pressing challenge is visibility and compliance or planning and automation.",[22,801,433],{"id":432},[12,803,804],{},"Ready to see what is really on your network? Open-AudIT's free Community edition supports up to 100 devices with full discovery capabilities. Download it today and run your first scan in under an hour, no agents, no complex setup, no guesswork.",[12,806,807],{},[151,808,809],{"href":441},"Try Open-AudIT Free",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":811},[812,813,814,815,821,827,828,829,830],{"id":494,"depth":179,"text":495},{"id":504,"depth":179,"text":505},{"id":514,"depth":179,"text":515},{"id":645,"depth":179,"text":646,"children":816},[817,818,819,820],{"id":649,"depth":449,"text":650},{"id":659,"depth":449,"text":660},{"id":666,"depth":449,"text":597},{"id":672,"depth":449,"text":673},{"id":679,"depth":179,"text":680,"children":822},[823,824,825,826],{"id":683,"depth":449,"text":684},{"id":690,"depth":449,"text":691},{"id":697,"depth":449,"text":698},{"id":704,"depth":449,"text":705},{"id":711,"depth":179,"text":712},{"id":730,"depth":179,"text":731},{"id":422,"depth":179,"text":423},{"id":432,"depth":179,"text":433},"A detailed comparison of Open-AudIT and NetBox for network infrastructure management. Discover the key differences in discovery, compliance, IPAM, DCIM, and more to find the right tool for your organization.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-vs-netbox-which-is-right-for-your-network",{"title":483,"description":831},"open-audit-vs-netbox-which-is-right-for-your-network","blog\u002Fopen-audit-vs-netbox-which-is-right-for-your-network",[479,838,839,840,841,842,843],"netbox","comparison","network discovery","ipam","dcim","network management","2aVFbNKBrpoRE2V24SbwI02ZeRjfV0unXCLnyBruz0U",{"id":846,"title":847,"author":213,"body":848,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":464,"description":1012,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":187,"meta":1013,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":1014,"seo":1015,"slug":1016,"stem":1017,"tags":1018,"__hash__":1022},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-agentless-network-discovery-beats-manual-documentation.md","Why Agentless Network Discovery Beats Manual Documentation",{"type":9,"value":849,"toc":1002},[850,853,856,859,863,866,869,872,875,879,882,888,894,897,901,904,907,910,913,916,920,923,926,929,932,936,939,945,951,957,963,967,970,973,976,979,981,984,987,990,994,997],[12,851,852],{},"Every IT team starts with good intentions. A new network is deployed, and someone creates a spreadsheet or wiki page that documents every device, IP address, and configuration detail. For a brief moment, that document is accurate. Then reality sets in.",[12,854,855],{},"A technician swaps a failed switch and forgets to update the inventory. A developer spins up a virtual machine for testing and never decommissions it. An employee brings a personal device to the office and plugs it into an open port. Within weeks, the carefully maintained documentation no longer reflects what is actually on the network.",[12,857,858],{},"This is the documentation gap, and it is the root cause of failed audits, slow incident response, and security blind spots across enterprises of every size.",[22,860,862],{"id":861},"the-documentation-gap","The Documentation Gap",[12,864,865],{},"Manual network documentation has a fundamental flaw: it requires humans to remember to update it every time something changes. In practice, this almost never happens consistently.",[12,867,868],{},"Consider how quickly a typical enterprise network changes. Devices are added, moved, and retired on a daily basis. Virtual machines and containers are provisioned and destroyed in minutes. BYOD policies mean personal phones, tablets, and laptops connect to the network without going through any provisioning workflow. Shadow IT, cloud services, IoT devices, personal hotspots, operates entirely outside of official documentation processes.",[12,870,871],{},"Industry research consistently shows that most organizations cannot account for 20 to 30 percent of the devices on their network at any given time. That means one in four or five devices is effectively invisible to IT management. Those invisible devices represent unpatched vulnerabilities, unlicensed software, and compliance gaps that no one knows about until an auditor or attacker finds them first.",[12,873,874],{},"The cost of this invisibility is not hypothetical. Compliance fines, extended incident response times, redundant hardware purchases, and software license over-spending are all direct consequences of inaccurate network inventory.",[22,876,878],{"id":877},"agent-based-vs-agentless-discovery","Agent-Based vs Agentless Discovery",[12,880,881],{},"Automated network discovery solves the documentation gap by scanning the network and building an inventory from what actually exists. But not all discovery approaches are equal. The two primary models are agent-based and agentless.",[12,883,884,887],{},[250,885,886],{},"Agent-based discovery"," requires installing a software agent on every device you want to monitor. The agent collects system information and reports it back to a central server. While agents can provide deep telemetry, they come with significant operational overhead. Every device needs the agent deployed and maintained. Agents consume resources on the endpoint. They require updates and compatibility testing. And critically, they only work on devices where you can install software, which excludes network switches, printers, IoT devices, and any system you do not directly manage.",[12,889,890,893],{},[250,891,892],{},"Agentless discovery"," uses standard network protocols to query devices remotely. By leveraging SNMP, WMI, SSH, and network scanning techniques, an agentless discovery tool can identify and interrogate any device on the network without installing anything on the endpoint. This means it works with managed and unmanaged devices alike, from Windows servers to Linux workstations, from Cisco switches to IP cameras, from enterprise printers to rogue devices that should not be there at all.",[12,895,896],{},"For most organizations, agentless discovery is the superior approach because it provides broader coverage with lower operational overhead. You do not need to plan rollouts, manage agent versions, or worry about endpoint compatibility. You simply point the tool at your network and let it work.",[22,898,900],{"id":899},"how-agentless-discovery-works","How Agentless Discovery Works",[12,902,903],{},"An agentless discovery tool like Open-AudIT follows a systematic process to build and maintain a complete network inventory.",[12,905,906],{},"First, the tool performs a network scan across specified subnets to identify every device with a network presence. This uses techniques similar to Nmap to detect responding IP addresses and open ports. Even devices without credentials will be identified and recorded at this stage.",[12,908,909],{},"Next, the tool attempts to authenticate against each discovered device using the credentials provided by the administrator. For Windows devices, it uses WMI to retrieve detailed system information. For Linux and Unix systems, it uses SSH. For network equipment like switches, routers, and access points, it uses SNMP. Each protocol returns a rich set of attributes: hardware specifications, installed software, operating system versions, network interface configurations, user accounts, running services, and more.",[12,911,912],{},"The collected data is stored in a structured database and compared against previous scan results. This comparison is where the real power emerges. The tool can detect when a new device appears on the network, when a device disappears, when software is installed or removed, when a configuration changes, or when a device's status shifts in any way.",[12,914,915],{},"By scheduling scans to run on a recurring basis, daily, weekly, or even hourly for critical segments, the inventory stays continuously aligned with reality. No human intervention required.",[22,917,919],{"id":918},"the-source-of-truth-argument","The Source of Truth Argument",[12,921,922],{},"There is a common assertion in IT operations that you need a \"source of truth\" for your network, a single authoritative record of what exists and how it is configured. This is correct. The question is how that source of truth gets built and maintained.",[12,924,925],{},"A manually maintained source of truth is only as accurate as your last manual update. If the last update was a week ago, you are working with week-old data. If a critical change happened yesterday and no one documented it, your source of truth is lying to you.",[12,927,928],{},"A discovery-based source of truth is always current because it is built from observation, not documentation. Every scan refreshes the data. Every new device gets recorded. Every change gets detected. The network itself is the source, and the discovery tool is the mechanism that captures it.",[12,930,931],{},"This distinction becomes especially important during security incidents. When a vulnerability is disclosed and you need to know every device running the affected software, a discovery-based inventory gives you the answer in minutes. A manually maintained inventory gives you a best guess, and the devices you miss are often the ones that get compromised.",[22,933,935],{"id":934},"real-world-impact","Real-World Impact",[12,937,938],{},"The consequences of accurate versus inaccurate network inventory play out across several critical IT functions.",[12,940,941,944],{},[250,942,943],{},"Compliance audits"," require evidence of a complete and current asset inventory. Frameworks like CIS Controls, NIST CSF, and ISO 27001 all mandate it as a foundational control. Discovery-based inventory provides auditable evidence that is timestamped, comprehensive, and repeatable. Manual spreadsheets require auditors to take your word for it, and experienced auditors rarely do.",[12,946,947,950],{},[250,948,949],{},"Security incident response"," depends on knowing what is on your network and how it is configured. When a new CVE is published, response teams need to identify affected systems immediately. Discovery data provides that visibility in minutes rather than the hours or days it takes to manually audit an environment.",[12,952,953,956],{},[250,954,955],{},"Change management"," processes are only effective when you can detect unauthorized changes. Agentless discovery identifies configuration drift, unauthorized software installations, and unapproved devices automatically, turning change management from a trust-based process into a verification-based one.",[12,958,959,962],{},[250,960,961],{},"IT budgeting and procurement"," benefit from accurate inventory data that shows exactly what hardware and software you have, what is nearing end of life, and what is underutilized. Organizations routinely discover that they own assets they forgot about, eliminating redundant purchases.",[22,964,966],{"id":965},"open-audits-approach","Open-AudIT's Approach",[12,968,969],{},"Open-AudIT implements agentless discovery as its core capability. Administrators define network scans by specifying subnets and credentials, then schedule those scans to run on any desired frequency. Open-AudIT handles the rest.",[12,971,972],{},"Each scan discovers devices across the specified range, authenticates where possible, retrieves detailed attributes, and compares results against the existing inventory. New devices are flagged. Changes are recorded with timestamps. Devices that stop responding are tracked for follow-up.",[12,974,975],{},"The result is a continuously updated inventory that serves as the foundation for Open-AudIT's compliance reporting, vulnerability detection, and security posture management features. With more than 250 pre-built reports and the ability to create custom queries, teams can answer virtually any question about their infrastructure from a single platform.",[12,977,978],{},"Recurring scans also serve as an early warning system for rogue devices. When an unauthorized device appears on the network, whether it is an employee's personal laptop, a contractor's testing equipment, or something more concerning, Open-AudIT detects it on the next scan and makes it visible to the security team.",[22,980,423],{"id":422},[12,982,983],{},"The choice between manual documentation and automated discovery is not a close call. Manual processes cannot keep pace with the rate of change in modern networks. They introduce gaps that create compliance risk, security exposure, and operational inefficiency.",[12,985,986],{},"Agentless network discovery eliminates the documentation gap by building and maintaining your network inventory from observed reality. It works with every device type, requires no endpoint software, and scales from small offices to large enterprises without additional per-device overhead.",[12,988,989],{},"For IT teams that need to know what is on their network, not what was on their network last time someone updated a spreadsheet, discovery-first is the only approach that delivers consistent, reliable results.",[22,991,993],{"id":992},"start-a-free-scan-with-open-audit","Start a Free Scan with Open-AudIT",[12,995,996],{},"Open-AudIT's free Community edition lets you discover up to 100 devices with full agentless scanning. Download it, point it at your network, and see what you have been missing.",[12,998,999],{},[151,1000,1001],{"href":441},"Download Open-AudIT Free",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":1003},[1004,1005,1006,1007,1008,1009,1010,1011],{"id":861,"depth":179,"text":862},{"id":877,"depth":179,"text":878},{"id":899,"depth":179,"text":900},{"id":918,"depth":179,"text":919},{"id":934,"depth":179,"text":935},{"id":965,"depth":179,"text":966},{"id":422,"depth":179,"text":423},{"id":992,"depth":179,"text":993},"Manual network documentation drifts from reality the moment it is created. Learn why agentless network discovery tools deliver more accurate, reliable infrastructure visibility than spreadsheets and manual inventory processes.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-agentless-network-discovery-beats-manual-documentation",{"title":847,"description":1012},"why-agentless-network-discovery-beats-manual-documentation","blog\u002Fwhy-agentless-network-discovery-beats-manual-documentation",[840,1019,1020,477,479,1021],"agentless","network inventory","automation","Ae_Zkre_aEGfa5sTGb6IlGkz2LggZRixPGVDu_HZVuE",{"id":1024,"title":1025,"author":213,"body":1026,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":1071,"description":1072,"extension":191,"featured":195,"fields":187,"image":1073,"meta":1074,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":1075,"seo":1076,"slug":1077,"stem":1078,"tags":1079,"__hash__":1082},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-6-release.md","Introducing Open-AudIT 6: AI-Driven Compliance and Complete Network Discovery",{"type":9,"value":1027,"toc":1067},[1028,1031,1035,1055,1059,1062],[12,1029,1030],{},"Open-AudIT 6 is the most significant release in the product's history. With AI-driven compliance checking, enhanced vulnerability detection, and a redesigned security dashboard, organisations can now validate compliance status across their entire infrastructure automatically.",[22,1032,1034],{"id":1033},"whats-new","What's New",[116,1036,1037,1043,1049],{},[119,1038,1039,1042],{},[250,1040,1041],{},"AI Compliance Engine",", Automatically map your device inventory against compliance frameworks including NIST, ISO 27001, Essential Eight, and CIS Controls.",[119,1044,1045,1048],{},[250,1046,1047],{},"Enhanced Vulnerability Detection",", Cross-reference every device and application against the NIST National Vulnerability Database without additional tooling.",[119,1050,1051,1054],{},[250,1052,1053],{},"Redesigned Security Dashboard",", A single-pane-of-glass view of your network security posture with actionable insights.",[22,1056,1058],{"id":1057},"getting-started","Getting Started",[12,1060,1061],{},"Open-AudIT 6 is available now as a free download. Existing customers can upgrade in-place with no data loss.",[12,1063,1064],{},[151,1065,1066],{"href":441},"Download Open-AudIT 6",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":1068},[1069,1070],{"id":1033,"depth":179,"text":1034},{"id":1057,"depth":179,"text":1058},"2025-12-01","Open-AudIT 6 delivers AI-enhanced asset intelligence to help organisations protect their networks and maintain continuous compliance.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-6-release.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-6-release",{"title":1025,"description":1072},"open-audit-6-release","blog\u002Fopen-audit-6-release",[479,472,1080,1081],"ai","release","YoZKOhE_ECMmsLAR7la9GYp5XRWW8k7QLWjbYZ4Zbxg",{"id":1084,"title":1085,"author":1086,"body":1087,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":1197,"description":1198,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":1199,"meta":1200,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":1201,"seo":1202,"slug":1203,"stem":1204,"tags":1205,"__hash__":1209},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fchallenges-for-government-and-msps-implementing-essential-8.md","Challenges for Government and MSPs Implementing Essential 8","Luke Richardson",{"type":9,"value":1088,"toc":1186},[1089,1092,1096,1099,1103,1106,1110,1113,1117,1123,1129,1132,1136,1142,1145,1149,1152,1156,1162,1165,1168,1172],[12,1090,1091],{},"Implementing the Essential Eight can be difficult in practice, especially for government agencies and managed service providers. Below are some key challenges these organizations face.",[22,1093,1095],{"id":1094},"mandates-and-compliance-pressure","Mandates and Compliance Pressure",[12,1097,1098],{},"In the public sector, E8 isn't just guidance -- it's increasingly mandatory. For example, the NSW Cyber Security Policy requires all state agencies to achieve at least Maturity Level 1 across all eight controls. At the federal level, the government has signaled that compliance with the full Essential Eight is expected to bolster national cyber resilience. This creates pressure to meet specific maturity targets by set deadlines. Agencies must undergo audits and report their E8 maturity status annually, meaning non-compliance can result in scrutiny or penalties. MSPs that serve government clients also feel this pressure, as they may be contractually required to uphold E8 controls to protect client environments. Failure to comply can risk contract loss or legal liability.",[22,1100,1102],{"id":1101},"complex-legacy-it-environments","Complex, Legacy IT Environments",[12,1104,1105],{},"Government departments often maintain large, heterogeneous IT environments with legacy systems, proprietary applications, and outdated hardware. Such complexity makes it hard to uniformly implement controls like application allow-listing or timely patching. Legacy software might not support modern security features (e.g. enforcing MFA or disabling macros), yet cannot be easily replaced due to operational needs. Similarly, MSPs manage multiple client networks, each with different architectures and legacy issues. Ensuring Essential Eight controls are applied consistently across this diverse landscape is challenging. Custom configurations and one-off exceptions abound, which can create gaps in the security baseline. Without careful management, an MSP or agency could have certain business units or client sites well-protected while others remain at Level 0 due to legacy constraints.",[22,1107,1109],{"id":1108},"resource-and-skill-constraints","Resource and Skill Constraints",[12,1111,1112],{},"Another major challenge is the limited cybersecurity personnel and resources in many public sector organizations. Government IT teams are often small and stretched thin, making it difficult to continuously monitor compliance (e.g. checking every machine's patch status weekly) or respond rapidly to new threats. Skilled security professionals are in high demand, and public sector salaries can make it hard to attract\u002Fretain talent. MSPs, on the other hand, might have security expertise but must spread their team across many clients, which limits the time spent on each client's security maintenance. Both face the risk of \"framework fatigue,\" where keeping up with Essential Eight (and other frameworks) becomes a full-time job in itself. In practice, without automation, teams resort to labor-intensive processes (spreadsheets, manual audits) that are error-prone and hard to scale.",[22,1114,1116],{"id":1115},"visibility-gaps-and-asset-management","Visibility Gaps and Asset Management",[12,1118,1119],{},[38,1120],{"alt":1121,"src":1122},"Discovery, auditing, and compliance process diagram","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FDiscovery-Auditing-Compliance-Process-Diagram-FirstWave.png",[12,1124,1125],{},[38,1126],{"alt":1127,"src":1128},"Open-AudIT all devices view for asset visibility","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-all-devices-close-up.png",[12,1130,1131],{},"A foundational challenge for both government and MSPs is simply knowing what you have. It's impossible to secure or patch devices you don't know about. Many organizations lack a complete, up-to-date asset inventory -- shadow IT systems, forgotten laptops, or new IoT devices can fall through the cracks. This undermines several E8 controls (application control, patching, etc.). Manually maintaining asset lists via spreadsheets or periodic audits often leaves gaps. One agency noted that \"closing compliance gaps used to take weeks of chasing spreadsheets\" and still missed things. Without continuous visibility, an organization might think it has patched all systems or removed admin rights, only to be blind-sided by an untracked device or account. This is especially tricky for MSPs juggling many client networks; keeping comprehensive visibility in each environment is a tall order without centralized tools.",[22,1133,1135],{"id":1134},"maintaining-continuous-compliance","Maintaining Continuous Compliance",[12,1137,1138],{},[38,1139],{"alt":1140,"src":1141},"opConfig compliance task sheet for continuous compliance","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopConfig-Compliance-Task-Sheet-700.png",[12,1143,1144],{},"Achieving E8 compliance once is not enough -- the real difficulty lies in sustaining it. Systems are dynamic: new vulnerabilities emerge monthly, users install software or change settings, staff turnover leads to permission changes, and so on. In a government setting, an agency might reach Maturity Level 1 this year, but without ongoing effort could slip back as new gaps appear (e.g. a critical patch is missed on a new server). Essential Eight requires continuous enforcement: patching within specified time frames, ensuring macros stay disabled, verifying backups run every day, etc. For MSPs, the challenge multiplies across clients: they must keep every customer's systems in compliance, every day. This is difficult without automation and centralized monitoring. The need to detect drift (when a system falls out of compliance) and remediate quickly is paramount. Many organizations struggle here -- they might perform well in a one-time assessment, but day-to-day drift leads to non-compliance by the next review. Building processes and procuring tools that enable continuous compliance is a significant hurdle.",[22,1146,1148],{"id":1147},"balancing-security-with-usability","Balancing Security with Usability",[12,1150,1151],{},"Both government IT departments and MSPs must implement the Essential Eight in a way that doesn't disrupt business operations. Controls like application whitelisting or disabling Office macros can generate user pushback or productivity hits if done bluntly. Agencies face internal resistance if security measures impede business workflows (for instance, an analyst needing a macro-enabled spreadsheet). MSPs similarly must balance client user experience with security -- if their security service is too restrictive, clients may complain. Thus, the challenge is finding solutions that harmonize with existing workflows: e.g. phasing in application control gradually, using technology to automate exceptions, and educating users to reduce frustration. This cultural and operational aspect can be as challenging as the technical implementation.",[22,1153,1155],{"id":1154},"how-firstwave-can-help","How FirstWave Can Help",[12,1157,1158],{},[38,1159],{"alt":1160,"src":1161},"CyberCision platform illustration","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fcybercision.png",[12,1163,1164],{},"In summary, public sector organizations and MSPs have strong incentives to adopt the Essential Eight, but they encounter significant obstacles around complexity, resource constraints, visibility, and maintenance. Overcoming these challenges requires smart planning and the help of automated, integrated tools -- which is where FirstWave's solution is targeted. FirstWave's layered defense approach and capabilities directly address these pain points, enabling government and MSP customers to achieve and sustain Essential Eight compliance more easily.",[1166,1167],"hr",{},[22,1169,1171],{"id":1170},"related-reading","Related Reading",[116,1173,1174,1180],{},[119,1175,1176],{},[151,1177,1179],{"href":1178},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-the-essential-eight\u002F","What is the Essential Eight",[119,1181,1182],{},[151,1183,1185],{"href":1184},"\u002Fblog\u002Fit-asset-management-for-compliance-nist-iso-cis\u002F","IT Asset Management for Compliance: NIST, ISO, CIS",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":1187},[1188,1189,1190,1191,1192,1193,1194,1195],{"id":1094,"depth":179,"text":1095},{"id":1101,"depth":179,"text":1102},{"id":1108,"depth":179,"text":1109},{"id":1115,"depth":179,"text":1116},{"id":1134,"depth":179,"text":1135},{"id":1147,"depth":179,"text":1148},{"id":1154,"depth":179,"text":1155},{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":1171},"Cybersecurity","2025-10-23","Key obstacles government agencies and MSPs face when implementing the Essential Eight, from legacy IT to continuous compliance.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fessential-8-min_orig.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fchallenges-for-government-and-msps-implementing-essential-8",{"title":1085,"description":1198},"challenges-for-government-and-msps-implementing-essential-8","blog\u002Fchallenges-for-government-and-msps-implementing-essential-8",[1206,1207,472,1208,205],"essential eight","cybersecurity","government","CKTKafKfB8CJwyyl_FFAqfngtt3qHMvW96VwuJlDL5k",{"id":1211,"title":1179,"author":7,"body":1212,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":1197,"description":1317,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":1318,"meta":1319,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":1320,"seo":1321,"slug":1216,"stem":1322,"tags":1323,"__hash__":1326},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-the-essential-eight.md",{"type":9,"value":1213,"toc":1312},[1214,1217,1220,1224,1229,1235,1241,1247,1252,1258,1264,1270,1274,1277,1283,1289,1295,1301,1304],[22,1215,1179],{"id":1216},"what-is-the-essential-eight",[12,1218,1219],{},"The Essential Eight is a set of eight practical mitigation strategies recommended by the ACSC to reduce the risk of common cyber threats such as ransomware, phishing, data breaches, and targeted network intrusions. These strategies were designed to be effective from multiple angles and feasible for organizations of various sizes. Each control addresses a specific aspect of cybersecurity; when implemented together, they provide a layered defense that significantly strengthens an organization's security posture.",[22,1221,1223],{"id":1222},"the-essential-eight-controls-and-their-goals","The Essential Eight Controls and Their Goals",[12,1225,1226,1228],{},[250,1227,309],{}," -- Ensure only approved (whitelisted) applications can run on systems, preventing execution of unauthorized or malicious software. This greatly reduces the risk of malware or untrusted programs entering your network.",[12,1230,1231,1234],{},[250,1232,1233],{},"Patch Applications"," -- Keep third-party software (e.g. browsers, office suites, runtimes) up to date by promptly applying security patches. This closes known vulnerabilities in applications that attackers could exploit.",[12,1236,1237,1240],{},[250,1238,1239],{},"Configure Microsoft Office Macro Settings"," -- Block or tightly restrict macros in Office documents, especially those downloaded from the internet. Macros are a common malware delivery mechanism; disabling them by default or only allowing trusted macros helps ensure users don't inadvertently run harmful code.",[12,1242,1243,1246],{},[250,1244,1245],{},"User Application Hardening"," -- Harden the configuration of user applications by disabling or removing features not needed, especially those that are commonly abused. For example, turn off unsafe browser plugins (like Flash), block ads or remote code in PDF readers, and remove legacy protocols. The goal is to limit attackers' opportunities to exploit weaknesses in user applications.",[12,1248,1249,1251],{},[250,1250,321],{}," -- Apply the principle of least privilege. Limit admin accounts to only those who genuinely need them and tightly control their use. By restricting admin rights, you significantly reduce the impact if a regular user account is compromised (attackers cannot easily leverage it to gain full control). Admin accounts that do exist should be separate from standard accounts and actively monitored.",[12,1253,1254,1257],{},[250,1255,1256],{},"Patch Operating Systems"," -- Just as with applications, keep operating systems (Windows, Linux, etc.) updated with the latest security patches. Ensuring OS updates are applied (especially for critical and high-risk vulnerabilities) prevents attackers from exploiting known OS flaws.",[12,1259,1260,1263],{},[250,1261,1262],{},"Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)"," -- Require MFA for all users accessing important systems, especially for remote access or privileged accounts. MFA (such as a one-time code or biometric in addition to a password) helps stop adversaries who have stolen or guessed passwords from actually logging in. It adds an extra barrier that significantly improves account security.",[12,1265,1266,1269],{},[250,1267,1268],{},"Regular Backups"," -- Perform regular (at least daily) backups of important data, software, and configurations, and test that you can recover from them. In the event of ransomware or data loss, reliable backups ensure you can restore systems to normal operations. Testing backups is critical to ensure the restore process works when needed.",[22,1271,1273],{"id":1272},"maturity-levels-0-3","Maturity Levels 0-3",[12,1275,1276],{},"Each Essential Eight control can be implemented at varying levels of rigor, which the ACSC defines as Maturity Levels 0 through 3. These maturity levels indicate how prepared your organization is to handle adversaries of increasing sophistication:",[12,1278,1279,1282],{},[250,1280,1281],{},"Maturity Level 0"," -- Controls are ineffective or not in place. This signifies serious weaknesses in cyber hygiene -- an adversary using even basic, widely available techniques could compromise systems. (Level 0 is essentially \"below the baseline\".)",[12,1284,1285,1288],{},[250,1286,1287],{},"Maturity Level 1"," -- Basic implementation. Addresses opportunistic attacks using commodity malware and known exploits. The focus at Level 1 is on basic protections to prevent attacks that require minimal attacker effort\u002Fskill (e.g. script kiddies or automated scans). This level is recommended as a minimum for all organizations and is often the first target maturity for compliance.",[12,1290,1291,1294],{},[250,1292,1293],{},"Maturity Level 2"," -- Intermediate\u002FEnhanced implementation. Defends against more sophisticated tradecraft than Level 1. At Level 2, attackers might invest more time in a target or use moderately advanced techniques to evade basic controls (for example, spear-phishing users or using well-known bypass methods). The controls at this level are stronger and more consistently applied, stopping a wider range of threats.",[12,1296,1297,1300],{},[250,1298,1299],{},"Maturity Level 3"," -- Advanced implementation. Represents a robust, highly resilient posture against determined, adaptive adversaries. Level 3 is designed to mitigate advanced persistent threats (APTs) who employ sophisticated tools and novel techniques to target specific victims. An organization at Level 3 has comprehensive, tightly integrated security controls and can resist sustained attacks (though even Level 3 cannot stop the most well-resourced attackers in all cases).",[12,1302,1303],{},"In general, organisations are advised to achieve the same maturity level across all eight controls before moving to a higher level. For example, reach Level 1 on all eight strategies, then progress to Level 2 on all, and so forth. This ensures a balanced defense -- an attacker will typically target the weakest link. By using the maturity model as a roadmap, IT teams can prioritize improvements and measure their progress toward a stronger security posture.",[12,1305,1306,1307,1311],{},"The maturity model also assumes the controls stay current, not that they are checked once a year. That is the case for ",[151,1308,1310],{"href":1309},"\u002Fnews\u002Fcontinuous-compliance-vulnerability-tracking","continuous compliance",", where configuration and patch status are validated against frameworks like the Essential Eight on an ongoing basis rather than at a single annual audit.",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":1313},[1314,1315,1316],{"id":1216,"depth":179,"text":1179},{"id":1222,"depth":179,"text":1223},{"id":1272,"depth":179,"text":1273},"An overview of the ACSC Essential Eight cybersecurity strategies, their goals, and the maturity levels organizations should target.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fessential-eight.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-the-essential-eight",{"title":1179,"description":1317},"blog\u002Fwhat-is-the-essential-eight",[1206,1207,472,1324,1325],"ACSC","security","DPyCP0vrENxhv4ztqRaoo8be9G26-rqKyB2taXIVM78",{"id":1328,"title":1329,"author":1330,"body":1331,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":1354,"description":1355,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":1356,"meta":1357,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":1358,"seo":1359,"slug":1360,"stem":1361,"tags":1362,"__hash__":1366},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fnmis-9-network-automation.md","How NMIS 9 Simplifies Network Automation for Enterprise Teams","Sharon Hunneybell",{"type":9,"value":1332,"toc":1350},[1333,1336,1340,1343,1347],[12,1334,1335],{},"Network automation isn't just about reducing manual work, it's about building resilience into your operations. NMIS 9 takes a business-rules-first approach to automation, ensuring that automated responses are contextually appropriate.",[22,1337,1339],{"id":1338},"business-rules-engine","Business Rules Engine",[12,1341,1342],{},"Unlike simple threshold-based alerting, NMIS 9's business rules engine considers the operational context of events before triggering actions. This means fewer false positives and more meaningful automation.",[22,1344,1346],{"id":1345},"automated-health-baselining","Automated Health Baselining",[12,1348,1349],{},"NMIS 9 automatically learns what \"normal\" looks like for every device on your network, then alerts you when behaviour deviates from the baseline, no manual configuration required.",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":1351},[1352,1353],{"id":1338,"depth":179,"text":1339},{"id":1345,"depth":179,"text":1346},"2025-10-15","Learn how NMIS 9's intelligent event correlation and automated remediation help enterprise teams reduce MTTR and improve operational efficiency.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fnmis-9-automation.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fnmis-9-network-automation",{"title":1329,"description":1355},"nmis-9-network-automation","blog\u002Fnmis-9-network-automation",[1363,1021,1364,1365],"nmis","enterprise","network-management","XAJnQBasvHy_90WNJGJOVjhaURuQ12QfpgmDepH021M",{"id":1368,"title":1369,"author":213,"body":1370,"categories":187,"category":1385,"date":1386,"description":1387,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":1388,"meta":1389,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":1390,"seo":1391,"slug":1392,"stem":1393,"tags":1394,"__hash__":1398},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Ffirstwave-iso-certification.md","FirstWave Achieves ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 Certification",{"type":9,"value":1371,"toc":1382},[1372,1375,1379],[12,1373,1374],{},"We're proud to announce that FirstWave has achieved both ISO 9001 (Quality Management) and ISO 27001 (Information Security) certification. This milestone reflects our commitment to delivering secure, high-quality software to our customers worldwide.",[22,1376,1378],{"id":1377},"what-this-means-for-our-customers","What This Means for Our Customers",[12,1380,1381],{},"These certifications provide independent assurance that FirstWave's development processes, data handling, and operational procedures meet internationally recognised standards.",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":1383},[1384],{"id":1377,"depth":179,"text":1378},"Company","2025-08-20","FirstWave has achieved ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification, demonstrating our commitment to quality management and information security.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fiso-certification.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Ffirstwave-iso-certification",{"title":1369,"description":1387},"firstwave-iso-certification","blog\u002Ffirstwave-iso-certification",[1395,1396,1397,1325],"company","iso","certification","XrESpf5Mc6bl2B6N2RtSUN-JviWkfczBcXnioRVfQGU",{"id":1400,"title":1401,"author":1086,"body":1402,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":2015,"description":2016,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":142,"meta":2017,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":2018,"seo":2019,"slug":2020,"stem":2021,"tags":2022,"__hash__":2025},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fan-introduction-to-message-bus-technology-in-networking.md","An Introduction to Message Bus Technology in Networking",{"type":9,"value":1403,"toc":1989},[1404,1407,1410,1413,1416,1420,1423,1426,1429,1433,1439,1443,1446,1450,1453,1457,1460,1463,1467,1470,1526,1530,1536,1540,1543,1546,1572,1576,1579,1582,1602,1606,1613,1616,1619,1623,1626,1631,1651,1656,1688,1692,1695,1699,1718,1722,1748,1752,1770,1773,1779,1783,1786,1809,1813,1818,1821,1824,1828,1834,1870,1873,1877,1882,1925,1929,1971,1973,1975],[12,1405,1406],{},"Discover how this central communication system enables you to scale and decouple your communication in a distributed network architecture.",[12,1408,1409],{},"As businesses increasingly rely on distributed systems and microservices to serve their growing networks, effective communication between their different components becomes more challenging.",[12,1411,1412],{},"Enter message bus, or enterprise service bus: a communication system enabling seamless data exchange between network components to help you manage your distributed network.",[12,1414,1415],{},"In this blog, we'll break down the concept of a message bus architecture, explaining how it works, its core features, available alternatives, and the benefits that a message bus solution like FirstWave opHA Message Bus brings to distributed systems.",[22,1417,1419],{"id":1418},"what-is-message-bus","What is message bus?",[12,1421,1422],{},"Imagine a bustling city with numerous neighborhoods, each representing a different application or service. To keep the city running smoothly, these neighborhoods need to exchange information efficiently.",[12,1424,1425],{},"A message bus acts like the city's central transit system, ensuring messages are delivered to the right destinations without requiring any direct connections between them. In technical terms, the message bus enables different applications, services, or systems to communicate by transmitting messages through a shared infrastructure.",[12,1427,1428],{},"This setup ensures that each component remains independent for flexibility and scalability.",[22,1430,1432],{"id":1431},"key-components-of-a-message-bus-architecture","Key components of a message bus architecture",[12,1434,1435],{},[38,1436],{"alt":1437,"src":1438},"Message bus components diagram producers broker consumers","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002F2554592_Blogdiagrams_Diagram1_022625.png",[240,1440,1442],{"id":1441},"_1-producers-pollers","1. Producers (pollers)",[12,1444,1445],{},"Also known as peers, pollers collect data from various network devices and systems, generating messages that contain critical information about network performance, events, and statuses. These pollers can be scaled horizontally or vertically for efficient data collection across expansive networks.",[240,1447,1449],{"id":1448},"_2-broker-message-bus","2. Broker (message bus)",[12,1451,1452],{},"Serving as the central communication hub, the message bus ensures real-time synchronization among multiple pollers. It manages the routing of messages from producers to consumers, maintaining data integrity through message replication across three nodes, which allows the system to tolerate single-node failures.",[240,1454,1456],{"id":1455},"_3-consumers-primary-server-and-applications","3. Consumers (primary server and applications)",[12,1458,1459],{},"The primary server and associated applications function as consumers. They receive and process messages relayed by the message bus, providing users with a consolidated, real-time view of network health and performance. This setup enhances capabilities like event logging, monitoring, and the generation of intuitive dashboards and reports.",[12,1461,1462],{},"A message bus decouples communication, instead allowing senders and receivers to operate independently so network communication can happen asynchronously. This means users can manage distributed network systems via a central point that standardizes disparate communication styles. The result: a simple, integrated system.",[22,1464,1466],{"id":1465},"the-benefits-of-message-bus","The benefits of message bus",[12,1468,1469],{},"A message bus architecture is useful for businesses managing large-scale, distributed, multi-customer, and\u002For mission-critical networks, as data is freely available to travel between endpoints as needed.",[116,1471,1472,1478,1484,1490,1496,1502,1508,1514,1520],{},[119,1473,1474,1477],{},[250,1475,1476],{},"Multi-tenancy support:"," Especially for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), managing multiple clients efficiently is critical. A message bus architecture is designed for multi-tenancy, allowing MSPs to handle multiple customer environments within a single infrastructure.",[119,1479,1480,1483],{},[250,1481,1482],{},"Fault tolerance:"," To ensure uninterrupted operations, many message buses (including opHA Message Bus) are built with fault tolerance and redundancy mechanisms that keep services running even if individual components fail.",[119,1485,1486,1489],{},[250,1487,1488],{},"Flexibility:"," Scale your architecture with minimal configuration as decoupled components can operate and change independently. Easily handle high-traffic scenarios with the ability to distribute single messages across multiple consumers.",[119,1491,1492,1495],{},[250,1493,1494],{},"Managed distribution:"," Message bus solves the problem of temporal decoupling, as peers and the primary do not need to be online simultaneously for the system to work. Messages can also be delivered in either single, group, or broadcast models.",[119,1497,1498,1501],{},[250,1499,1500],{},"Reduced delays:"," Receive events to the primary system in real time, and process new events with minimal to no downtime.",[119,1503,1504,1507],{},[250,1505,1506],{},"No API calls:"," Unlike traditional communication, where both services must be available simultaneously, a message bus can communicate at any time as well as rapidly push inventory updates.",[119,1509,1510,1513],{},[250,1511,1512],{},"Reliability:"," Messages can be stored temporarily to prevent data loss, and retry mechanisms are supported if a consumer fails.",[119,1515,1516,1519],{},[250,1517,1518],{},"Security:"," Authentication can be configured to control who sends and receives messages, and encryption can (and should) be incorporated to maintain secure communication.",[119,1521,1522,1525],{},[250,1523,1524],{},"Monitoring:"," Track message flows for debugging, auditing, and performance monitoring.",[22,1527,1529],{"id":1528},"common-use-cases-for-message-bus-technology","Common use cases for message bus technology",[12,1531,1532],{},[38,1533],{"alt":1534,"src":1535},"Message bus use cases and architecture comparison diagram","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002F2554592_Blogdiagrams_Diagram2_022625.png",[240,1537,1539],{"id":1538},"_1-microservices-architecture","1. Microservices architecture",[12,1541,1542],{},"In modern network management and cybersecurity environments, different services handle distinct functions -- such as network monitoring, security alerts, performance analytics, and automation workflows -- while seamlessly communicating with each other. A good message bus acts as the backbone for this communication, ensuring that services remain loosely coupled, scalable, and resilient in distributed architectures.",[12,1544,1545],{},"Network management benefits for microservices include:",[116,1547,1548,1554,1560,1566],{},[119,1549,1550,1553],{},[250,1551,1552],{},"Seamless data flow:"," Ensures real-time data exchange between network monitoring tools, security systems, and reporting dashboards.",[119,1555,1556,1559],{},[250,1557,1558],{},"Scalability:"," Allows IT teams and MSPs to add or modify monitoring components without affecting the entire system.",[119,1561,1562,1565],{},[250,1563,1564],{},"Reduced latency and bottlenecks:"," Distributes network event data efficiently, preventing system slowdowns.",[119,1567,1568,1571],{},[250,1569,1570],{},"Asynchronous processing:"," Enables automated alerts, log analysis, and device polling without delays.",[240,1573,1575],{"id":1574},"_2-event-driven-systems","2. Event-driven systems",[12,1577,1578],{},"Modern applications rely on real-time event processing to improve responsiveness and automation. A message bus is a core component of event-driven architectures, where events (e.g., user actions, system changes, external triggers) are published and consumed dynamically.",[12,1580,1581],{},"Where it's useful:",[116,1583,1584,1590,1596],{},[119,1585,1586,1589],{},[250,1587,1588],{},"IoT networks:"," Devices publish sensor data, and analytics engines process it instantly.",[119,1591,1592,1595],{},[250,1593,1594],{},"Cybersecurity monitoring:"," Suspicious activity is flagged and sent to security systems in real time.",[119,1597,1598,1601],{},[250,1599,1600],{},"Finance and banking:"," Fraud detection systems react instantly to unusual transactions.",[22,1603,1605],{"id":1604},"alternatives-to-message-bus","Alternatives to message bus",[12,1607,1608,1609,1612],{},"Alternatives to a message bus are usually ",[250,1610,1611],{},"point-to-point"," based, where services communicate directly rather than via a central interconnected point.",[12,1614,1615],{},"Point-to-point communication has its benefits, but it does limit your capabilities in that it silos data between sender and receiver, preventing cross-communication which can limit efficiency in more complex architectures.",[12,1617,1618],{},"But the good news is that you're not just limited to one option; your distributed system can use a combination of communication styles for different functions to optimize its efficiency for your business.",[240,1620,1622],{"id":1621},"apis","APIs",[12,1624,1625],{},"APIs are a tightly coupled solution where each of your services need to know about each of your endpoints. With APIs, each service manages its own connections. This approach is ideal for simpler architectures or where latency isn't a major consideration.",[12,1627,1628],{},[250,1629,1630],{},"Pros:",[116,1632,1633,1639,1645],{},[119,1634,1635,1638],{},[250,1636,1637],{},"Suits synchronous interactions:"," APIs work when a service needs an immediate response and can't be held or queued.",[119,1640,1641,1644],{},[250,1642,1643],{},"Easy to implement:"," APIs are ideal in small-scale applications where adding a message bus would be overkill.",[119,1646,1647,1650],{},[250,1648,1649],{},"Easy to integrate:"," APIs allow messages to be externally exposed to public or partner systems through simple calls.",[12,1652,1653],{},[250,1654,1655],{},"Cons:",[116,1657,1658,1664,1670,1676,1682],{},[119,1659,1660,1663],{},[250,1661,1662],{},"Failure recovery challenges:"," Failure recovery mechanisms are harder to implement as services handle errors individually.",[119,1665,1666,1669],{},[250,1667,1668],{},"Request bottlenecks:"," Too many requests can overload an API-driven system, leading to delays or failures.",[119,1671,1672,1675],{},[250,1673,1674],{},"Limited scalability:"," API-driven systems are difficult to scale as each service directly communicates with others, increasing management complexity.",[119,1677,1678,1681],{},[250,1679,1680],{},"Workflow issues:"," Performance and reliability suffer in asynchronous workflows like order processing or event-driven systems.",[119,1683,1684,1687],{},[250,1685,1686],{},"High-throughput limitations:"," High-throughput systems that need decoupling and scalability can't be supported, as each service manages its own connections.",[240,1689,1691],{"id":1690},"message-queuing","Message queuing",[12,1693,1694],{},"A message queue is similar to a message bus, but they differ in how messages are routed and processed. Unlike a message bus, a message queue uses point-to-point communication and messages are prioritized by first in, first out. Once consumed, the message is simply removed from the queue.",[12,1696,1697],{},[250,1698,1630],{},[116,1700,1701,1707,1712],{},[119,1702,1703,1706],{},[250,1704,1705],{},"Simple security:"," One-to-one messaging circumvents the need to implement encryption or similar security measures.",[119,1708,1709,1711],{},[250,1710,1643],{}," Ideal for task-based workflows, background jobs, or small applications with a clear producer-consumer relationship.",[119,1713,1714,1717],{},[250,1715,1716],{},"Message durability:"," Messages can be persisted in the queue, ensuring they're not lost even if the consumer is unavailable.",[12,1719,1720],{},[250,1721,1655],{},[116,1723,1724,1730,1736,1742],{},[119,1725,1726,1729],{},[250,1727,1728],{},"Limited communication:"," No built-in publish-subscribe model is available, limiting communication to one-to-one scenarios.",[119,1731,1732,1735],{},[250,1733,1734],{},"No prioritization:"," There is no ability to prioritize or triage messages.",[119,1737,1738,1741],{},[250,1739,1740],{},"Complex management:"," Managing message queues becomes more difficult at scale, and eventually totally inefficient.",[119,1743,1744,1747],{},[250,1745,1746],{},"Potential for bottlenecks:"," With no ability to prioritize or triage messages, important messages can pile up in a queue if a consumer is overwhelmed or unavailable.",[22,1749,1751],{"id":1750},"when-to-use-which-architecture","When to use which architecture",[116,1753,1754,1759,1764],{},[119,1755,1756,1758],{},[250,1757,1622],{}," provide a tightly coupled solution, where each of your services need to know about each of your endpoints. If you use them on your own, you're limited by point-to-point communication only, but APIs can form a useful part of a larger combination of communication architectures.",[119,1760,1761,1763],{},[250,1762,1691],{}," can be easy to implement for simple networks that manage only task-based workflows and point-to-point communication. But they're not always easy to manage, as queue-based solutions typically require monitoring to ensure the queue doesn't grow too large, creating a bottleneck. They also require some form of orchestration to handle message processing.",[119,1765,1766,1769],{},[250,1767,1768],{},"A message bus architecture"," is best suited for event-driven architectures, real-time updates, and systems where messages need to be broadcast to multiple consumers, e.g. notification systems, microservices communication. Message bus is also ideal for its ability to scale with your network as it grows over time, and integrates more complex or mission-critical communication systems.",[12,1771,1772],{},"If you have the time to implement and manage them all efficiently, you can use a message bus alongside other communication methods to expand your feature scope and optimize your setup for different use cases.",[12,1774,1775,1776,1778],{},"Some single providers will provide all of these functionalities in-house to make your journey even easier; for example, in addition to FirstWave's ",[151,1777,202],{"href":153}," solution, we also provide APIs to allow for message transfers, as well as integrate with queue-based message brokers such as RabbitMQ -- all combined with hands-on expert support to make implementation easy.",[240,1780,1782],{"id":1781},"which-is-right-for-me","Which is right for me?",[12,1784,1785],{},"To help you choose the best design (or combination of designs) for your business, ask yourself the following questions:",[116,1787,1788,1791,1794,1797,1800,1803,1806],{},[119,1789,1790],{},"Do we require or would we benefit from event-driven architecture?",[119,1792,1793],{},"What level of decoupling do we need? Which services (if any) need the ability to communicate asynchronously?",[119,1795,1796],{},"How critical is real-time communication? Do we need instant responses, near real-time event-driven updates, or delayed processing?",[119,1798,1799],{},"What is our expected message volume and load on our services?",[119,1801,1802],{},"How will we build resilience into our network? Do we need fault-tolerant messaging or constant availability?",[119,1804,1805],{},"How important is scalability now, and what are our long-term growth plans?",[119,1807,1808],{},"How do we plan to adopt AI or ML into our network, and how do we expect this to impact our network communication patterns?",[22,1810,1812],{"id":1811},"the-ultimate-message-bus-solution-opha-message-bus","The ultimate message bus solution: opHA Message Bus",[12,1814,1815],{},[38,1816],{"alt":1817,"src":193},"opHA Message Bus product architecture diagram",[12,1819,1820],{},"opHA Message Bus (opHA-MB) is FirstWave's own message bus solution, enabling you to simplify management of your distributed network systems with real-time data transfer across diverse and multi-tenanted environments.",[12,1822,1823],{},"This advanced network management solution acts as the central nervous system to your network to help you maintain optimal network performance, ensure resilience, and swiftly resolve the issues that come with complex network infrastructure.",[240,1825,1827],{"id":1826},"how-messages-flow-through-opha-mb","How messages flow through opHA-MB",[12,1829,1830],{},[38,1831],{"alt":1832,"src":1833},"How opHA Message Bus message flow works","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fmessage-bus-how-does-it-work.png",[116,1835,1836,1842,1848,1854],{},[119,1837,1838,1841],{},[250,1839,1840],{},"Generating messages:"," Pollers collect data from network devices and generate messages containing key information.",[119,1843,1844,1847],{},[250,1845,1846],{},"Publishing to the bus:"," These messages are sent to opHA-MB, which acts as the central broker.",[119,1849,1850,1853],{},[250,1851,1852],{},"Smart routing:"," opHA-MB identifies which applications or services (consumers) need the data and directs messages accordingly.",[119,1855,1856,1859,1860,1864,1865,1869],{},[250,1857,1858],{},"Processing and action:"," Consumers, such as the primary server, ",[151,1861,1863],{"href":1862},"\u002Fproducts\u002Fopcharts\u002F","opCharts",", and ",[151,1866,1868],{"href":1867},"\u002Fproducts\u002Fopevents\u002F","opEvents",", receive the messages, process the data, and trigger the necessary actions, such as alerts or dashboard updates.",[12,1871,1872],{},"By keeping producers and consumers decoupled, this architecture allows each component to function independently. This improves flexibility, scalability, and resilience -- ensuring efficient network management even as demands grow.",[240,1874,1876],{"id":1875},"features-of-opha-mb","Features of opHA-MB",[12,1878,1879],{},[38,1880],{"alt":1881,"src":64},"opCharts dashboard powered by opHA Message Bus",[116,1883,1884,1890,1896,1901,1907,1913,1919],{},[119,1885,1886,1889],{},[250,1887,1888],{},"Multi-tenancy:"," Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can easily manage multiple tenants with a single, configurable interface.",[119,1891,1892,1895],{},[250,1893,1894],{},"Real-time communication and event management:"," Reduce data transfer times with real-time sync between multiple pollers, and enhance Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR) with immediate event notifications from pollers to the primary server.",[119,1897,1898,1900],{},[250,1899,1482],{}," Ensure data integrity with message replication across three nodes, tolerating single-node failures.",[119,1902,1903,1906],{},[250,1904,1905],{},"Multi-server architecture:"," Distribute the server load to multiple pollers for efficient data collection and processing.",[119,1908,1909,1912],{},[250,1910,1911],{},"Provisioning management:"," Simplify platform provisioning with push changes and new poller deployment at the click of a button.",[119,1914,1915,1918],{},[250,1916,1917],{},"Scaling for high availability:"," Scale pollers horizontally or vertically with mirroring to improve availability, redundancy, and flexibility across your architecture.",[119,1920,1921,1924],{},[250,1922,1923],{},"Integration with FirstWave products:"," opHA-MB is designed to work seamlessly with other FirstWave products, including opEvents and opCharts, to enhance your network management capabilities.",[240,1926,1928],{"id":1927},"key-benefits-of-opha-mb","Key benefits of opHA-MB",[116,1930,1931,1937,1943,1949,1955,1961,1966],{},[119,1932,1933,1936],{},[250,1934,1935],{},"Unparalleled network visibility:"," Gain instant insights into your network with immediate event updates, empowering proactive issue resolution.",[119,1938,1939,1942],{},[250,1940,1941],{},"Enhanced network resilience:"," Minimize downtime and ensure uninterrupted service delivery with automated failover mechanisms and resilient event transfer.",[119,1944,1945,1948],{},[250,1946,1947],{},"Event prioritization:"," When you use opHA-MB as part of your FirstWave suite of solutions, your data is prioritized by our software to enable intuitive event prioritization with real-time notifications, so you can address the events that matter most to your business.",[119,1950,1951,1954],{},[250,1952,1953],{},"Streamlined network management:"," Reduce manual intervention and optimize network management tasks with automated event processing and centralized data management.",[119,1956,1957,1960],{},[250,1958,1959],{},"Scalable and flexible architecture:"," Grow your architecture with your business and make changes as needed, with the ability to scale pollers horizontally or vertically.",[119,1962,1963,1965],{},[250,1964,1500],{}," Receive events to your primary system in real time to process new events with minimal to no downtime, as well as zero event loss in high-traffic environments.",[119,1967,1968,1970],{},[250,1969,1506],{}," Push inventory updates to multiple systems instantly and automatically.",[1166,1972],{},[22,1974,1171],{"id":1170},[116,1976,1977,1983],{},[119,1978,1979],{},[151,1980,1982],{"href":1981},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-extend-nmis-with-opmodules\u002F","How to Extend NMIS with opModules",[119,1984,1985],{},[151,1986,1988],{"href":1987},"\u002Fblog\u002Fadvanced-event-management-using-opevents\u002F","Advanced Event Management Using opEvents",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":1990},[1991,1992,1997,1998,2002,2006,2009,2014],{"id":1418,"depth":179,"text":1419},{"id":1431,"depth":179,"text":1432,"children":1993},[1994,1995,1996],{"id":1441,"depth":449,"text":1442},{"id":1448,"depth":449,"text":1449},{"id":1455,"depth":449,"text":1456},{"id":1465,"depth":179,"text":1466},{"id":1528,"depth":179,"text":1529,"children":1999},[2000,2001],{"id":1538,"depth":449,"text":1539},{"id":1574,"depth":449,"text":1575},{"id":1604,"depth":179,"text":1605,"children":2003},[2004,2005],{"id":1621,"depth":449,"text":1622},{"id":1690,"depth":449,"text":1691},{"id":1750,"depth":179,"text":1751,"children":2007},[2008],{"id":1781,"depth":449,"text":1782},{"id":1811,"depth":179,"text":1812,"children":2010},[2011,2012,2013],{"id":1826,"depth":449,"text":1827},{"id":1875,"depth":449,"text":1876},{"id":1927,"depth":449,"text":1928},{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":1171},"2025-02-12","Discover how message bus architecture enables scalable, decoupled communication in distributed networks and how opHA-MB delivers it.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fan-introduction-to-message-bus-technology-in-networking",{"title":1401,"description":2016},"an-introduction-to-message-bus-technology-in-networking","blog\u002Fan-introduction-to-message-bus-technology-in-networking",[2023,201,843,2024,205],"message bus","distributed systems","1orzRrtPdVgDKhFNYuWNdL-_yINgBqK4oSnOQQ71YdM",{"id":2027,"title":2028,"author":2029,"body":2030,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":2408,"description":2409,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":2410,"meta":2411,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":2412,"seo":2413,"slug":2414,"stem":2415,"tags":2416,"__hash__":2418},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fnetwork-discovery-auditing-and-compliance-a-complete-guide.md","Network Discovery, Auditing, and Compliance: A Complete Guide","Sarah Lispet",{"type":9,"value":2031,"toc":2398},[2032,2035,2038,2041,2045,2048,2051,2054,2092,2095,2099,2102,2105,2149,2152,2156,2159,2162,2165,2186,2190,2193,2196,2213,2217,2220,2223,2243,2246,2266,2269,2272,2276,2279,2282,2302,2305,2309,2312,2315,2371,2374,2377,2379,2381],[12,2033,2034],{},"The networking landscape of the future will be more complex to navigate than ever before. \"The global cost of cybercrime is estimated to reach 15.63 trillion U.S. dollars in 2029,\" following continuous increases over 16 years. Global data creation is expanding dramatically, and AI adoption is becoming unavoidable across organizations.",[12,2036,2037],{},"To maintain competitiveness and prevent business disruption, effective network management is essential. Taking proactive steps toward network compliance becomes increasingly critical. However, achieving effective network management requires knowing which assets exist on your network.",[12,2039,2040],{},"Network discovery and auditing play crucial roles in achieving compliance, strengthening security, increasing operational resilience, and ensuring business continuity. These processes create a Network Source of Truth (NSoT) -- a central data repository enabling effective management and configuration of entire networks.",[22,2042,2044],{"id":2043},"what-is-network-discovery","What is network discovery?",[12,2046,2047],{},"Discovery serves as the foundation for achieving compliance and effective network management. It refers to identifying all devices and components connected to a business network, creating a comprehensive asset inventory including hardware devices, software applications, and services.",[12,2049,2050],{},"Network discovery typically involves running scripts (Python, PowerShell, or Bash) and sending ping requests, SNMP queries, or port scans to detect and examine network components. Teams collect data on device types, versions, connections, access controls, and usage patterns.",[12,2052,2053],{},"Regular network discovery enables several critical capabilities:",[116,2055,2056,2062,2068,2074,2080,2086],{},[119,2057,2058,2061],{},[250,2059,2060],{},"Achieve compliance:"," Regularly updated and recorded network inventories represent the first step toward maintaining regulatory compliance with industry standards.",[119,2063,2064,2067],{},[250,2065,2066],{},"Effectively allocate resources:"," Optimize network performance and costs by identifying underutilized resources and balancing allocation across the infrastructure.",[119,2069,2070,2073],{},[250,2071,2072],{},"Keep devices up to date:"," Ensure each network device has the latest software and versions to patch vulnerabilities and protect data comprehensively.",[119,2075,2076,2079],{},[250,2077,2078],{},"Asset management:"," Obtain comprehensive inventories of all network devices, applications, and services for improved tracking and management, including end-of-life hardware and both greenfield and brownfield devices.",[119,2081,2082,2085],{},[250,2083,2084],{},"Security monitoring:"," Identify unauthorized devices or unwanted user permissions through firewall service monitoring and Windows security dashboards, enhancing network security.",[119,2087,2088,2091],{},[250,2089,2090],{},"Troubleshooting:"," With detailed network topology maps and connected device information, administrators can more easily diagnose, resolve, and prevent network issues.",[12,2093,2094],{},"Network discovery equips IT professionals with comprehensive understanding of network infrastructure, enabling more effective management, security, and optimization.",[22,2096,2098],{"id":2097},"what-is-network-auditing","What is network auditing?",[12,2100,2101],{},"While discovery identifies what exists on networks, auditing evaluates and assesses security, performance, and compliance. Teams filter discoveries using custom parameters to explore nearly any desired information.",[12,2103,2104],{},"Network audits produce reports for business records and track network changes over time. Discovery information generates various audit reports:",[116,2106,2107,2113,2119,2125,2131,2137,2143],{},[119,2108,2109,2112],{},[250,2110,2111],{},"Asset inventory snapshot:"," Comprehensive lists of network-connected devices, systems, and assets including servers, routers, switches, printers, IoT devices, and workstations.",[119,2114,2115,2118],{},[250,2116,2117],{},"Network topology map:"," Visual representations showing how network devices connect to one another.",[119,2120,2121,2124],{},[250,2122,2123],{},"Device configuration:"," Detailed configuration information for firewalls, switches, and routers, tracking configuration changes over time.",[119,2126,2127,2130],{},[250,2128,2129],{},"Access control:"," User permissions and access levels across devices and software for managing internal threats.",[119,2132,2133,2136],{},[250,2134,2135],{},"Security vulnerabilities:"," Identification of outdated software, open ports, weak passwords, and insecure protocols like Telnet.",[119,2138,2139,2142],{},[250,2140,2141],{},"Traffic and bandwidth usage:"," Analysis of bandwidth distribution across network segments and identification of congestion points.",[119,2144,2145,2148],{},[250,2146,2147],{},"Compliance status report:"," Network compliance checks against standards including GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, ACSC Essential Eight, and CIS benchmarks.",[12,2150,2151],{},"Regular network audits are crucial for business continuity. They help organizations maintain secure, compliant infrastructure by identifying and addressing potential issues proactively, mitigating risks, preventing breaches, and avoiding costly downtime or penalties.",[22,2153,2155],{"id":2154},"what-is-network-compliance","What is network compliance?",[12,2157,2158],{},"Network compliance means adhering to relevant regulations and standards maintaining data integrity, privacy, and security. Compliance is non-negotiable in network management, as customer, investor, and partner trust depends on meeting regulatory standards.",[12,2160,2161],{},"Organizations must remain vigilant about compliance to meet legal requirements, avoiding hefty fines and reputational damage. Applicable regulatory frameworks depend on industry and operational regions and typically include data security measures. Organizations may also enforce internal data privacy rules.",[12,2163,2164],{},"Businesses achieve compliance through discovery and auditing by:",[2166,2167,2168,2171,2174,2177,2180,2183],"ol",{},[119,2169,2170],{},"Identifying applicable regulations based on industry, location, and data handling practices.",[119,2172,2173],{},"Conducting regular network audits identifying vulnerabilities and non-compliance areas according to regulations.",[119,2175,2176],{},"Implementing security controls and fixes addressing identified risks and regulatory requirements.",[119,2178,2179],{},"Continuously monitoring networks for compliance violations and security incidents.",[119,2181,2182],{},"Producing compliance status reports checking against industry regulations and serving as compliance verification records.",[119,2184,2185],{},"Maintaining detailed documentation and audit trails for change tracking and compliance audits.",[22,2187,2189],{"id":2188},"how-discovery-auditing-and-compliance-work-together","How discovery, auditing, and compliance work together",[12,2191,2192],{},"Each process strengthens the others: discoveries provide visibility, audits assess security and compliance, and together they enable organizations to maintain compliance systematically and thoroughly. Network compliance relies on accurate discovery data ensuring precise audits and ongoing alignment with security policies.",[12,2194,2195],{},"Running network discoveries enables multiple audits from single discoveries for:",[116,2197,2198,2201,2204,2207,2210],{},[119,2199,2200],{},"Storing compliance reports",[119,2202,2203],{},"Reviewing and fixing issues maintaining compliance",[119,2205,2206],{},"Checking against internal standards",[119,2208,2209],{},"Tracking changes over time",[119,2211,2212],{},"Focusing on specific network aspects like bandwidth distribution or hardware warranty status",[22,2214,2216],{"id":2215},"why-discovery-auditing-and-compliance-matter","Why discovery, auditing, and compliance matter",[12,2218,2219],{},"Trust hinges on regulatory compliance. Would customers trust healthcare providers without HIPAA compliance, utilities providers without NERC compliance, or banks without PCI DSS compliance? As networks grow more complex, discovery and auditing ultimately enable achieving both compliance and profitable business operations.",[12,2221,2222],{},"Every organization should take compliance seriously, as failure results in:",[116,2224,2225,2228,2231,2234,2237,2240],{},[119,2226,2227],{},"Costly regulatory fines",[119,2229,2230],{},"Legal liabilities including potential lawsuits",[119,2232,2233],{},"Long-term reputational damage",[119,2235,2236],{},"Increased government scrutiny",[119,2238,2239],{},"Interrupted business operations",[119,2241,2242],{},"Lost customer and investor trust",[12,2244,2245],{},"Broader consequences of ineffective network management include:",[116,2247,2248,2251,2254,2257,2260,2263],{},[119,2249,2250],{},"Cyberattacks from network vulnerabilities, outdated software, or unauthorized access",[119,2252,2253],{},"Escalating costs from unchecked network inefficiencies",[119,2255,2256],{},"Performance issues from limited visibility over usage patterns and bandwidth",[119,2258,2259],{},"Poor resource allocation causing bottlenecks and underutilized resources",[119,2261,2262],{},"Difficulty diagnosing and resolving issues, increasing mean time to resolution and causing downtime",[119,2264,2265],{},"Challenges managing and integrating networks as organizations add providers and locations",[12,2267,2268],{},"Manual discoveries and audits are error-prone, time-consuming, and inadvisable. Automating network discovery with tools provides businesses with a Network Source of Truth, allowing validation of network performance and complete management control. This generates time and resource savings, improves reliability, enables proactive issue resolution, reduces operational disruptions, minimizes downtime, and accelerates time to market.",[12,2270,2271],{},"Purpose-built tools enable automating and customizing network discoveries ensuring comprehensive coverage.",[22,2273,2275],{"id":2274},"discovery-auditing-and-compliance-tools","Discovery, auditing, and compliance tools",[12,2277,2278],{},"Effective network management requires tools integrating with networks, scanning devices, storing configurations, and generating insights for auditing and decision-making.",[12,2280,2281],{},"Optimal tools offer:",[116,2283,2284,2287,2290,2293,2296,2299],{},[119,2285,2286],{},"Scheduled and unscheduled discovery capabilities",[119,2288,2289],{},"Information displayed in detailed, customizable dashboards",[119,2291,2292],{},"Extensive vendor support",[119,2294,2295],{},"Multiple audit report options",[119,2297,2298],{},"Integration with existing infrastructure and security solutions",[119,2300,2301],{},"Options to audit against industry benchmarks for simplified compliance",[12,2303,2304],{},"These features enable maintaining network compliance with minimal effort while providing flexibility for managing increasingly complex networks.",[22,2306,2308],{"id":2307},"achieve-network-compliance-with-open-audit","Achieve network compliance with Open-AudIT",[12,2310,2311],{},"FirstWave's Open-AudIT provides intelligent discovery, auditing, and compliance features delivering complete, cost-effective network visibility and control. The Community Edition offers free access with optional additional functionality.",[12,2313,2314],{},"Open-AudIT features include:",[116,2316,2317,2323,2329,2335,2341,2347,2353,2359,2365],{},[119,2318,2319,2322],{},[250,2320,2321],{},"Accurate device discovery:"," Automated or unscheduled discoveries including SSH and SNMPv3 support provide detailed records of all network-connected devices, with filtering capabilities for specific IP address ranges.",[119,2324,2325,2328],{},[250,2326,2327],{},"Complete coverage:"," Local collectors deploy on air-gapped network segments or across geographic locations ensuring comprehensive visibility.",[119,2330,2331,2334],{},[250,2332,2333],{},"Detailed dashboards:"," Extensive dashboards enable exploring network information and visualizing discovery data flexibly.",[119,2336,2337,2340],{},[250,2338,2339],{},"Extensive reporting:"," Filter and export discovery data to over 80 report types, scrutinizing devices, permissions, versions, and connection information.",[119,2342,2343,2346],{},[250,2344,2345],{},"Benchmark standards and policies:"," Enterprise versions enable easily achieving compliance through custom benchmarks or selected industry standards including standards-based security policies.",[119,2348,2349,2352],{},[250,2350,2351],{},"Seed discoveries:"," Complete network snapshots result from seed discoveries -- sequential discoveries from single seed routers building extensive pictures of every network device.",[119,2354,2355,2358],{},[250,2356,2357],{},"Shadow IT protection:"," Open-AudIT identifies unauthorized devices and malicious network activities while notifying users of blacklisted software discoveries.",[119,2360,2361,2364],{},[250,2362,2363],{},"Change tracking:"," Open-AudIT tracks changes to device attributes including installed software, hardware, and settings for easy temporal auditing.",[119,2366,2367,2370],{},[250,2368,2369],{},"Role-based access control (RBAC):"," Granular user permission controls filter and limit sensitive data access, reducing insider threat risks.",[12,2372,2373],{},"Unlike most competitors, FirstWave's development team provides hands-on customer support for all solutions.",[12,2375,2376],{},"Effective network management through discovery, auditing, and compliance proves crucial for business success. Open-AudIT provides these capabilities within user-friendly, comprehensive platforms that scale with organizational growth.",[1166,2378],{},[22,2380,1171],{"id":1170},[116,2382,2383,2388,2394],{},[119,2384,2385],{},[151,2386,505],{"href":2387},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-open-audit\u002F",[119,2389,2390],{},[151,2391,2393],{"href":2392},"\u002Fblog\u002Fsimple-device-discovery-using-open-audit\u002F","Simple Device Discovery Using Open-AudIT",[119,2395,2396],{},[151,2397,1185],{"href":1184},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":2399},[2400,2401,2402,2403,2404,2405,2406,2407],{"id":2043,"depth":179,"text":2044},{"id":2097,"depth":179,"text":2098},{"id":2154,"depth":179,"text":2155},{"id":2188,"depth":179,"text":2189},{"id":2215,"depth":179,"text":2216},{"id":2274,"depth":179,"text":2275},{"id":2307,"depth":179,"text":2308},{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":1171},"2024-11-14","A comprehensive guide to network discovery, auditing, and compliance -- how they work together to strengthen security and business continuity.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fnetwork-discovery-compliance.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fnetwork-discovery-auditing-and-compliance-a-complete-guide",{"title":2028,"description":2409},"network-discovery-auditing-and-compliance-a-complete-guide","blog\u002Fnetwork-discovery-auditing-and-compliance-a-complete-guide",[840,2417,472,479,843],"auditing","i49uy-IaVY37OMCbFISHHRh6eSIxYgILKpYrz57LR-U",{"id":2420,"title":2421,"author":1086,"body":2422,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":2876,"description":2877,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":2878,"meta":2879,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":2880,"seo":2881,"slug":2882,"stem":2883,"tags":2884,"__hash__":2888},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Finstalling-open-audit.md","How to Install Open-AudIT: A Quick Guide",{"type":9,"value":2423,"toc":2864},[2424,2427,2430,2433,2436,2439,2442,2453,2456,2473,2476,2489,2493,2496,2504,2512,2516,2538,2547,2551,2556,2559,2590,2595,2614,2625,2629,2633,2636,2647,2650,2654,2657,2662,2673,2684,2688,2705,2709,2712,2733,2738,2741,2745,2795,2798,2802,2805,2813,2816,2820,2829,2838,2847,2849,2854],[12,2425,2426],{},"Learn how you can start using our open-source network asset discovery tool in under 10 minutes.",[12,2428,2429],{},"In a modern network environment, IT asset discovery is a must-have.",[12,2431,2432],{},"Having the ability to oversee and manage network devices helps you safeguard your data from unauthorised users, keep critical software and devices up-to-date, achieve compliance, and mitigate network threats. Plus, you'll save valuable time and resources on network scanning and inventory management tasks.",[12,2434,2435],{},"Open-AudIT enables you to do all these things and more in real time -- and you can have it completely up and running in under 10 minutes. We'll show you how in this quick guide.",[22,2437,2438],{"id":504},"What is Open-AudIT?",[12,2440,2441],{},"FirstWave's open-source network discovery tool shows you what's on your network, how it's configured, and when it changes, so you can:",[116,2443,2444,2447,2450],{},[119,2445,2446],{},"discover every device",[119,2448,2449],{},"pinpoint changes in your environment",[119,2451,2452],{},"stay on top of IT licensing requirements.",[12,2454,2455],{},"Open-AudIT does this by intelligently scanning your organization's network and storing the configurations for the devices it discovers. This gives you immediate visibility into:",[116,2457,2458,2461,2464,2467,2470],{},[119,2459,2460],{},"software licensing",[119,2462,2463],{},"configuration changes",[119,2465,2466],{},"non-authorised devices",[119,2468,2469],{},"capacity utilisation",[119,2471,2472],{},"hardware warranty status reports.",[12,2474,2475],{},"Open-AudIT can also collect huge amounts of data from varying networks, which can be catalogued and collated into meaningful reports. Not only is this tool free to download, we also offer a free 100-device Professional license to get you started.",[2477,2478,2479],"blockquote",{},[12,2480,2481],{},[151,2482,2486],{"href":2483,"rel":2484},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fblog\u002Fnetwork-discovery-auditing-and-compliance-a-complete-guide\u002F",[2485],"nofollow",[250,2487,2488],{},"Read our complete guide to network discovery, auditing, and compliance -- and how Open-AudIT can help.",[22,2490,2492],{"id":2491},"installation-prerequisites","Installation Prerequisites",[12,2494,2495],{},"The Open-AudIT installer will take care of most prerequisites for you, but make sure you have the following:",[116,2497,2498,2501],{},[119,2499,2500],{},"Any major modern browser that supports HTML5 (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Safari).",[119,2502,2503],{},"At a minimum, an Intel i3 device with 4GB memory and 1GB disk (may increase with number of devices and networks discovered).",[12,2505,2506,2507],{},"Operating system-specific prerequisites are also listed below. ",[151,2508,2511],{"href":2509,"rel":2510},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.community.firstwave.com\u002Fwiki\u002Fspaces\u002FOA\u002Fpages\u002F3163947800\u002FServer+Requirements",[2485],"Learn more about the requirements for installing and running Open-AudIT here.",[22,2513,2515],{"id":2514},"download-open-audit","Download Open-AudIT",[12,2517,2518,2519,2524,2525,2531,2532,2537],{},"Visit ",[151,2520,2523],{"href":2521,"rel":2522},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fproducts\u002Fnetwork-discovery-and-inventory-software\u002F",[2485],"our website"," to download the latest version. Select the ",[2526,2527,2528],"em",{},[250,2529,2530],{},"Linux"," or ",[2526,2533,2534],{},[250,2535,2536],{},"Windows"," option, and download the binary.",[12,2539,2540,2541,2546],{},"Open-AudIT is installed on-premises. You can also use the ",[151,2542,2545],{"href":2543,"rel":2544},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.community.firstwave.com\u002Fwiki\u002Fspaces\u002FopCommon\u002Fpages\u002F3165028664\u002FOpmantek+Virtual+Machine+Installation+and+Getting+Started",[2485],"FirstWave Virtual Machine"," if you prefer, and get all the FirstWave monitoring applications installed and ready to use.",[22,2548,2550],{"id":2549},"how-to-install-for-windows","How to Install for Windows",[12,2552,2553],{},[250,2554,2555],{},"Prerequisites",[12,2557,2558],{},"For Windows, the following distributions are supported (64-bit only):",[116,2560,2561,2564,2579,2587],{},[119,2562,2563],{},"Windows Server 2016 and up.",[119,2565,2566,2567,2572,2573,2578],{},"If you don't already have NMAP, go to ",[151,2568,2571],{"href":2569,"rel":2570},"https:\u002F\u002Fnmap.org",[2485],"nmap.org"," to download the latest NMAP binary. Right-click the downloaded .exe file, select ",[2526,2574,2575],{},[250,2576,2577],{},"Run as Administrator",", and run the installation wizard with default installation settings applied.",[119,2580,2581,2586],{},[151,2582,2585],{"href":2583,"rel":2584},"https:\u002F\u002Flearn.microsoft.com\u002Fen-us\u002Fcpp\u002Fwindows\u002Flatest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170",[2485],"If you don't already have it, install the latest Visual C runtime",".",[119,2588,2589],{},"Windows 10 and 11 are not supported for Open-AudIT Server (they are fine as discovered machines).",[12,2591,2592],{},[250,2593,2594],{},"Installation",[116,2596,2597,2604,2611],{},[119,2598,2599,2600,2586],{},"After downloading Open-AudIT, right-click the downloaded .exe file and select ",[2526,2601,2602],{},[250,2603,2577],{},[119,2605,2606,2607,2586],{},"Install Open-AudIT by right-clicking the .exe file and selecting ",[2526,2608,2609],{},[250,2610,2577],{},[119,2612,2613],{},"Run the installation wizard with default installation settings applied.",[2477,2615,2616],{},[12,2617,2618],{},[151,2619,2622],{"href":2620,"rel":2621},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.community.firstwave.com\u002Fwiki\u002Fspaces\u002FOA\u002Fpages\u002F3163949038\u002FHow+To+Install+or+Upgrade+Open-AudIT+Windows",[2485],[250,2623,2624],{},"Get more info on installing and upgrading Open-AudIT for Windows.",[22,2626,2628],{"id":2627},"how-to-install-for-linux","How to Install for Linux",[12,2630,2631],{},[250,2632,2555],{},[12,2634,2635],{},"For Linux, the following distributions are supported (64-bit only):",[116,2637,2638,2641,2644],{},[119,2639,2640],{},"RedHat 8\u002F9",[119,2642,2643],{},"Debian 11\u002F12",[119,2645,2646],{},"Ubuntu 20.04\u002F22.04.",[12,2648,2649],{},"Our Linux installer will automatically install all required dependencies.",[12,2651,2652],{},[250,2653,2594],{},[12,2655,2656],{},"After downloading Open-AudIT, simply run the following command:\nsudo .\u002FOAE-Linux-x86_64-release_5.4.0.run.",[116,2658,2659],{},[119,2660,2661],{},"Note: The version at the end of the filename may change.",[2477,2663,2664],{},[12,2665,2666],{},[250,2667,2668],{},[151,2669,2672],{"href":2670,"rel":2671},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.community.firstwave.com\u002Fwiki\u002Fspaces\u002FOA\u002Fpages\u002F3163949113\u002FHow+To+Install+or+Upgrade+Open-AudIT+Linux",[2485],"Get more info on installing and upgrading Open-AudIT for Linux.",[2477,2674,2675],{},[12,2676,2677],{},[151,2678,2681],{"href":2679,"rel":2680},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.community.firstwave.com\u002Fwiki\u002Fspaces\u002FOA\u002Fpages\u002F3163954150\u002FInstall+Open-AudIT+on+SUSE+SLES+15.5",[2485],[250,2682,2683],{},"Installing for SUSE? Get installation details here.",[22,2685,2687],{"id":2686},"claim-your-free-licenses","Claim Your Free Licenses",[116,2689,2690,2698],{},[119,2691,2692,2693,2697],{},"Open your web browser, navigate to ",[2694,2695,2696],"code",{},"http:\u002F\u002FYOUR_SERVER\u002Fopen-audit\u002F",", and log in.",[119,2699,2700,2701,2704],{},"Fill out the form at ",[2694,2702,2703],{},"http:\u002F\u002FYOUR_SERVER\u002Fopen-audit\u002Findex.php\u002Fconfiguration\u002Flicense_string"," to activate your free 100-device Professional license.",[22,2706,2708],{"id":2707},"add-your-credentials","Add Your Credentials",[12,2710,2711],{},"Open-AudIT can handle a variety of credential types, including the standard SNMP, Windows, and SSH types.",[116,2713,2714,2722,2730],{},[119,2715,2716,2717,2586],{},"In the Open-AudIT dashboard, navigate to ",[2526,2718,2719],{},[250,2720,2721],{},"Discover > Credentials > Create Credentials",[119,2723,2724,2725,2586],{},"Add your credential details and click ",[2526,2726,2727],{},[250,2728,2729],{},"Submit",[119,2731,2732],{},"Repeat this process as many times as needed to add your desired device credentials to Open-AudIT.",[12,2734,2735],{},[2526,2736,2737],{},"If you don't have the credentials for a device on your network you will still see the device in Open-AudIT, but data retrieval will be limited.",[12,2739,2740],{},"Now, you can add a discovery!",[22,2742,2744],{"id":2743},"start-discovering","Start Discovering",[116,2746,2747,2755,2758,2767,2775,2778,2786],{},[119,2748,2749,2750,2586],{},"From the Open-AudIT dashboard, navigate to ",[2526,2751,2752],{},[250,2753,2754],{},"Discover > Discoveries > Create Discoveries",[119,2756,2757],{},"Add a name and the subnet for your discovery. Typically most users use a \u002F24 network, e.g. 192.168.1.0\u002F24.",[119,2759,2760,2761,2766],{},"Click the ",[2526,2762,2763],{},[250,2764,2765],{},"Execute"," button on the discovery details page.",[119,2768,2760,2769,2774],{},[2526,2770,2771],{},[250,2772,2773],{},"Refresh"," button at any time to update the logs as the discovery progresses.",[119,2776,2777],{},"Repeat this process as many times as needed to add all desired discoveries.",[119,2779,2780,2781,2586],{},"On the Discoveries dashboard, you'll now see all your listed devices. To view detailed information on a discovered device, navigate to ",[2526,2782,2783],{},[250,2784,2785],{},"Manage > Devices > List Devices",[119,2787,2788,2789,2794],{},"Click the eye icon under the ",[2526,2790,2791],{},[250,2792,2793],{},"Details"," column for any device to explore the extensive data Open-AudIT has collected for it.",[12,2796,2797],{},"After adding your credentials and running your discoveries, you'll notice your home dashboard now displays a variety of charts that give you deeper insights into your network.",[22,2799,2801],{"id":2800},"done","Done!",[12,2803,2804],{},"Want a visual run-through? You can watch the entire process in more detail below.",[2806,2807],"iframe",{"title":2808,"src":2809,"width":2810,"height":2811,"frameBorder":2812,"allowFullScreen":195},"YouTube video player","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002Fi_0vrtPBuLc",560,315,"0",[12,2814,2815],{},"Happy discovering!",[22,2817,2819],{"id":2818},"learn-more-about-open-audit","Learn More About Open-AudIT",[12,2821,2822],{},[250,2823,2824],{},[151,2825,2828],{"href":2826,"rel":2827},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fplaylist?list=PLw8YUAEwGTSVPYKFo7O9FEf0ZwXWqA1vl",[2485],"Open-AudIT YouTube playlist",[12,2830,2831],{},[250,2832,2833],{},[151,2834,2837],{"href":2835,"rel":2836},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.community.firstwave.com\u002Fwiki\u002Fspaces\u002FOA\u002Foverview?homepageId=3163947010",[2485],"Open-AudIT Community Wiki",[12,2839,2840],{},[151,2841,2844],{"href":2842,"rel":2843},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fcontact\u002F#support",[2485],[250,2845,2846],{},"Chat to our Support team",[1166,2848],{},[12,2850,2851],{},[250,2852,2853],{},"Related reading:",[116,2855,2856,2860],{},[119,2857,2858],{},[151,2859,2438],{"href":2387},[119,2861,2862],{},[151,2863,2393],{"href":2392},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":2865},[2866,2867,2868,2869,2870,2871,2872,2873,2874,2875],{"id":504,"depth":179,"text":2438},{"id":2491,"depth":179,"text":2492},{"id":2514,"depth":179,"text":2515},{"id":2549,"depth":179,"text":2550},{"id":2627,"depth":179,"text":2628},{"id":2686,"depth":179,"text":2687},{"id":2707,"depth":179,"text":2708},{"id":2743,"depth":179,"text":2744},{"id":2800,"depth":179,"text":2801},{"id":2818,"depth":179,"text":2819},"2024-09-11","Get Open-AudIT up and running in under 10 minutes with this step-by-step installation guide for Windows and Linux.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-Dashboards-700.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Finstalling-open-audit",{"title":2421,"description":2877},"installing-open-audit","blog\u002Finstalling-open-audit",[479,2885,2886,2887],"installation","getting started","how-to","vWBN4OKsRQpv6VpMIAGEQP0P06iVDPfuxYERSHWuYgQ",{"id":2890,"title":2891,"author":1086,"body":2892,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":3010,"description":3011,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3012,"meta":3013,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":3014,"seo":3015,"slug":3016,"stem":3017,"tags":3018,"__hash__":3022},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Funderstanding-mean-time-to-resolution-mttr-in-network-management.md","Understanding Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) in Network Management",{"type":9,"value":2893,"toc":3003},[2894,2897,2901,2908,2911,2914,2918,2921,2947,2951,2954,2980,2982,2985,2987,2989],[12,2895,2896],{},"In managing computer networks, keeping services running and minimizing disruptions is crucial. One important way to measure how well network managers and operators handle problems is through Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR).",[22,2898,2900],{"id":2899},"so-what-is-mean-time-to-resolution-mttr","So, What is Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR)?",[2477,2902,2903],{},[12,2904,2905],{},[250,2906,2907],{},"MTTR is a key performance indicator used in network management to quantify the average time it takes to resolve a network issue or outage from the moment it is detected.",[12,2909,2910],{},"This metric encompasses the entire process, from initial problem identification (when a device such as a router, switch, or server goes down or starts experiencing issues) through to the restoration of normal service. MTTR is calculated by taking the total time spent on resolving all incidents within a specific period and dividing it by the number of incidents.",[12,2912,2913],{},"In simpler terms, MTTR provides a clear picture of how long your network is out of action during a typical incident and how quickly your team can bring everything back to normal. It's a reflection of the efficiency and effectiveness of your incident response processes.",[22,2915,2917],{"id":2916},"why-mttr-matters-for-network-managers-and-operators","Why MTTR Matters for Network Managers and Operators",[12,2919,2920],{},"MTTR is more than a mere number; it serves as a direct indicator of the health of your network management practices. Here's why it's so crucial:",[2166,2922,2923,2929,2935,2941],{},[119,2924,2925,2928],{},[250,2926,2927],{},"Minimizing Downtime:"," Networks are the backbone of any organization, and every minute of network downtime can result in lost productivity, customer dissatisfaction, and revenue loss. MTTR helps network managers understand how quickly they can respond to and resolve issues, thus minimizing downtime and its associated impacts.",[119,2930,2931,2934],{},[250,2932,2933],{},"Operational Efficiency:"," A lower MTTR indicates a streamlined, efficient response process. It reflects well on the team's capability to detect, diagnose, and fix issues quickly. This significantly enhances the network's reliability, instilling a heightened level of confidence and bolstering the team's reputation within the organization.",[119,2936,2937,2940],{},[250,2938,2939],{},"Customer Satisfaction (this is the most important one):"," In today's fast-paced digital environment, customers expect near-instantaneous service. A quick resolution time keeps customers happy by ensuring that disruptions are brief and service is restored promptly.",[119,2942,2943,2946],{},[250,2944,2945],{},"Resource Management:"," MTTR can also help in assessing how effectively resources are being used during incident response. A consistently high MTTR might indicate bottlenecks or inefficiencies that need to be addressed, such as outdated tools or a lack of adequate training for the team.",[22,2948,2950],{"id":2949},"what-is-a-good-mttr","What is a Good MTTR?",[12,2952,2953],{},"The definition of a \"good\" MTTR can vary depending on the industry, the complexity of the network, and the nature of the incidents. However, there are some general benchmarks that network managers can consider:",[116,2955,2956,2962,2968,2974],{},[119,2957,2958,2961],{},[250,2959,2960],{},"Industry Standards:"," In many industries, a good MTTR is typically under 4 hours. However, for high-stakes environments, such as financial services or healthcare, MTTR might need to be even lower, often measured in minutes.",[119,2963,2964,2967],{},[250,2965,2966],{},"Historical Performance:"," Your historical data is a great baseline. If your average MTTR has been 6 hours, bringing it down to 4 hours could be a significant improvement. The key is consistent improvement over time.",[119,2969,2970,2973],{},[250,2971,2972],{},"SLAs and Customer Expectations:"," Service Level Agreements (SLAs) often dictate the acceptable MTTR for your organization. These agreements are usually based on customer expectations, which can vary greatly. Meeting or exceeding these SLAs should be the target.",[119,2975,2976,2979],{},[250,2977,2978],{},"Comparative Analysis:"," Look at similar organizations within your industry. Benchmarking against peers can provide insight into where your MTTR stands and what might be achievable.",[22,2981,423],{"id":422},[12,2983,2984],{},"MTTR stands as a critical measure that network managers and operators need to monitor and improve. It acts as a clear signal of how rapidly your team can recover from network issues, affecting everything from operational efficiency to customer satisfaction. By aiming for a reduced MTTR, network teams are not only able to improve their service reliability but also bolster their overall network management approach. Ultimately, a successful MTTR is one that meets or surpasses your organization's and its customers' expectations, while continually striving for quicker and more effective resolutions.",[1166,2986],{},[22,2988,1171],{"id":1170},[116,2990,2991,2997],{},[119,2992,2993],{},[151,2994,2996],{"href":2995},"\u002Fblog\u002Fimprove-mean-time-to-resolution-using-nmis-automated-base-lining\u002F","Improve Mean Time to Resolution Using NMIS Automated Baselining",[119,2998,2999],{},[151,3000,3002],{"href":3001},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-companies-need-to-invest-in-network-monitoring\u002F","Why Companies Need to Invest in Network Monitoring",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":3004},[3005,3006,3007,3008,3009],{"id":2899,"depth":179,"text":2900},{"id":2916,"depth":179,"text":2917},{"id":2949,"depth":179,"text":2950},{"id":422,"depth":179,"text":423},{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":1171},"2024-08-28","Learn what MTTR means for network management, why it matters for minimizing downtime, and what constitutes a good MTTR benchmark.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fmttr-network-management.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Funderstanding-mean-time-to-resolution-mttr-in-network-management",{"title":2891,"description":3011},"understanding-mean-time-to-resolution-mttr-in-network-management","blog\u002Funderstanding-mean-time-to-resolution-mttr-in-network-management",[3019,843,203,3020,3021],"MTTR","monitoring","performance","jfwQlNikxf5PvlmSl0PUr4zSUOeHB_jofmU22IeA4S4",{"id":3024,"title":3025,"author":1086,"body":3026,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":3123,"description":3124,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3125,"meta":3126,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":3127,"seo":3128,"slug":3129,"stem":3130,"tags":3131,"__hash__":3136},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-security-management-platform-osmp-delivers-on-urgent-need-for-smb-cyber-protection.md","Open Security Management Platform (OSMP) Delivers on Urgent Need for SMB Cyber Protection",{"type":9,"value":3027,"toc":3119},[3028,3036,3039,3042,3045,3048,3051,3054,3058,3061,3064,3067,3071,3074,3077,3080,3083,3086,3089,3100,3108,3110],[12,3029,3030,3031,2586],{},"Comprehensive cyber protection for SMBs has emerged as the next great revenue driver for IT service providers, with 60% of SMBs looking to outsource cybersecurity to a third party, according ",[151,3032,3035],{"href":3033,"rel":3034},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fwhitepapers\u002Ffrost-sullivan-embracing-delivery-of-cybersecurity\u002F",[2485],"to a new report by Frost & Sullivan",[12,3037,3038],{},"The report, commissioned by ASX-listed global cybersecurity company FirstWave Cloud Technology, showed SMBs were in \"urgent\" need of comprehensive cyber protection and were increasingly relying on managed service providers to deliver unified, centralised and automated solutions that offer enhanced threat remediation.",[12,3040,3041],{},"\"Security, though a priority, often slips through the cracks, making it difficult to intentionally and continuously establish a security-forward organisational stance from their IT service providers,\" the report said.",[12,3043,3044],{},"To fill this gap, FirstWave developed the CyberCision™ Open Security Management Platform (OSMP), described by Frost & Sullivan as the first of its kind. Designed to equip service providers with low-cost, high-revenue security services for their SMB customers, the platform enables SMB customers, in turn, to benefit from an enterprise-grade Cybersecurity-as-a-Service solution.",[12,3046,3047],{},"FirstWave CEO Danny Maher said it was no secret that cybersecurity had become one of the most pressing issues for businesses of all sizes, particularly SMBs.",[12,3049,3050],{},"\"With high-profile data breaches making headlines on an almost weekly basis, it is clear that traditional security measures are no longer enough to protect organisations from sophisticated cyber attacks,\" he said.",[12,3052,3053],{},"\"As a result, more and more businesses are turning to outsourcing as a way to improve their cybersecurity posture. Those service providers need to have a solution ready for their customers.\"",[22,3055,3057],{"id":3056},"smbs-unique-cybersecurity-challenges","SMBs' Unique Cybersecurity Challenges",[12,3059,3060],{},"The global upheaval of the last two years that disrupted societies, governments, businesses, and the technologies that support them, also forced organisations worldwide to shift to remote working practically overnight. Consequently, organisations have adopted new operational infrastructures as data has multiplied exponentially, all opening up a much wider attack surface.",[12,3062,3063],{},"Moreover, cyberattacks have grown smarter, scaling in both sophistication and speed, to penetrate the weak defences of solutions struggling to protect increasingly digital economies.",[12,3065,3066],{},"A recent Frost & Sullivan survey of SMBs found most were targeted by preventable threats, including ransomware (47%), vulnerabilities from unpatched systems (44%), web defacements (43%), insider threats from employees (31%), and phishing attacks (27%).",[22,3068,3070],{"id":3069},"the-opportunity-for-service-providers","The Opportunity for Service Providers",[12,3072,3073],{},"Frost & Sullivan finds that while only 14% of enterprises report outsourcing more than half of their cybersecurity operations, a much higher percentage (60%) of SMBs outsource.",[12,3075,3076],{},"\"This presents a natural fit for partnerships between SMBs and their service providers. By adding cybersecurity to their existing services, SMBs can bolster existing connectivity assets with the critical protections they need, all through a single provider,\" the report said.",[12,3078,3079],{},"However, for many service providers, while lucrative, delivering cybersecurity solutions to enterprise customers can involve significant cost and complexity. FirstWave's world-first OSMP, CyberCision™, was explicitly designed to address this problem.",[12,3081,3082],{},"\"CyberCision™ enables service providers to provision enterprise-grade security services to enterprise and SMB customers at scale, opening the door to new revenue opportunities with a lower cost-to-serve,\" the report said.",[12,3084,3085],{},"\"With CyberCision™, service providers can build as-a-service cybersecurity packages of enterprise-grade, including a range of management and operational services such as multi-tenanting, billing, and provisioning that enable them to streamline the sales and delivery process at a minimal cost.\"",[12,3087,3088],{},"Essentially, CyberCision™ serves as a platform that service providers can depend on to scale their managed security services business and operations profitably, drastically reducing the time to market for cybersecurity and serving SMB customers, which was not previously possible.",[12,3090,3091,3092],{},"Download a free copy of the Frost & Sullivan report, ",[2526,3093,3094],{},[250,3095,3096],{},[151,3097,3099],{"href":3033,"rel":3098},[2485],"Embracing Delivery of Cybersecurity and Scaling Via Service Providers",[12,3101,3102],{},[151,3103,3105],{"href":3033,"rel":3104},[2485],[38,3106],{"alt":178,"src":3107},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002F216628847_orig.png",[1166,3109],{},[12,3111,3112,3114,3115],{},[250,3113,2853],{}," ",[151,3116,3118],{"href":3117},"\u002Fblog\u002Fmulti-tenant-saas-platforms-the-way-of-the-future-for-security\u002F","Multi-Tenant SaaS Platforms: The Way of the Future for Security",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":3120},[3121,3122],{"id":3056,"depth":179,"text":3057},{"id":3069,"depth":179,"text":3070},"2022-08-02","How FirstWave's CyberCision OSMP enables service providers to deliver enterprise-grade cybersecurity to SMBs at scale, backed by Frost & Sullivan research.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Ffs-blog-banners_orig.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-security-management-platform-osmp-delivers-on-urgent-need-for-smb-cyber-protection",{"title":3025,"description":3124},"open-security-management-platform-osmp-delivers-on-urgent-need-for-smb-cyber-protection","blog\u002Fopen-security-management-platform-osmp-delivers-on-urgent-need-for-smb-cyber-protection",[1207,3132,3133,3134,3135],"osmp","smb","cybercision","service providers","AJsYCGBewJxSoSR8UxH4lIuQC86hWbXKqVb79QHy3Js",{"id":3138,"title":3139,"author":1086,"body":3140,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":3206,"description":3207,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3208,"meta":3209,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":3210,"seo":3211,"slug":3212,"stem":3213,"tags":3214,"__hash__":3216},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fcybercision-mobile-app-visibility-and-real-time-monitoring-of-cybersecurity-threats.md","CyberCision Mobile App: Visibility and Real-Time Monitoring of Cybersecurity Threats",{"type":9,"value":3141,"toc":3202},[3142,3145,3154,3158,3164,3173,3177,3183,3186,3192,3194],[12,3143,3144],{},"Cybersecurity threats are on the rise and businesses need to be taking steps to protect themselves. Our CyberCision Mobile App offers visibility and real-time monitoring of cybersecurity threats so that you can rest assured that your business is safe. With our app, you can also access historic reporting, all available to be white-labelled for our Partners.",[12,3146,3147,3148,3153],{},"Released as part of our Phase II CyberCision Launch, the CyberCision Mobile App offers unparalleled visibility into the cybersecurity threats facing businesses today. With real-time monitoring and historic reporting, the app provides clients with a comprehensive view of the risks they face. Available to be white-labelled for ",[151,3149,3152],{"href":3150,"rel":3151},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fsolutions\u002Ftelco-internet-service-providers\u002F",[2485],"service providers and telco partners",", this powerful app gives visibility and control to those who need it to stay ahead of the cyber-criminals.",[22,3155,3157],{"id":3156},"for-end-users","For End Users",[12,3159,3160],{},[38,3161],{"alt":3162,"src":3163},"CyberCision mobile app mockup","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Ffirstwave-cybercision-mock-up-830230822.png",[12,3165,3166,3167,3172],{},"With the tap of a finger, end users are able to review current and historic incidents within their ",[151,3168,3171],{"href":3169,"rel":3170},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fproducts\u002Femail-security-2\u002F",[2485],"email security"," posture in the palm of their hand, including real-time alerting to ensure any urgent matters are addressed instantly. This allows businesses to quickly identify and resolve any potential issues before they become damaging breaches. In addition, the ability to review past incidents helps businesses to learn and adapt, helping to prevent future attacks.",[22,3174,3176],{"id":3175},"for-service-providers","For Service Providers",[12,3178,3179],{},[38,3180],{"alt":3181,"src":3182},"CyberCision email security platform UI","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FCyberCision_Email.png",[12,3184,3185],{},"Eliminating the need to replicate app development work, our platform is fully customisable for our service provider and telco partners. This allows you to put these powerful tools into your customer's hands, branded as your own. What's more, this added visibility helps to reinforce the value of the email security offering in place, so you can lead informed conversations with your customers about how to best protect their business from cybersecurity threats.",[12,3187,3188],{},[38,3189],{"alt":3190,"src":3191},"CyberCision platform overview","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fcybercisionplatform1.png",[1166,3193],{},[12,3195,3196,3114,3198],{},[250,3197,2853],{},[151,3199,3201],{"href":3200},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdeploying-email-security-at-scale-and-speed-with-frictionless-email-security\u002F","Deploying Email Security at Scale and Speed with Frictionless Email Security",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":3203},[3204,3205],{"id":3156,"depth":179,"text":3157},{"id":3175,"depth":179,"text":3176},"2022-06-27","The CyberCision Mobile App provides real-time monitoring and historic reporting of cybersecurity threats, available white-labelled for service provider partners.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FCybercision-Screens.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcybercision-mobile-app-visibility-and-real-time-monitoring-of-cybersecurity-threats",{"title":3139,"description":3207},"cybercision-mobile-app-visibility-and-real-time-monitoring-of-cybersecurity-threats","blog\u002Fcybercision-mobile-app-visibility-and-real-time-monitoring-of-cybersecurity-threats",[3134,3215,1207,3135],"mobile app","FI8aYB-k1ud-exLRgzRfBoezaGtesnYTcUOoWbi6F2k",{"id":3218,"title":3201,"author":1086,"body":3219,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":3298,"description":3299,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3300,"meta":3301,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":3302,"seo":3303,"slug":3304,"stem":3305,"tags":3306,"__hash__":3309},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fdeploying-email-security-at-scale-and-speed-with-frictionless-email-security.md",{"type":9,"value":3220,"toc":3296},[3221,3224,3232,3238,3241,3270,3274,3277,3280,3286,3288],[12,3222,3223],{},"Cybersecurity has always been a tough sell. It's an intangible product that's often seen as a necessary evil, something that businesses have to invest in, but don't really want to think about. This is especially true when it comes to deployments at scale. Imagine trying to sell cybersecurity to thousands of Microsoft 365 customers. Not only do you have to convince them of the need for the product, but you also have to ensure that it's properly deployed across their entire organization. This is no small feat, and it's one that service providers have been struggling with for years.",[12,3225,3226,3227,3231],{},"That's where FirstWave comes in. Our CyberCision platform is the world's first open cybersecurity platform, made specifically to help service providers and telcos provide cybersecurity solutions to their customers. CyberCision is committed to making email security as seamless and painless as possible for its customers. That's why we're excited to offer our new ",[151,3228,3230],{"href":3169,"rel":3229},[2485],"Frictionless Email Security solution",". This automated activation method enables service providers and Microsoft customers to deploy email security at scale and at speed, without manual DNS and MX changes. That means you can rest assured that your emails are protected from viruses, phishing attacks, and other cyber threats.",[12,3233,3234],{},[38,3235],{"alt":3236,"src":3237},"Email security benefits graphic","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FEmail-Security-Benefits.png",[12,3239,3240],{},"Frictionless Email Security on FirstWave's CyberCision platform:",[116,3242,3243,3246,3249,3252,3255,3258,3261],{},[119,3244,3245],{},"Deploys in minutes",[119,3247,3248],{},"Provides extra layers of protection",[119,3250,3251],{},"No MX record to change",[119,3253,3254],{},"Advanced security out of the box",[119,3256,3257],{},"Rapidly onboards thousands of customers with APIs",[119,3259,3260],{},"Service providers can white-label the platform to support their brand",[119,3262,3263,3264,3269],{},"Includes ",[151,3265,3268],{"href":3266,"rel":3267},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fproducts\u002Fadvanced-detection-and-response-adr\u002F",[2485],"ADR"," to mitigate targeted email attacks in the mailbox",[12,3271,3272],{},[38,3273],{"alt":3181,"src":3182},[12,3275,3276],{},"Service providers simply log in to the CyberCision platform and follow the prompts to activate the service. It's that easy! So if you're looking for an email security solution that won't cause headaches, look no further than CyberCision. We'll take care of everything for you.",[12,3278,3279],{},"Finally, service providers and telcos can onboard email security customers at scale, at speed, and with minimal effort, opening new channels to market.",[12,3281,3282],{},[38,3283],{"alt":3284,"src":3285},"Email security service for service providers","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FEmail-Security-Service-for-Service-Providers.jpg",[1166,3287],{},[12,3289,3290,3114,3292],{},[250,3291,2853],{},[151,3293,3295],{"href":3294},"\u002Fblog\u002Ffrictionless-email-security-the-solution-to-onboarding-email-security\u002F","Frictionless Email Security: The Solution to Onboarding Email Security",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":3297},[],"2022-06-14","How CyberCision's Frictionless Email Security enables service providers to deploy email protection to thousands of Microsoft 365 customers without manual DNS changes.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Femail-security-banner.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdeploying-email-security-at-scale-and-speed-with-frictionless-email-security",{"title":3201,"description":3299},"deploying-email-security-at-scale-and-speed-with-frictionless-email-security","blog\u002Fdeploying-email-security-at-scale-and-speed-with-frictionless-email-security",[3171,3307,3134,3308],"frictionless","microsoft 365","GNrTzzAfAMEAVdorxcvBt9y4lqCiQIZsLm31IgOCJ6g",{"id":3311,"title":3295,"author":1086,"body":3312,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":3362,"description":3363,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3364,"meta":3365,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":3366,"seo":3367,"slug":3368,"stem":3369,"tags":3370,"__hash__":3371},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Ffrictionless-email-security-the-solution-to-onboarding-email-security.md",{"type":9,"value":3313,"toc":3358},[3314,3321,3325,3328,3331,3335,3338,3340,3342,3346],[12,3315,3316,3317,3320],{},"In the race to stay ahead of the latest cybersecurity threats, ",[151,3318,3171],{"href":3169,"rel":3319},[2485]," is more important than ever. However, traditional methods of onboarding email security solutions have been slow and costly, preventing many businesses from implementing these vital protections. CyberCision from FirstWave changes all that with Frictionless Email Security. This innovative new approach removes the barriers to onboarding email security, making it easier and faster for service providers and telcos to add these essential protections to their customers' networks. With Frictionless Email Security, you can be confident that your business is protected from the latest threats!",[22,3322,3324],{"id":3323},"the-challenge-of-traditional-email-security-onboarding","The Challenge of Traditional Email Security Onboarding",[12,3326,3327],{},"Email is one of the most important communications tools for businesses, so it's essential to have a secure platform in place. However, onboarding customers to an email security platform can be time-consuming and fraught with potential for human error. In the past, service providers have had to dedicate significant amounts of time, often after hours, from senior technical staff to make manual changes to DNS and MX records. Even with the best intentions, there's always the chance that something will go wrong.",[12,3329,3330],{},"Between the finite \"change windows\" available after hours for service providers to lean on their senior staff before burning them out, and the additional cost this incurs and will almost certainly need to be passed onto their customers, traditional email security onboarding is full of barriers.",[22,3332,3334],{"id":3333},"how-frictionless-email-security-changes-the-game","How Frictionless Email Security Changes the Game",[12,3336,3337],{},"That's where FirstWave's Frictionless Email Security comes into its own. With automated activation, not beholden to manual DNS and MX record changes, as well as API integrations to enable the ability to deploy at scale, FirstWave empowers service providers and telcos to deploy world-class email security to their customers with ease.",[12,3339,3279],{},[1166,3341],{},[12,3343,3344],{},[250,3345,2853],{},[116,3347,3348,3352],{},[119,3349,3350],{},[151,3351,3201],{"href":3200},[119,3353,3354],{},[151,3355,3357],{"href":3356},"\u002Fblog\u002Fbusiness-email-compromise-5-ways-to-prevent-it\u002F","Business Email Compromise: 5 Ways to Prevent It",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":3359},[3360,3361],{"id":3323,"depth":179,"text":3324},{"id":3333,"depth":179,"text":3334},"2022-06-02","How FirstWave's Frictionless Email Security removes the barriers to deploying email protection, enabling service providers to onboard customers at scale.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FRecommended-MSP-cybersecurity.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Ffrictionless-email-security-the-solution-to-onboarding-email-security",{"title":3295,"description":3363},"frictionless-email-security-the-solution-to-onboarding-email-security","blog\u002Ffrictionless-email-security-the-solution-to-onboarding-email-security",[3171,3307,3135,3134],"gQINdLzvuKqTB1sTOJS7Be5PBgX71pWCBMRwe03Vsw0",{"id":3373,"title":3374,"author":1086,"body":3375,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":3603,"description":3604,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3605,"meta":3606,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":3607,"seo":3608,"slug":3609,"stem":3610,"tags":3611,"__hash__":3613},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Ffinding-devices-with-custom-queries-in-open-audit.md","Finding Devices with Custom Queries in Open-AudIT",{"type":9,"value":3376,"toc":3596},[3377,3380,3383,3386,3389,3393,3399,3402,3407,3411,3414,3420,3423,3449,3452,3458,3461,3464,3473,3484,3494,3497,3501,3507,3514,3548,3551,3559,3562,3575,3581,3584,3592],[12,3378,3379],{},"When considering what a typical network is and what is monitored in it, a few devices usually come to mind; Switches, Routers, HUBs, etc. With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) the variety of monitored devices is increasing even further, adding IoT devices such as thermostats along with the devices that regulate them (Microcontrollers, Single-Board-Computers, etc.).",[12,3381,3382],{},"Without having inventory management software, it becomes challenging to keep track of where and what devices are on your network. FirstWave's Open-AudIT software not only provides in-depth network auditing; it is also easy to create custom queries with this information. These queries allow you to find and organize devices in whatever manner you or your team find best.",[12,3384,3385],{},"Open-AudIT used as a configuration management database system (one of its many uses) ships with 33 pre-built queries to assist in finding and organizing devices. These queries range from what memory and processors are used, what software is currently installed, to what IP addresses are consumed on the network.",[12,3387,3388],{},"Understanding that no two networks or organizations are alike, there is a need to have the ability to customize queries to fit your team's needs. Open-AudIT accomplishes this through the use of Custom Queries. A query is essentially a SQL statement that runs against the database to only display the requested filtered items the user has permission to view.",[22,3390,3392],{"id":3391},"creating-custom-queries","Creating Custom Queries",[12,3394,3395],{},[38,3396],{"alt":3397,"src":3398},"Open-AudIT query creation interface","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-features2.png",[12,3400,3401],{},"A query can be created in Open-AudIT by navigating to the menu -> Manage -> Queries -> Create Queries.",[12,3403,3404],{},[38,3405],{"alt":178,"src":3406},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FAdd-a-query-650.png",[22,3408,3410],{"id":3409},"breaking-down-the-sql-query","Breaking Down the SQL Query",[12,3412,3413],{},"The SQL query can be broken into three parts:",[12,3415,3416,3419],{},[250,3417,3418],{},"1. The SELECT statement"," is used to select the data from a database.",[12,3421,3422],{},"The SELECT section of the query should use full dot notation and also request the field with its full dot name. For example:",[3424,3425,3429],"pre",{"className":3426,"code":3427,"language":3428,"meta":178,"style":178},"language-sql shiki shiki-themes github-light github-dark","SELECT system.id AS `system.id`,\n       system.name AS `system.name`,\n       system.os_name AS `system.os_name`\n","sql",[2694,3430,3431,3439,3444],{"__ignoreMap":178},[3432,3433,3436],"span",{"class":3434,"line":3435},"line",1,[3432,3437,3438],{},"SELECT system.id AS `system.id`,\n",[3432,3440,3441],{"class":3434,"line":179},[3432,3442,3443],{},"       system.name AS `system.name`,\n",[3432,3445,3446],{"class":3434,"line":449},[3432,3447,3448],{},"       system.os_name AS `system.os_name`\n",[12,3450,3451],{},"This would cause the query to display the system IDs, system name, and operating system.",[12,3453,3454,3457],{},[250,3455,3456],{},"2. The FROM clause"," lists the tables, and any joins required for the SQL statement.",[12,3459,3460],{},"The FROM clause will decide what database you are getting these specific system IDs from and should only contain the tables with the attributes you need.",[12,3462,3463],{},"For example:",[3424,3465,3467],{"className":3426,"code":3466,"language":3428,"meta":178,"style":178},"FROM system\n",[2694,3468,3469],{"__ignoreMap":178},[3432,3470,3471],{"class":3434,"line":3435},[3432,3472,3466],{},[12,3474,3475,3476,3479,3480,3483],{},"This specifies which table the ",[2694,3477,3478],{},"system.id"," and ",[2694,3481,3482],{},"system.name"," are coming from.",[12,3485,3486,3489,3490,3493],{},[250,3487,3488],{},"3. The WHERE clause"," extracts only those records that fulfil a specified condition. For Open-AudIT to apply user permissions on items, we mandate the use of the ",[2694,3491,3492],{},"WHERE @filter",". If you do not use this format, the query::create form will show a warning.",[12,3495,3496],{},"Only users with the Admin role are permitted to create queries that lack this attribute.",[22,3498,3500],{"id":3499},"putting-it-together","Putting It Together",[12,3502,3503],{},[38,3504],{"alt":3505,"src":3506},"Open-AudIT detailed device output for a custom query","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-detailed-device.png",[12,3508,3509,3510,3513],{},"Continuing with our earlier examples, we can add the clause ",[2694,3511,3512],{},"WHERE @filter AND system.type = 'computer'",". Specifying the type to equal computer will only display devices that are computers, quickly allowing you to filter out all other irrelevant devices. The query has now reached its final form:",[3424,3515,3517],{"className":3426,"code":3516,"language":3428,"meta":178,"style":178},"SELECT system.id AS `system.id`,\n       system.name AS `system.name`,\n       system.os_name AS `system.os_name`\nFROM system\nWHERE @filter\nAND system.type = 'computer'\n",[2694,3518,3519,3523,3527,3531,3536,3542],{"__ignoreMap":178},[3432,3520,3521],{"class":3434,"line":3435},[3432,3522,3438],{},[3432,3524,3525],{"class":3434,"line":179},[3432,3526,3443],{},[3432,3528,3529],{"class":3434,"line":449},[3432,3530,3448],{},[3432,3532,3534],{"class":3434,"line":3533},4,[3432,3535,3466],{},[3432,3537,3539],{"class":3434,"line":3538},5,[3432,3540,3541],{},"WHERE @filter\n",[3432,3543,3545],{"class":3434,"line":3544},6,[3432,3546,3547],{},"AND system.type = 'computer'\n",[12,3549,3550],{},"This will result in displaying only the system names, IDs, and operating systems of devices that are the system type of computer.",[2477,3552,3553],{},[12,3554,3555,3558],{},[250,3556,3557],{},"NOTE:"," You are free to select any attributes desired when creating your custom query. To further help in creating queries it is a good idea to use the menu -> Admin -> Database -> List Tables to view the specific table structure. This provides a valuable resource for finding the attributes necessary when creating any custom query.",[12,3560,3561],{},"Open-AudIT grants you the ability to scan your entire network for devices and organize them in ways that make sense for your team. Inventory management is a breeze with the ability to find, filter, and group any device using custom queries. The growing number of different devices added to networks makes having tools like Open-AudIT in your kit more valuable than ever.",[12,3563,3564,3565,3570,3571,2586],{},"For more information on FirstWave's Open-AudIT, other FirstWave solutions, or to schedule a demonstration, please visit our website at ",[151,3566,3569],{"href":3567,"rel":3568},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.firstwave.com\u002F",[2485],"www.firstwave.com",". You can also email us at ",[151,3572,3574],{"href":3573},"mailto:contact@firstwave.com","contact@firstwave.com",[12,3576,3577],{},[38,3578],{"alt":3579,"src":3580},"Open-AudIT network directory dashboard","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-network-directory-dashboard.png",[240,3582,3583],{"id":1170},"Related reading",[116,3585,3586],{},[119,3587,3588],{},[151,3589,3591],{"href":3590},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcustom-fields-in-open-audit\u002F","Custom Fields in Open-AudIT",[3593,3594,3595],"style",{},"html .default .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-default);background: var(--shiki-default-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-default-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-default-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-default-text-decoration);}html .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-default);background: var(--shiki-default-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-default-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-default-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-default-text-decoration);}html .dark .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-dark);background: var(--shiki-dark-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-dark-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-dark-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-dark-text-decoration);}html.dark .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-dark);background: var(--shiki-dark-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-dark-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-dark-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-dark-text-decoration);}",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":3597},[3598,3599,3600],{"id":3391,"depth":179,"text":3392},{"id":3409,"depth":179,"text":3410},{"id":3499,"depth":179,"text":3500,"children":3601},[3602],{"id":1170,"depth":449,"text":3583},"2022-04-18","Learn how to create custom SQL queries in Open-AudIT to find and organise devices on your network beyond the 33 built-in queries.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-all-devices.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Ffinding-devices-with-custom-queries-in-open-audit",{"title":3374,"description":3604},"finding-devices-with-custom-queries-in-open-audit","blog\u002Ffinding-devices-with-custom-queries-in-open-audit",[479,3612,3428,2887],"queries","34QBoEQpWikqKVbElR60lRh03_DA04Iiiz3Bpr_r5_4",{"id":3615,"title":3616,"author":1086,"body":3617,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":3722,"description":3723,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3364,"meta":3724,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":3725,"seo":3726,"slug":3727,"stem":3728,"tags":3729,"__hash__":3733},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-combat-the-growing-threat-of-ransomware-attacks.md","How to Combat the Growing Threat of Ransomware Attacks",{"type":9,"value":3618,"toc":3717},[3619,3622,3625,3628,3648,3651,3654,3658,3661,3664,3667,3671,3674,3691,3695,3698,3701,3704,3707,3709],[12,3620,3621],{},"There has been a significant growth in ransomware attacks in Australia and even other countries where hackers are especially leveraging the Covid-19 outbreak to dupe netizens. According to a report by Cybersecurity Ventures, by 2021, one business entity will succumb to ransomware attacks every 11 seconds, up from every 14 seconds in 2019.",[12,3623,3624],{},"Ransomware, defined in the simplest terms, is malicious software that secretly seeps into your computer or data center and encrypts some or all data using a unique key that can only be decrypted and accessed using the same key. Attackers then demand a ransom to let you gain access to your data. According to Datto, American cybersecurity and data backup company, ransomware costs businesses more than $75 billion per year.",[12,3626,3627],{},"Some common types of ransomware attacks include:",[116,3629,3630,3636,3642],{},[119,3631,3632,3635],{},[250,3633,3634],{},"Crypto malware"," gains unauthorized access to IT systems and encrypts valuable data and files, disrupting IT operations. The hacker demands payment to hand over decryption keys.",[119,3637,3638,3641],{},[250,3639,3640],{},"Lockers"," block users and administrators from logging into their systems, blocking access to files and applications. The attacker demands a ransom to grant access and restore systems to normalcy.",[119,3643,3644,3647],{},[250,3645,3646],{},"Doxware",", also known as extortionware, obtains sensitive information and threatens to publish it online, putting confidential, mission-critical business data at risk. As businesses are responsible for protecting their user data, this situation can disrupt legal compliance.",[12,3649,3650],{},"Most of the ransomware attacks start with a phishing email. A simple click on a link to download a malicious attachment can be the gateway to a successful attack. With the ongoing stress and uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, people are more vulnerable to falling victim to carefully designed phishing attacks.",[12,3652,3653],{},"Amidst rising coronavirus cases, there has been a significant increase in the ransomware attacks on hospitals and healthcare institutions. However, this doesn't mean other businesses are safe. Many companies are succumbing to these attacks as many of their employees are working remotely in insecure networks. The coronavirus crisis is impacting business revenues and cash flows already, and a successful ransomware attack on top of it will impact business continuity drastically.",[22,3655,3657],{"id":3656},"use-cases-toll-group-and-epiq-global-among-others","Use Cases: Toll Group and Epiq Global, Among Others",[12,3659,3660],{},"Ransomware and related attacks worth about $241 million were reported in Australia alone in 2019, according to a new report. The attacks have continued in 2020, with the Australian logistics company, Toll Group, being hit by a ransomware attack on 31 Jan 2020. The company, with over 40,000 workers, had to shut down, disable, and isolate its systems and resort to manual processing of the massive amount of data it deals with daily. On 26 Feb 2020, a ransomware attack impacted Talman Software, which serves 75% of the Australian wool industry. As a result, the whole wool buying and selling system went offline across Australia and New Zealand.",[12,3662,3663],{},"Globally, organizations are focusing on digital transformation initiatives, making them primary targets of ransomware attacks. On 29 Feb 2020, a ransomware attack on legal services giant Epiq Global had quickly spread and affected all computers across their 80 global locations. On 2 Mar 2020, Visser Precision LLC, US-based aerospace, automotive, and industrial parts manufacturer, fell victim to a ransomware attack by the DoppelPaymer group. It affected industrial giants Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing, Tesla, and SpaceX, among other companies who subcontracted work to Visser Precision LLC.",[12,3665,3666],{},"Paying the ransom doesn't guarantee recovery, especially if hackers are amateurs. They buy ransomware on the dark web without having the technical proficiency to infect networks, thereby failing to decrypt data.",[22,3668,3670],{"id":3669},"mitigating-the-risk-of-ransomware-attacks","Mitigating the Risk of Ransomware Attacks",[12,3672,3673],{},"The approaches to mitigation vary from business to business. Some conventional approaches to reducing the risk are:",[116,3675,3676,3679,3682,3685,3688],{},[119,3677,3678],{},"Backup business-critical and sensitive data periodically on local machines, removable hard drives, and the cloud.",[119,3680,3681],{},"Segregate your networks and systems so that a successful attack on one subsystem doesn't transmit to others, mitigating the impact.",[119,3683,3684],{},"Perform necessary software and OS updates to ensure software is up to date and secure enough to mitigate the vulnerabilities.",[119,3686,3687],{},"Review your existing endpoint security solution for its readiness and capability to protect against ransomware attacks. If it's inadequate, upgrade to a suitable alternative solution.",[119,3689,3690],{},"Deploy modern security solutions for email and web security.",[22,3692,3694],{"id":3693},"secure-remote-working-with-web-and-endpoint-security","Secure Remote Working with Web and Endpoint Security",[12,3696,3697],{},"The coronavirus crisis has been an opportunistic moment for cybercriminals. The workforce across the globe is working remotely, either from home or any other location, and many employees are using personal devices for work, accessing corporate data using their home networks. Home networks are not as secure as office networks and result in compromised security, offering a gateway to cybercriminals.",[12,3699,3700],{},"How do you strengthen the security posture of your remote workers? Securing endpoints and web access is the key! Endpoint security secures laptops, mobile phones, tablets, and other device connections that tap into corporate networks.",[12,3702,3703],{},"At FirstWave, our solution provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art endpoint security, protecting devices like PCs, Macs, and mobile phones and letting remote workers access corporate applications securely. Moreover, it provides web security to prevent data leaks and protects from malicious web content, and employs cognitive threat analytics for enhanced security.",[12,3705,3706],{},"We all hope that the disruption to people's lives and work from Covid-19 will end soon and we pray for everyone's well-being. However, even when we get over Covid-19, remote working will be the new norm across many companies. Don't forget to secure remote working with FirstWave Cloud as business continuity is more important than ever before!",[1166,3708],{},[12,3710,3711,3114,3713],{},[250,3712,2853],{},[151,3714,3716],{"href":3715},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-make-cybersecurity-part-of-your-business-culture\u002F","How to Make Cybersecurity Part of Your Business Culture",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":3718},[3719,3720,3721],{"id":3656,"depth":179,"text":3657},{"id":3669,"depth":179,"text":3670},{"id":3693,"depth":179,"text":3694},"2021-09-01","Understanding ransomware attack types, real-world case studies, and practical strategies for mitigating risk, including securing remote workers.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-combat-the-growing-threat-of-ransomware-attacks",{"title":3616,"description":3723},"how-to-combat-the-growing-threat-of-ransomware-attacks","blog\u002Fhow-to-combat-the-growing-threat-of-ransomware-attacks",[3730,1207,3731,3732],"ransomware","remote work","endpoint security","1Pw9o6WlFnfF_vcdYFki32U6nsapO2UhkyiRdwApIYo",{"id":3735,"title":3357,"author":1086,"body":3736,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":3871,"description":3872,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3300,"meta":3873,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":3874,"seo":3875,"slug":3876,"stem":3877,"tags":3878,"__hash__":3881},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fbusiness-email-compromise-5-ways-to-prevent-it.md",{"type":9,"value":3737,"toc":3865},[3738,3741,3744,3748,3754,3757,3762,3776,3779,3782,3786,3791,3827,3831,3836,3839,3842,3850,3854,3857,3859],[12,3739,3740],{},"With 4.5 billion internet subscribers globally leveraging the web to perform various activities and transactions, it has become more vulnerable than ever before. In fact, according to the International Monetary Fund, the number of cyberattacks has tripled over the last decade. The constantly increasing, large-scale breaches confirm that not only are cybersecurity attacks going up, but they are increasing in severity as well.",[12,3742,3743],{},"A report published by McAfee, The Hidden Cost of Cybercrime, stated that: \"We estimated the monetary loss from cybercrime at approximately $945 billion. Added to this was global spending on cybersecurity, which was expected to exceed $145 billion in 2020. Today, this is a $1 trillion dollar drag on the global economy.\" These facts clearly signify the drastic increase in cybercrime and the importance of cybersecurity for businesses and individuals across the world. Besides having their reputations at stake, companies are risking their crucial and sensitive data, financial information, cash flow, tech infrastructure, customer trust, and much more.",[22,3745,3747],{"id":3746},"rising-business-email-compromise-bec-attacks","Rising Business Email Compromise (BEC) Attacks",[12,3749,3750],{},[38,3751],{"alt":3752,"src":3753},"What is email security explainer graphic","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FWhat-Is-Email-Security.png",[12,3755,3756],{},"The first half of 2020 was quite challenging for many organizations, as there was a global shift to a remote working culture while making data security a critical concern. Remote working and increasing internet transactions opened up new ways for cybercriminals to target both individuals and organizations. Business Email Compromise (BEC) is amongst the most common types of data breaches that we witnessed throughout 2020.",[12,3758,3759],{},[2526,3760,3761],{},"Outlined below are some interesting stats that echo the fact:",[116,3763,3764,3767,3770,3773],{},[119,3765,3766],{},"Coronavirus-related phishing attacks and business email compromise (BEC) scams skyrocketed 3,000% from mid-March through early June, according to mid-year analysis from the Agari Cyber-intelligence Division (ACID).",[119,3768,3769],{},"Barracuda Networks identified 6,170 malicious accounts since January that use Gmail, AOL, and other email services that were responsible for more than 100,000 Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks on nearly 6,600 organizations around the world.",[119,3771,3772],{},"According to a recent report, The Geography BEC released in 2020 by Agari Cyber-Intelligence Division (ACID), BEC is now responsible for 40% of all cybercrime losses, more than $26 billion in losses since June 2016, and has victimized organizations in at least 177 countries.",[119,3774,3775],{},"Business Email Compromise (BEC) was solely responsible for over 40% of the total cybercrime losses in 2019, at least according to the latest FBI IC3 report.",[12,3777,3778],{},"If you ignore BEC prevention now, it can cost you millions of dollars later!",[12,3780,3781],{},"Companies using cloud-based email services are lucrative targets to cybercriminals who conduct business email compromise (BEC) scams. Cybercriminals leverage technical threats and sophisticated social engineering methods to win employee trust and conduct fraudulent activities. The need for security against such attacks is crucial as the number of BEC scams is growing in volume and no organization is immune to the fallibility of human nature, since these emails look very real and are harder for employees to identify immediately.",[22,3783,3785],{"id":3784},"_5-ways-organizations-can-prevent-business-email-compromise-bec","5 Ways Organizations Can Prevent Business Email Compromise (BEC)",[12,3787,3788],{},[38,3789],{"alt":3790,"src":3237},"Benefits of email security against email-based threats",[116,3792,3793,3799,3805,3811,3817],{},[119,3794,3795,3798],{},[250,3796,3797],{},"Email Authorization with SPF:"," Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email authentication technique used against email spoofing. Spammers can forge your domain to send fake messages that appear to come from your organization. Such spoofed messages can be used to communicate false information, send out harmful software, or trick people into giving out sensitive information. Sender Policy Framework identifies if the mail sent from your domain is actually from your organization or mail server authorized by you, or if it's a BEC attack.",[119,3800,3801,3804],{},[250,3802,3803],{},"Multi-factor Authentication:"," To avoid the breach of email accounts, organizations can implement measures to enhance authentication such as: encouraging a strong password setup policy, prohibiting reuse of passwords, and implementing multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication allows successful access only after the user provides various kinds of information including, but not limited to, a password and a dynamic pin, code, or biometric. This method makes it more difficult for a cybercriminal to hack an employee's email and launch a BEC attack.",[119,3806,3807,3810],{},[250,3808,3809],{},"Establishment of an internal control system:"," Companies can establish an internal control system and escalation rules for responding to confirmed or suspected cases of BEC. They can establish a system for verification that facilitates collaboration between the accounting department which requests financial institutions to make money transfers, IT department which is responsible for email and system operation, legal department which responds when a case involves legal issues, and the sales department which undertakes negotiations with outside business partners. In case of high-valued transactions, multiple independent signatures from different departments can also be used.",[119,3812,3813,3816],{},[250,3814,3815],{},"Implementation of security protocols and staff training:"," Organizations can create and roll out policies to use office devices such as laptops, protocols for email passwords, and other relevant security measures to avoid BEC attacks. To counter social engineering, awareness training programs can be organized to identify breaches that get through the layers of defense. Also, whenever new strategies or attacks come to light in other organizations, such incidents should be shared with employees to increase awareness.",[119,3818,3819,3114,3822,3826],{},[250,3820,3821],{},"Implementation of Security Solutions:",[151,3823,3825],{"href":3169,"rel":3824},[2485],"Email security"," solutions offer a pre-delivery protection mechanism by blocking various email-based threats like viruses, malware, ransomware, phishing, spoofing, etc. before they reach a mail server. FirstCloud Email Security solution offers a reliable, scalable, and feature-rich email security service that protects businesses against such BEC attacks.",[22,3828,3830],{"id":3829},"combat-bec-attacks-with-cybercision-email-security","Combat BEC Attacks with CyberCision Email Security",[12,3832,3833],{},[38,3834],{"alt":3835,"src":3182},"CyberCision email security product UI",[12,3837,3838],{},"Considering how vital it is for companies to protect their sensitive data and financial integrity, CyberCision Email Security offers an affordable inbound and outbound email security solution that can be customized for businesses of any size with unique layered protection, assured disaster recovery, and 32 days trace replay.",[12,3840,3841],{},"It uses innovative cloud content security and analytics capabilities to protect inbound emails from malware, ransomware, phishing, viruses, and spam, and also detects advanced persistent threats such as spear phishing, whaling, typo domain, and spoofing attacks.",[12,3843,3844,3845,3849],{},"The technology is powered by FirstWave Cloud Technology's ESP ",[151,3846,3848],{"href":3266,"rel":3847},[2485],"email software technology",", Cisco-based ESA\u002FIronPort, and Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) technologies.",[22,3851,3853],{"id":3852},"moving-towards-a-more-secure-future","Moving Towards a More Secure Future",[12,3855,3856],{},"As we move towards a technologically advanced future, cybersecurity risk is also bound to soar, since hackers are also quickly adapting to the technological changes and are becoming more skilled in finding loopholes in the security systems. According to the Cybersecurity Market Revenues Worldwide report by Statista, the global cybersecurity market size is forecasted to grow to 248.26 billion U.S. dollars by 2023. But let's not forget that cyberattacks are not unavoidable. Security solutions are providing effective protection against such threats and are constantly evolving with the changing global needs.",[1166,3858],{},[12,3860,3861,3114,3863],{},[250,3862,2853],{},[151,3864,3295],{"href":3294},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":3866},[3867,3868,3869,3870],{"id":3746,"depth":179,"text":3747},{"id":3784,"depth":179,"text":3785},{"id":3829,"depth":179,"text":3830},{"id":3852,"depth":179,"text":3853},"2021-08-19","Understanding the rising threat of Business Email Compromise and five practical strategies organisations can implement to protect against BEC attacks.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fbusiness-email-compromise-5-ways-to-prevent-it",{"title":3357,"description":3872},"business-email-compromise-5-ways-to-prevent-it","blog\u002Fbusiness-email-compromise-5-ways-to-prevent-it",[3171,3879,3880,1207],"bec","phishing","m-Uscg46zhbXpgelfX2aNjm6lZrkUTmB2pBDQF4fGZY",{"id":3883,"title":3884,"author":1086,"body":3885,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":3920,"description":3921,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3364,"meta":3922,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":3923,"seo":3924,"slug":3925,"stem":3926,"tags":3927,"__hash__":3930},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fminimising-risk-of-cyber-attacks-to-telcos-network-orchestration-platforms.md","Minimising Risk of Cyber Attacks to Telcos and Network Orchestration Platforms",{"type":9,"value":3886,"toc":3918},[3887,3890,3893,3896,3899,3902,3910,3912],[12,3888,3889],{},"Software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualisation (NFV) may provide opportunities to overcome key networking challenges -- but security remains a key concern.",[12,3891,3892],{},"\"Telecommunications regulators and national security agencies worldwide are very concerned -- even alarmed -- about the potential risks of cyber-attacks from state-based actors against centralised telecommunications end-to-end service and network orchestration technology platforms or solutions from single vendors,\" says Roger Carvosso, Chief Product Officer. \"They are also concerned about the dominance or concentration of market power to one or a few NFV orchestration vendors or standards in the telecommunications, carriage service provider and digital service provider space.\"",[12,3894,3895],{},"\"The importance of security planning, design and controls needed for any orchestrator that has privileged access to network elements for the purpose of service and network orchestration can't be understated.\"",[12,3897,3898],{},"Security also remains a divisive issue within many telecommunications providers, with an intra-organisational divide between cybersecurity leaders such as vice-presidents of security products, professionals and operations team members and SDN\u002FNFV networking engineers. These engineers are typically not as aware or as knowledgeable of security or cybersecurity-as-a-service, or the importance of baking security as a philosophy or discipline to be baked into SDN\u002FNFV technologies, tools and processes.",[12,3900,3901],{},"At FirstWave, we are working to ensure our CyberCision platform security architecture, including APIs, has the highest level of security accreditation and validation -- where the required components have privileged access to telecommunications network elements for service and network orchestration. Our platform effectively supports the diversification of orchestration vendors and a more competitive, secure sector. Our products and culture can also help telecommunications providers bridge the internal security gap and capture the value possible through SDN and NFV.",[12,3903,3904,3905,2586],{},"For more information, ",[151,3906,3909],{"href":3907,"rel":3908},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fcontact-us\u002F",[2485],"contact us",[1166,3911],{},[12,3913,3914,3114,3916],{},[250,3915,2853],{},[151,3917,3118],{"href":3117},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":3919},[],"2021-08-06","Why telecommunications providers need robust security for SDN\u002FNFV orchestration platforms and how FirstWave's CyberCision addresses these concerns.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fminimising-risk-of-cyber-attacks-to-telcos-network-orchestration-platforms",{"title":3884,"description":3921},"minimising-risk-of-cyber-attacks-to-telcos-network-orchestration-platforms","blog\u002Fminimising-risk-of-cyber-attacks-to-telcos-network-orchestration-platforms",[1207,206,3928,3929,3134],"sdn","nfv","_rhI9cBBeW03_v5HR_-eMd-EimYeogzo0d6l-ExOQ54",{"id":3932,"title":3716,"author":1086,"body":3933,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":3983,"description":3984,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3364,"meta":3985,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":3986,"seo":3987,"slug":3988,"stem":3989,"tags":3990,"__hash__":3994},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-make-cybersecurity-part-of-your-business-culture.md",{"type":9,"value":3934,"toc":3981},[3935,3938,3947,3950,3953,3956,3965,3968,3973,3975],[12,3936,3937],{},"Most businesses and government organisations are now aware that cybersecurity is not merely the responsibility of IT. They recognise that everyone is accountable for protecting systems, people and information from attack. They also know that many attacks occur from within rather than from external parties. So how can they make cybersecurity part of their business culture?",[12,3939,3940,3941,3946],{},"Education is key. An education program should complement and explain ",[151,3942,3945],{"href":3943,"rel":3944},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.business.gov.au\u002Frisk-management\u002Fcyber-security\u002Fcreating-a-cyber-security-policy-for-your-business",[2485],"robust security policies"," that detail the assets a business or organisation needs to protect, the threats to those assets and the rules and controls for protecting them.",[12,3948,3949],{},"An effective program makes every worker acutely aware of cyber threats, including emails or text messages designed to trick them into providing personal or financial information; entice them to click links to websites or open attachments containing malware, or deceive them into paying fake invoices that purport to be from a senior executive.",[12,3951,3952],{},"It teaches them how to recognise common threats, the actions they need to take and people they need to inform when targeted and the steps to take if they do fall victim to a malicious individual or software. In addition, the program should teach workers how to recognise and respond to poor -- or suspicious -- cybersecurity behaviour by a colleague.",[12,3954,3955],{},"Cybersecurity education also needs to extend to a business or government organisation's senior leadership team, who should also visibly support its objectives and model appropriate behaviours. It should also encourage workers and managers to pass on lessons learned to friends and family to help them avoid being compromised by malicious cyber activities.",[12,3957,3958,3959,3964],{},"Perhaps most importantly, it is not good enough to run a cybersecurity education program once and consider it a box ticked. A business or government organisation should run programs regularly and update them as needed to account for changes in policies and the threat landscape. It should also provide ongoing information and direct people to resources such as the ",[151,3960,3963],{"href":3961,"rel":3962},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.cyber.gov.au\u002F",[2485],"Australian Cyber Security Centre"," for assistance.",[12,3966,3967],{},"Cybersecurity policies and education programs also need to complement the effective use of proven, regularly updated security products to protect systems, people and information from cyber threats.",[12,3969,3904,3970,2586],{},[151,3971,3909],{"href":3907,"rel":3972},[2485],[1166,3974],{},[12,3976,3977,3114,3979],{},[250,3978,2853],{},[151,3980,3357],{"href":3356},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":3982},[],"2021-07-01","Practical steps for embedding cybersecurity awareness into your organisation's culture through education, leadership, and ongoing training.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-make-cybersecurity-part-of-your-business-culture",{"title":3716,"description":3984},"how-to-make-cybersecurity-part-of-your-business-culture","blog\u002Fhow-to-make-cybersecurity-part-of-your-business-culture",[1207,3991,3992,3993],"culture","training","awareness","XTTwXbKApFG-DuFZhPxUZh5qeRsX0RtyldudqdD3bbg",{"id":3996,"title":3997,"author":1086,"body":3998,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":4048,"description":4049,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3364,"meta":4050,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":4051,"seo":4052,"slug":4053,"stem":4054,"tags":4055,"__hash__":4059},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fmodernising-security-and-enabling-digital-transformation-with-zero-trust-network-access.md","Modernising Security and Enabling Digital Transformation with Zero-Trust Network Access",{"type":9,"value":3999,"toc":4046},[4000,4003,4012,4025,4028,4031,4038,4040],[12,4001,4002],{},"Keeping systems and information safe is an increasingly complex, high-stakes activity. Trusting individuals or systems by default may have catastrophic consequences if it leads to malicious parties gaining access to corporate networks or resources. These consequences may include service disruption and loss or theft of sensitive information -- and may, in turn, lead to reputational damage as customers and partners lose trust in an affected organisation. In addition, regulators may impose financial penalties if a breach results from a failure of systems or processes.",[12,4004,4005,4006,4011],{},"Unsurprisingly, businesses and government organisations are turning away from security models that trust individuals or systems by default. As TechTarget ",[151,4007,4010],{"href":4008,"rel":4009},"https:\u002F\u002Fsearchsecurity.techtarget.com\u002Fdefinition\u002Fzero-trust-model-zero-trust-network",[2485],"notes",", these models are ill-equipped to handle data distributed across multiple locations, applications and cloud services. A zero-trust approach requires strict identity and device verification not just to get past the network perimeter, but to access internal systems and resources. By segmenting network components and systems and imposing access requirements for each segment -- as well as using risk management analytics to identify suspicious activity -- businesses and government organisations can respond effectively to modern security challenges.",[12,4013,4014,4015,4020,4021,4024],{},"Zero-trust network access is continuing to gain traction in business and government -- particularly as digital transformation projects take effect. According to a ",[151,4016,4019],{"href":4017,"rel":4018},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gartner.com\u002Fdoc\u002Freprints?id=1-6OPF5SV&ct=190515&st=sb",[2485],"Gartner report",", because digital transformation projects \"require services APIs, data and processes to be accessible through multiple ecosystems anywhere, anytime, from any device over the internet, ",[3432,4022,4023],{},"they expand"," the surface area for attackers to target.\"",[12,4026,4027],{},"Gartner says zero-trust network access \"provides adaptive, identity-aware, precision access\" and \"enables digital ecosystems to work without exposing services directly to the internet.\"",[12,4029,4030],{},"The analyst firm predicts that, by 2022, 80% of new digital business applications opened up to ecosystem partners will be accessed through zero-trust network access, while by 2023, 60% of enterprises will phase out most of their remote access virtual private networks in favour of network access.",[12,4032,4033,4034,4037],{},"Is your business or government organisation adopting zero-trust network access? What challenges and opportunities is this approach presenting? Please ",[151,4035,3909],{"href":3907,"rel":4036},[2485]," to let us know.",[1166,4039],{},[12,4041,4042,3114,4044],{},[250,4043,2853],{},[151,4045,3716],{"href":3715},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":4047},[],"2021-06-03","How zero-trust network access helps organisations respond to modern security challenges and supports digital transformation initiatives.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fmodernising-security-and-enabling-digital-transformation-with-zero-trust-network-access",{"title":3997,"description":4049},"modernising-security-and-enabling-digital-transformation-with-zero-trust-network-access","blog\u002Fmodernising-security-and-enabling-digital-transformation-with-zero-trust-network-access",[4056,1207,4057,4058],"zero trust","digital transformation","network access","3-DRu9QIbUNbjc5yOI6C7qrOmsFFHg1HmI-ca5CEbto",{"id":4061,"title":3118,"author":1086,"body":4062,"categories":187,"category":1196,"date":4119,"description":4120,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3364,"meta":4121,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":4122,"seo":4123,"slug":4124,"stem":4125,"tags":4126,"__hash__":4128},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fmulti-tenant-saas-platforms-the-way-of-the-future-for-security.md",{"type":9,"value":4063,"toc":4113},[4064,4068,4071,4075,4078,4082,4085,4089,4092,4095,4098,4101,4104,4106],[22,4065,4067],{"id":4066},"the-challenge-for-service-providers","The Challenge for Service Providers",[12,4069,4070],{},"Delivering security solutions to customers has progressively become more complex and inefficient for service providers. Because these solutions may comprise a range of point products from different vendors, they force the service provider -- and customer -- to manage multiple relationships and technologies.",[22,4072,4074],{"id":4073},"the-multi-tenant-saas-advantage","The Multi-Tenant SaaS Advantage",[12,4076,4077],{},"Combining the scalability and flexibility of Software as a Service with the economies of scale of a multi-tenant environment can resolve these problems. A multi-tenant, SaaS security platform can strip out complexity and give service providers the ability to offer white-labelled solutions comprising world-class security technologies to customers.",[22,4079,4081],{"id":4080},"firstwaves-cybercision-platform","FirstWave's CyberCision Platform",[12,4083,4084],{},"At FirstWave, we provide a multi-tenant, SaaS platform that service providers can use to provide solutions that protect enterprises from cyberattacks across email, web and firewall vectors. Our CyberCision Platform orchestrates and provisions cloud-based SaaS based on virtualised email and web security, as well as firewall products from leading vendors. These include Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet and Trend Micro; we aim to add more in future.",[22,4086,4088],{"id":4087},"platform-capabilities","Platform Capabilities",[12,4090,4091],{},"The platform -- available on Amazon Web Services -- can be accessed by service providers with no upfront costs and integration. It incorporates APIs and information feeds that service providers can take into their order management, customer management, ticketing and subscription billing systems. All FirstWave infrastructure, management and security processes are certified to ISO 27001 Information Security Management System Standard and ISO 9001 Quality Management System Standard.",[12,4093,4094],{},"The platform enables users to offer solutions to customers ranging from government agencies, financial institutions and multinationals down to two- or three-person startups from a single instance.",[12,4096,4097],{},"Service providers can provision and activate solutions for customers within minutes and offer them packages of security policies. They can also manage all customers from a single pane of glass, and the customers themselves can have a single pane of glass view of their services and security policies. Our platform is carrier-grade and offers five nines service performance and strong hierarchical and role-based access controls.",[12,4099,4100],{},"Our platform is also compliant with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation, which protects the data and privacy of individuals in Europe.",[12,4102,4103],{},"With a world-class, multi-tenant, SaaS platform, service providers are now well positioned to help customers meet current and forthcoming security challenges.",[1166,4105],{},[12,4107,4108,3114,4110],{},[250,4109,2853],{},[151,4111,3884],{"href":4112},"\u002Fblog\u002Fminimising-risk-of-cyber-attacks-to-telcos-network-orchestration-platforms\u002F",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":4114},[4115,4116,4117,4118],{"id":4066,"depth":179,"text":4067},{"id":4073,"depth":179,"text":4074},{"id":4080,"depth":179,"text":4081},{"id":4087,"depth":179,"text":4088},"2021-05-01","How multi-tenant SaaS security platforms like CyberCision help service providers deliver enterprise-grade protection with simplicity and scale.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fmulti-tenant-saas-platforms-the-way-of-the-future-for-security",{"title":3118,"description":4120},"multi-tenant-saas-platforms-the-way-of-the-future-for-security","blog\u002Fmulti-tenant-saas-platforms-the-way-of-the-future-for-security",[1207,4127,204,3134,3135],"saas","Y1WF3MX6C6-ui1k1xkVmTZFEddllVSLw1pIBB24OWAE",{"id":4130,"title":4131,"author":1086,"body":4132,"categories":187,"category":1385,"date":4413,"description":4414,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":4415,"meta":4416,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":4417,"seo":4418,"slug":4419,"stem":4420,"tags":4421,"__hash__":4424},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-source-software-and-chilli-con-carne.md","Open Source Software and Chilli Con Carne",{"type":9,"value":4133,"toc":4406},[4134,4137,4140,4143,4146,4149,4152,4155,4158,4161,4164,4167,4171,4174,4177,4181,4186,4209,4213,4227,4231,4234,4245,4249,4278,4282,4287,4291,4295,4298,4302,4305,4308,4312,4329,4333,4336,4350,4354,4357,4368,4372,4386,4390,4393,4397,4400,4403],[12,4135,4136],{},"I am a big proponent of Open Source Software and all the things it has delivered for individuals, organisations and society. Where would we be today if it wasn't for GNU, Linux, Apache, MySQL (MariaDB), MongoDB, JavaScript, JQuery, Perl, Python and PHP, not to mention NMIS and Open-AudIT?",[12,4138,4139],{},"These and so many earlier Open Source projects were foundational and fundamental to the Internet as it grew and have been the Grand Parents, Uncles and Aunts of the more recent explosion of Open Source projects based around new innovations which would have only been created because of this heritage.",[12,4141,4142],{},"The classic birth of an Open Source project is, \"well I really like this (software|language|database) but it does not meet all my requirements, I think I will write one\" or \"I have this problem and nothing existing really solves this problem the way I need it to, I think I will write one\" or even better \"this open source (software|language|database) is so good, how could I help to make it better\".",[12,4144,4145],{},"Open Source isn't all about writing code, people can contribute in all kinds of ways, including testing, documentation, project management, requirements analysis and so much more.",[12,4147,4148],{},"Ultimately for me, Open Source Software is the awesome result of people with diverse backgrounds, skills, experiences and probably most importantly requirements working together to create a solution which embodies the definition of synergy. The result is something which is more generally useful to more people, because of the diversity of this input.",[12,4150,4151],{},"Which brings me to Chilli Con Carne, I love Mexican food, as soon as I first went to Montezuma's Restaurant in Taringa Queensland as a teenager I have loved Mexican food. From travelling to the USA and then living in California for a while, I learnt about the different types of Mexican, how different Tex-Mex is to Mexican food. More recent trips to Mexico I have learnt how awesome and diverse Mexican cuisine is.",[12,4153,4154],{},"But Chilli Con Carne is not Mexican, it is really Tex-Mex and for me it also brings some of the slow food movement ideas by cooking what you need, using local produce in a traditional way.",[12,4156,4157],{},"I have been cooking Mexican food for years using meal kits and finally, I decided I could do better by doing something myself, so with the help of YouTube and Jamie Oliver, I found a great recipe, which I adapted to what I had and it produced an awesome result.",[12,4159,4160],{},"I was talking to my Opmantek colleagues about it, and they contributed some \"code changes\" to make it better -- MarkD suggested smoked paprika instead of paprika, that was an amazing improvement, MarkH sent his Chilli Con Carne recipe and I adopted the brown sugar and chocolate, this added a richness and smoothness to the dish.",[12,4162,4163],{},"Cooking is the ultimate in iterative development, cook, test, taste, improve, repeat. The current iteration of my Chilli Con Carne recipe is included below and it keeps changing and developing as I get new ideas and input from others.",[12,4165,4166],{},"For me, Chilli Con Carne is just like Open Source Software, the product of synergy.",[22,4168,4170],{"id":4169},"open-sauce-chilli-con-carne-recipe","Open Sauce Chilli Con Carne Recipe",[12,4172,4173],{},"I would call this a mild recipe, my kids have eaten this no problem, adding more chilli flakes or using hotter chilli's would make this as hot as taste prefers.",[12,4175,4176],{},"This batch makes enough to feed 8 with some leftovers, I usually cook a big batch and freeze some convenient meals later.",[240,4178,4180],{"id":4179},"ingredients","Ingredients",[4182,4183,4185],"h4",{"id":4184},"mexi-spice-mix","Mexi Spice Mix",[116,4187,4188,4191,4194,4197,4200,4203,4206],{},[119,4189,4190],{},"3 teaspoons smoked paprika",[119,4192,4193],{},"3 teaspoons of cumin",[119,4195,4196],{},"2 teaspoons of dried oregano",[119,4198,4199],{},"Pinch salt",[119,4201,4202],{},"Pinch pepper",[119,4204,4205],{},"Lemon zest",[119,4207,4208],{},"Juice from lemon",[4182,4210,4212],{"id":4211},"vegetables-chopped-roughly","Vegetables Chopped Roughly",[116,4214,4215,4218,4221,4224],{},[119,4216,4217],{},"2 rough cut onions",[119,4219,4220],{},"1-2 red capsicums (bell peppers)",[119,4222,4223],{},"1-2 yellow capsicum (bell peppers)",[119,4225,4226],{},"1-2 green capsicum (bell peppers)",[4182,4228,4230],{"id":4229},"chillis-cut-up-fine-and-remove-seeds","Chilli's cut up fine and remove seeds",[12,4232,4233],{},"(Leave the seeds in if you want some more heat)",[116,4235,4236,4239,4242],{},[119,4237,4238],{},"1 large Poblano chilli",[119,4240,4241],{},"OR 2 Aussie green chilli",[119,4243,4244],{},"OR your favourite chilli's",[4182,4246,4248],{"id":4247},"other-things-to-add","Other things to add",[116,4250,4251,4254,4257,4260,4263,4266,4269,4272,4275],{},[119,4252,4253],{},"2 tins tomatoes",[119,4255,4256],{},"1\u002F2 tin water, use water from beans",[119,4258,4259],{},"Coriander (cilantro)",[119,4261,4262],{},"1 cinnamon stick",[119,4264,4265],{},"2 tins black beans including water",[119,4267,4268],{},"2 tins red kidney beans",[119,4270,4271],{},"1 tablespoon light brown sugar (optional)",[119,4273,4274],{},"60 grams unsweetened baking choc pieces (optional)",[119,4276,4277],{},"4 teaspoons hot chilli flakes",[4182,4279,4281],{"id":4280},"butcher","Butcher",[116,4283,4284],{},[119,4285,4286],{},"1.4kg beef chunks",[240,4288,4290],{"id":4289},"preparation","Preparation",[4182,4292,4294],{"id":4293},"marinate-the-meat","Marinate the Meat",[12,4296,4297],{},"Make the Mexi Spice Mix, combine with meat make sure it is really spread through all the meat. Leave to marinate in the fridge for as long as you have time for, overnight is good, an hour or so is ok.",[4182,4299,4301],{"id":4300},"cooking","Cooking",[12,4303,4304],{},"If you don't have time to marinade that is OK, just prepare the same way and straight into the pan.",[12,4306,4307],{},"I cook using a large electric fry pan, which works well and I can leave it cooking overnight if I have time.",[4182,4309,4311],{"id":4310},"the-intense-part-10-15-mins","The intense part (10-15 mins)",[116,4313,4314,4317,4320,4323,4326],{},[119,4315,4316],{},"Hi heat",[119,4318,4319],{},"Braised beef on the stove top",[119,4321,4322],{},"If not already marinated add in Mexi spices",[119,4324,4325],{},"Add in veggies, then tomatoes and black beans and chillis",[119,4327,4328],{},"Break cinnamon stick",[4182,4330,4332],{"id":4331},"the-easy-part-60-mins","The easy part (~60 mins)",[12,4334,4335],{},"If you want the chilli thicker, cook uncovered, if you want it thinner, keep it covered.",[116,4337,4338,4341,4344,4347],{},[119,4339,4340],{},"Reduced to cook for 15mins (level 9 180C)",[119,4342,4343],{},"Stir and cook for another 15 mins",[119,4345,4346],{},"Reduce heat to simmer and check after 15 mins",[119,4348,4349],{},"Reduce heat as needed and check every 15 mins",[4182,4351,4353],{"id":4352},"extra-flavour-as-needed","Extra flavour as needed",[12,4355,4356],{},"While cooking check flavour and add as taste proscribes, but add in small doses, stir through and taste again after 10-15 mins.",[116,4358,4359,4362,4365],{},[119,4360,4361],{},"1 teaspoon hot chilli flakes",[119,4363,4364],{},"1 teaspoon of cumin",[119,4366,4367],{},"1 teaspoon smoked paprika",[4182,4369,4371],{"id":4370},"the-relaxing-part-as-long-as-you-have-time-for","The relaxing part (as long as you have time for)",[116,4373,4374,4377,4380,4383],{},[119,4375,4376],{},"Cover the dish",[119,4378,4379],{},"Reduce heat to a low simmer, probably the lowest setting you have",[119,4381,4382],{},"Leave for as long as you can, 2 hours good, 4 hours better, leaving overnight is awesome",[119,4384,4385],{},"Keep an eye on total moisture.",[4182,4387,4389],{"id":4388},"soupy-tip","Soupy Tip",[12,4391,4392],{},"If too soupy, scoop off some of the liquid and keep as a soup, you can add beans to it and cook it up a little longer, but so much flavour in that soup.",[240,4394,4396],{"id":4395},"serving","Serving",[12,4398,4399],{},"Serve as you like, in a bowl, cover in cheese and add some sour cream, accompanied by corn chips is pretty good.",[12,4401,4402],{},"If you prefer a thicker chilli, serve in soft tacos or burrito wraps.",[12,4404,4405],{},"Enjoy.",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":4407},[4408],{"id":4169,"depth":179,"text":4170,"children":4409},[4410,4411,4412],{"id":4179,"depth":449,"text":4180},{"id":4289,"depth":449,"text":4290},{"id":4395,"depth":449,"text":4396},"2019-05-17","A fun analogy between open source software development and cooking chilli con carne, exploring how collaborative contributions improve both.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-source-chilli.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-source-software-and-chilli-con-carne",{"title":4131,"description":4414},"open-source-software-and-chilli-con-carne","blog\u002Fopen-source-software-and-chilli-con-carne",[4422,3991,1395,4423],"open source","community","06Fhy36OEhuWgjrgs4d2h52T_T_-4OTy7aAudVR6PFQ",{"id":4426,"title":4427,"author":1086,"body":4428,"categories":187,"category":463,"date":4563,"description":4564,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":4541,"meta":4565,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":4566,"seo":4567,"slug":4568,"stem":4569,"tags":4570,"__hash__":4573},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fdont-get-caught-out-by-a-software-license-audit.md","Don't Get Caught Out by a Software License Audit",{"type":9,"value":4429,"toc":4559},[4430,4433,4437,4440,4514,4517,4523,4527,4533,4536,4542,4549,4551],[12,4431,4432],{},"A common pain point that some organisations have expressed to us is the inability to prepare for or counter software license audits. There are two major concerns for any organisation experiencing these occurrences: there is a lack of information regarding the network and there is not enough information to challenge a software vendor when given a bill.",[22,4434,4436],{"id":4435},"the-cost-of-non-compliance","The cost of non-compliance",[12,4438,4439],{},"Knowing what software is installed on your devices is more than good practice for managing your network -- it is good practice for managing your budget. There are a lot of vendors who take an aggressive stance on license audits. An example of a bill for one extra license for a contract length of 6 years is below:",[517,4441,4442,4452],{},[520,4443,4444],{},[523,4445,4446,4449],{},[526,4447,4448],{},"Item",[526,4450,4451],{},"Amount",[536,4453,4454,4462,4470,4478,4486,4494,4502],{},[523,4455,4456,4459],{},[541,4457,4458],{},"List License",[541,4460,4461],{},"USD 47,500",[523,4463,4464,4467],{},[541,4465,4466],{},"List Support",[541,4468,4469],{},"USD 10,450",[523,4471,4472,4475],{},[541,4473,4474],{},"Standard Discount",[541,4476,4477],{},"10%",[523,4479,4480,4483],{},[541,4481,4482],{},"Net License",[541,4484,4485],{},"USD 42,750",[523,4487,4488,4491],{},[541,4489,4490],{},"Net Support",[541,4492,4493],{},"USD 9,405",[523,4495,4496,4499],{},[541,4497,4498],{},"Back Support (6 years)",[541,4500,4501],{},"6 years x 9,405 = USD 56,430",[523,4503,4504,4509],{},[541,4505,4506],{},[250,4507,4508],{},"Total Fees",[541,4510,4511],{},[250,4512,4513],{},"42,750 + 9,405 + 56,430 = USD 108,585",[12,4515,4516],{},"To be over-licensed by one unit and get a bill that high should act as a clear deterrent and should provide motivation for organisations to ensure they are maintaining their license levels.",[12,4518,4519],{},[38,4520],{"alt":4521,"src":4522},"Open-AudIT license tiers overview","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-License-Tiers-700.png",[22,4524,4526],{"id":4525},"how-open-audit-helps","How Open-AudIT helps",[12,4528,4529],{},[38,4530],{"alt":4531,"src":4532},"Open-AudIT purchasing dashboard for license tracking","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-purchasing-dashboard.png",[12,4534,4535],{},"The best way to stay ahead of these surprises is to have extensive information about your network and be able to monitor the software licenses that you have entitled to your organisations. Open-AudIT can do this with very little information and at a very manageable cost, especially compared to the figures mentioned above. Once devices are discovered using Open-AudIT, they can then be audited. If licensing levels are configured, then reports can be generated daily, weekly, or monthly on software levels, giving you genuine insight into your levels. This will mitigate the surprises that can occur if there have been three years between license audits.",[12,4537,4538],{},[38,4539],{"alt":4540,"src":4541},"Open-AudIT Licenses","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-Licenses-650.png",[12,4543,4544,4545,4548],{},"Above is a demonstration of what the result can look like, and of course this process can be scheduled so that a monthly report is generated. The process to configure this and get ahead of license audits is outlined in the wiki article. If you would like more information on how to configure these features, would like to see a demo of this in action, or want a discussion on how to optimise your network, ",[151,4546,3909],{"href":3907,"rel":4547},[2485]," and we will be happy to help.",[1166,4550],{},[12,4552,4553,3114,4555],{},[250,4554,2853],{},[151,4556,4558],{"href":4557},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-helps-solve-your-software-asset-management-needs\u002F","Open-AudIT Helps Solve Your Software Asset Management Needs",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":4560},[4561,4562],{"id":4435,"depth":179,"text":4436},{"id":4525,"depth":179,"text":4526},"2018-11-20","How Open-AudIT helps organisations stay ahead of software license audits by tracking installed software and generating compliance reports.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdont-get-caught-out-by-a-software-license-audit",{"title":4427,"description":4564},"dont-get-caught-out-by-a-software-license-audit","blog\u002Fdont-get-caught-out-by-a-software-license-audit",[479,4571,472,4572],"licensing","software audit","pHUjF-ulLG0jwSRJHNSfbqQR3l-A3dIG-_1od_TuN-o",{"id":4575,"title":4576,"author":1086,"body":4577,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":4632,"description":4633,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":2878,"meta":4634,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":4635,"seo":4636,"slug":4637,"stem":4638,"tags":4639,"__hash__":4641},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgetting-on-the-front-foot-is-simple-with-open-audit.md","Getting on the Front Foot Is Simple with Open-AudIT",{"type":9,"value":4578,"toc":4627},[4579,4583,4586,4589,4593,4596,4599,4603,4606,4609,4612,4615,4618,4620],[22,4580,4582],{"id":4581},"the-problem","The Problem",[12,4584,4585],{},"Before implementing Open-AudIT in his organisation, software and hardware audits were a loathed activity for Neil and his IT Team. The company was growing fast and undergoing a lot of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) -- great for the bottom line but a nightmare for the IT team who were responsible for keeping track of the Hardware and Software assets owned by the business.",[12,4587,4588],{},"Every year the team would break out the excel spreadsheets that held the asset register to review the age, warranty status and software licenses and versions for all of the devices in the company. Every year there were gaps, anomalies and errors in record keeping that required manual rectification, diverting resources away from customer and product support, until the audit was complete. This often resulted in unexpected licensing costs where usage of software had been under-budgeted in the organisation.",[22,4590,4592],{"id":4591},"the-discovery","The Discovery",[12,4594,4595],{},"Auditors were the enemy -- until Neil stumbled upon a recommendation for a great tool, that would discover and audit everything on a corporate network -- turning auditing visits, from an interrogation of records into an exploration of data.",[12,4597,4598],{},"Neil got started on the free version and soon discovered that there were some substantial benefits to having a real-time asset register like Open-AudIT, especially when the team transitioned away from fire-fighting and started becoming more proactive.",[22,4600,4602],{"id":4601},"the-results","The Results",[12,4604,4605],{},"He found that he was able to better support his help desk team, who could now quickly identify any device and its hardware and software components through customisable dashboards, aiding in quicker resolution of IT issues.",[12,4607,4608],{},"His security team were also impressed, with security vulnerabilities such as file permission changes and unexpected new files were summarised in a scheduled report, helping the team to mitigate risks in a time-bound manner.",[12,4610,4611],{},"The increased visibility into hardware and software allowed the IT department to save money on their software licenses because they could see at a glance where they were oversubscribed for a product and could negotiate better contracts as the demand for software in the growing company increased.",[12,4613,4614],{},"Auditors were also impressed to see that software assets that were being licensed and hosted from cloud servers like Amazon and Azure were also viewable and reportable from within the application, giving a complete view of the full extent of software assets deployed across the business.",[12,4616,4617],{},"If you would like to understand more about how to work with your auditors to increase performance and reduce costs within your IT team, get in touch with one of our engineers today. We offer 30 days of free support to anyone trialling Open-AudIT Professional or Enterprise.",[1166,4619],{},[12,4621,4622,3114,4624],{},[250,4623,2853],{},[151,4625,4427],{"href":4626},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdont-get-caught-out-by-a-software-license-audit\u002F",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":4628},[4629,4630,4631],{"id":4581,"depth":179,"text":4582},{"id":4591,"depth":179,"text":4592},{"id":4601,"depth":179,"text":4602},"2018-11-01","How Open-AudIT transformed IT auditing from a dreaded annual process into a proactive, real-time asset management solution for one growing organisation.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fgetting-on-the-front-foot-is-simple-with-open-audit",{"title":4576,"description":4633},"getting-on-the-front-foot-is-simple-with-open-audit","blog\u002Fgetting-on-the-front-foot-is-simple-with-open-audit",[479,2417,477,4640],"case study","T67tsuayBwyBs_0OHU1ZIx_hnUce9EpuVTZv1B7VFKY",{"id":4643,"title":4644,"author":1086,"body":4645,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":4668,"description":4669,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":4670,"meta":4671,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":4672,"seo":4673,"slug":4674,"stem":4675,"tags":4676,"__hash__":4680},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgain-control-over-your-cloud-instances.md","Gain Control Over Your Cloud Instances",{"type":9,"value":4646,"toc":4666},[4647,4650,4653,4656,4658],[12,4648,4649],{},"An industry partner told me recently about a horror story that could occur to anyone operating in a hybrid network environment. One of their former employees had an EC2 instance they had spun up for testing purposes and paid the initial fees with Amazon credits, something most of us would have done. This staff member, however, left the company and did not inform them of the instance. Fast forward two years and there was a substantial bill that was directed to this company.",[12,4651,4652],{},"There are a lot of advantages for creating a hybrid network environment, but stories like this are commonplace when they shouldn't be. The issue with the above problem is there was poor business asset visibility, the company didn't know about assets it had control over and this creates vulnerabilities, security or financial. Turning this liability into an asset can be a simple, cost-effective project for teams of any size.",[12,4654,4655],{},"If you would like to try these features in your test environment, just register here!",[1166,4657],{},[12,4659,4660,3114,4662],{},[250,4661,2853],{},[151,4663,4665],{"href":4664},"\u002Fblog\u002Fknowing-whats-on-your-network\u002F","Knowing What's on Your Network",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":4667},[],"2018-10-30","Why hybrid network environments need better asset visibility to avoid hidden costs and security vulnerabilities from untracked cloud instances.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FLooking-at-Laptop-in-Server-Room-650.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fgain-control-over-your-cloud-instances",{"title":4644,"description":4669},"gain-control-over-your-cloud-instances","blog\u002Fgain-control-over-your-cloud-instances",[4677,4678,4679,843],"cloud","hybrid network","asset visibility","JhJIrDbRilb-ffsK-NanGxxuJjQTAcGZNRNa0fFUpk8",{"id":4682,"title":4683,"author":1086,"body":4684,"categories":187,"category":463,"date":4744,"description":4745,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":1122,"meta":4746,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":4747,"seo":4748,"slug":4749,"stem":4750,"tags":4751,"__hash__":4752},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Faudit-is-not-a-dirty-word.md","Audit Is Not a Dirty Word",{"type":9,"value":4685,"toc":4741},[4686,4689,4692,4695,4700,4703,4707,4718,4723,4728,4731,4733],[12,4687,4688],{},"The Skyhooks were a band famous in Australia who had a 1970s hit \"Ego is not a dirty word\".",[2806,4690],{"title":2808,"src":4691,"width":2810,"height":2811,"frameBorder":2812,"allowFullScreen":195},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FG2fVm8Y70mA",[12,4693,4694],{},"Although not related at all to IT auditing, the negative stigma is translatable from ego to audits. There are several reasons that organisations can dread an audit. However, they all share a common cause: the fear of the unknown.",[12,4696,4697],{},[2526,4698,4699],{},"What have I missed? Did I do this right? What if this happened?",[12,4701,4702],{},"Proactive organisations, however, do not dread audits -- they use the process to add value to their organisations. This shift in focus is what continually helps them excel; prevention is always better than cure.",[22,4704,4706],{"id":4705},"do-you-rely-on-manual-processes-to-address-auditor-requests","Do you rely on manual processes to address auditor requests?",[12,4708,4709,4710,3479,4713,2586],{},"If you answer yes to this, then you are already on the back foot. Most common audit requirements can be scheduled and accomplished automatically. This process automation is easily configured, while the cost of the software is less than the personnel hours that would have been required for the same task. Automatically generating reports that consider change management or access security is straightforward using software such as ",[151,4711,531],{"href":2521,"rel":4712},[2485],[151,4714,4717],{"href":4715,"rel":4716},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fproducts\u002Fconfiguration-and-compliance-management\u002F",[2485],"opConfig",[12,4719,4720],{},[38,4721],{"alt":4722,"src":2878},"Open-AudIT compliance dashboards",[12,4724,4725],{},[38,4726],{"alt":4727,"src":1141},"opConfig compliance task sheet view",[12,4729,4730],{},"The evolution of technology has forced organisations to comply with technical auditing, even if they don't identify as high-tech companies. It is business critical to get these processes right; any recent data breach can be easily recalled, but no one remembers a company executing a successful audit. Successful audits occur when there is an understanding of the internal IT procedures and operations of your network.",[1166,4732],{},[12,4734,4735,3114,4737],{},[250,4736,2853],{},[151,4738,4740],{"href":4739},"\u002Fblog\u002Fconfiguration-and-compliance-automation\u002F","Configuration and Compliance Automation",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":4742},[4743],{"id":4705,"depth":179,"text":4706},"2018-10-26","Why proactive organisations embrace IT auditing as a value-adding process, and how automation makes compliance straightforward.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Faudit-is-not-a-dirty-word",{"title":4683,"description":4745},"audit-is-not-a-dirty-word","blog\u002Faudit-is-not-a-dirty-word",[2417,472,1021,479],"b5rqKIvOSVy4miYcHcIxw-Dh2lAUNsAqHhmgpqDOYE4",{"id":4754,"title":4755,"author":1086,"body":4756,"categories":187,"category":4833,"date":4834,"description":4835,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":4670,"meta":4836,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":4837,"seo":4838,"slug":4839,"stem":4840,"tags":4841,"__hash__":4845},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-iot-revolution.md","The IoT Revolution",{"type":9,"value":4757,"toc":4824},[4758,4769,4772,4776,4780,4783,4787,4790,4794,4797,4801,4804,4808,4811,4814,4816],[12,4759,4760,4761,4768],{},"The Internet of Things (IoT) is already revolutionizing the way key industries do business, and the benefits are only set to increase over coming decades as IoT technologies are further adopted. According to ",[151,4762,4765],{"href":4763,"rel":4764},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.acs.org.au\u002Fcontent\u002Fdam\u002Facs\u002Facs-publications\u002FACS-PwC-IoT-report-web.pdf",[2485],[2526,4766,4767],{},"Australia's IoT Opportunity: Driving Future Growth -- An ACS Report",", with regards to the construction, mining, healthcare, manufacturing and agriculture sectors, which represent 25% of Australia's GDP, IoT technologies have the potential to achieve annual benefits of A$194-308 billion over a period of 8-18 years. That is an average productivity improvement of 2% per annum.",[12,4770,4771],{},"Let's take a closer look at how IoT is set to revolutionize these key Australian industries.",[22,4773,4775],{"id":4774},"key-industries","Key Industries",[240,4777,4779],{"id":4778},"construction","Construction",[12,4781,4782],{},"The construction industry is set to benefit up to $96 billion over coming decades due to increases in productivity resulting from IoT. Technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), sensors, automation, and 3D printing are all set to have an increased presence in construction sites of the future.",[240,4784,4786],{"id":4785},"manufacturing","Manufacturing",[12,4788,4789],{},"The predicted benefits for the Australian manufacturing industry over coming decades are up to $88 billion, despite the industry already being the most advanced regarding IoT adoption. Factories of the future may be remotely controlled and even connected allowing for real-time supply chain management. There will also be the increased adoption of sensor technology for monitoring and maintenance.",[240,4791,4793],{"id":4792},"healthcare","Healthcare",[12,4795,4796],{},"The healthcare industry could reap benefits of up to $68 billion in the coming decades as it takes advantage of IoT technology. 'Smart Hospitals' are the future, where service is more personalized and technologies such as 3D printing, robotics, nanotechnology and genetic coding are employed. Additionally, the use of wearable technologies by patients will reduce the number of visits to their GP and allow for remote access to real-time data.",[240,4798,4800],{"id":4799},"mining","Mining",[12,4802,4803],{},"Benefits of up to $34 billion could be achieved in coming decades by the mining industry as it adopts IoT technology. Sensors providing real-time visualizations of data and collaboration, and also the use of autonomous vehicles will increase the productivity of the sector, and are already employed by industry leaders.",[240,4805,4807],{"id":4806},"agriculture-forestry-and-fishing","Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing",[12,4809,4810],{},"'Smart farms' are set to offer farmers increased yields at lower costs, with annual predicted benefits of up to $22 billion. Increased productivity will be the result of technologies including autonomous vehicles, sensors for crops, tracking on livestock, automation, and drones.",[12,4812,4813],{},"The five industries discussed are predicted to reap significant benefits from IoT. However, they do not represent the limits of the reach of IoT technologies. While at its core IoT is a simple connected device, the broader impact of IoT technologies is an economic and social good, whereby there are not only improvements to capabilities and productivity, but more broadly improvements to everyday life and the planet.",[1166,4815],{},[12,4817,4818,3114,4820],{},[250,4819,2853],{},[151,4821,4823],{"href":4822},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-importance-of-network-visibility-in-response-to-the-internet-of-things\u002F","The Importance of Network Visibility in Response to the Internet of Things",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":4825},[4826],{"id":4774,"depth":179,"text":4775,"children":4827},[4828,4829,4830,4831,4832],{"id":4778,"depth":449,"text":4779},{"id":4785,"depth":449,"text":4786},{"id":4792,"depth":449,"text":4793},{"id":4799,"depth":449,"text":4800},{"id":4806,"depth":449,"text":4807},"Industry","2018-10-05","How the Internet of Things is transforming Australia's construction, manufacturing, healthcare, mining, and agriculture industries.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-iot-revolution",{"title":4755,"description":4835},"the-iot-revolution","blog\u002Fthe-iot-revolution",[4842,4843,4844,4057],"iot","industry","australia","xJQo640v9k34Xut3PzTUcELjf3nQM8tWc53E9jVZb04",{"id":4847,"title":4848,"author":1086,"body":4849,"categories":187,"category":4833,"date":4984,"description":4985,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":4858,"meta":4986,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":4987,"seo":4988,"slug":4989,"stem":4990,"tags":4991,"__hash__":4996},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Ffrom-chaotic-to-value-driven-how-to-progress-in-your-it-service-management-maturity.md","From Chaotic to Value Driven: How to Progress in Your IT Service Management Maturity",{"type":9,"value":4850,"toc":4976},[4851,4854,4859,4862,4866,4869,4873,4876,4879,4882,4885,4900,4903,4924,4928,4931,4935,4938,4941,4951,4955,4958,4961,4964,4966,4968],[12,4852,4853],{},"Almost 20 years ago Gartner, Inc. introduced the IT Service Management Maturity Model, in order to aid IT operations management in plotting a course to create value in IT Service Management. The model introduced five levels or positions your IT Service Management might be at: Chaotic, Reactive, Proactive, Service, and Value. Ideally, you want to be in the final two levels to truly be optimizing your IT service management processes.",[12,4855,4856],{},[38,4857],{"alt":178,"src":4858},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FIT-Service-Management-Maturity-Model-700-1.png",[12,4860,4861],{},"So, where are you at? Let's discuss what each level means and how FirstWave's solutions can assist you in improving your position.",[22,4863,4865],{"id":4864},"level-0-chaotic","Level 0 -- Chaotic",[12,4867,4868],{},"This is not where you want to be and most likely not where you are if you are reading this blog. Organizations in the Chaotic stage do things ad hoc and in an undocumented and unpredictable manner. They have multiple unconsolidated help desks, where users call to notify of issues and have minimal mature IT operations. These businesses are most likely part of the 21% of organizations who view IT as an expensive overhead, rather than the 45% of organizations who view IT as necessary.",[22,4870,4872],{"id":4871},"level-1-reactive","Level 1 -- Reactive",[12,4874,4875],{},"Businesses that are operating on the Reactive level have progressed from chaos. They now have basic backup and recovery (phew!), they have basic inventory management and basic topology. There is basic event management and a system of trouble ticketing, but they are still just fighting fires when they occur.",[12,4877,4878],{},"To progress from a Reactive position requires, at the minimum, performance management, change management, problem management, configuration management, automation, job scheduling, and availability management. This is where FirstWave's solutions can assist!",[12,4880,4881],{},"The progression to proactive IT Service Management is extremely simple. FirstWave's core open-source software can handle this; there are no financial implications, just potential time to save.",[12,4883,4884],{},"FirstWave's solutions which will help you rise from the Chaotic or Reactive levels to a basic Proactive level include:",[116,4886,4887,4893],{},[119,4888,4889,4892],{},[151,4890,531],{"href":2521,"rel":4891},[2485]," -- Open-AudIT is an open-source network discovery, inventory, and audit program which can tell you exactly what is on your network, how it is configured, and when it changes. You will need a program such as Open-AudIT in place to achieve the Reactive level with sophisticated inventory management. Open-AudIT can assist at the Proactive level for basic configuration and change management, with Open-AudIT Enterprise offering enhanced capabilities utilising baselines and Open-AudIT Professional and Enterprise offering network automation functionality.",[119,4894,4895,4899],{},[151,4896,203],{"href":4897,"rel":4898},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fproducts\u002Fnetwork-management-information-system\u002F",[2485]," -- NMIS is an open-source network management system which monitors the status and performance of an organization's IT environment, assists in identification and rectification of faults, and provides valuable information for IT departments to plan infrastructure changes and investment. You will need a program such as NMIS in place to achieve the Reactive level and beyond. NMIS can initiate problem management and undertake alert and event management required at the Reactive level. NMIS can also assist with performance management, analyzing trends, thresholding, and measuring application availability with automation capabilities.",[12,4901,4902],{},"FirstWave's commercial modules which will help you achieve a Proactive level (and beyond) include:",[116,4904,4905,4908,4915,4918,4921],{},[119,4906,4907],{},"opEvents -- opEvents enhances NMIS, reducing the business impact of network faults and failures using proactive event management to fast-track problem resolution, reduce outages, improve performance, and decrease the cost of managing your IT environment. opEvents can assist you to achieve the Proactive level by automating the handling of events.",[119,4909,4910,4914],{},[151,4911,1863],{"href":4912,"rel":4913},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fproducts\u002Finteractive-dashboards-and-charts\u002F",[2485]," -- opCharts is a solution that brings NMIS data to life, allowing you to increase your network visibility, reduce organizational complexity, and accelerate root cause discovery by visualizing all of the key information about your environment using dashboards, maps, and charts. opCharts assists you to achieve the Proactive level through dashboarding and viewing multiple data sets showing trends, problems, and availability with data from NMIS. opCharts also continues to be relevant in your progression to the Service and ultimately Value levels.",[119,4916,4917],{},"opConfig -- opConfig assists in disaster recovery, troubleshooting, compliance, and change management, allowing organizations to compare, track, and manage change and compliance with a full history of configuration information. opConfig can assist you to achieve the Proactive level by providing advanced automated change and compliance management, which then positions you to be able to move on up to the Service or Value stage of maturity.",[119,4919,4920],{},"opFlow -- opFlow is a solution designed to rapidly identify the root cause of poor network performance. opFlow can assist you to achieve a mature Proactive level in relation to your performance management processes.",[119,4922,4923],{},"opTrend -- opTrend is a solution providing cutting-edge analytics, identifying resources that are showing abnormal activity based on historical behavior and providing organizations with a true trend analysis of critical resources. opTrend can assist you to attain and progress from the Proactive stage by providing a more advanced level of trend analysis than NMIS.",[22,4925,4927],{"id":4926},"level-2-proactive","Level 2 -- Proactive",[12,4929,4930],{},"In a Proactive state, you are doing well as you have the solutions previously discussed in place and, like many others, you may be happy to just stay here and avoid reverting to a Reactive or Chaotic state. However, there is still room for improvement to further optimize your IT operations processes. You may be predicting problems, analyzing trends, and automating tasks, but you could also be viewing IT as a service provider, having guaranteed Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in place, and measuring service availability.",[22,4932,4934],{"id":4933},"level-3-service","Level 3 -- Service",[12,4936,4937],{},"If you have reached the Service level, awesome work! You have almost completed your journey towards a complete optimization of your IT operations processes. At this stage, you understand the costs involved with IT operations, have SLAs in place, and are managing service delivery with solutions such as NMIS and opCharts that allow you to capture key information and then visualize it with dashboards. You are also undertaking capacity planning. All that is left to do now is to transition towards managing IT as a business.",[12,4939,4940],{},"In addition to the solutions discussed previously, other FirstWave solutions which can help you attain and exceed the Service stage include:",[116,4942,4943],{},[119,4944,4945,4950],{},[151,4946,4949],{"href":4947,"rel":4948},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fproducts\u002Fadvanced-analysis-and-reporting\u002F",[2485],"opReports"," -- opReports extends NMIS by automating the creation and distribution of detailed operational and executive-level reports. opReports can assist you at the Service level by reporting on service availability and capacity management data. It will also help in your progression to the Value level with regards to business planning.",[22,4952,4954],{"id":4953},"level-4-value","Level 4 -- Value",[12,4956,4957],{},"To be operating at the highest level, the Value state, you have all the previous measures discussed in place to manage your IT operations. You are also now viewing IT as a strategic business partner, respecting the linkages between IT and business metrics, using management and business application data to improve the business process and inform planning, and experiencing enhanced cost recovery. Solutions such as FirstWave's opCharts and opReports are allowing you to visualize and report on data you collect through your IT operations, and you are now using such software to inform improved business processes and planning. If you are in this stage of maturity of IT management processes, you are likely experiencing a competitive advantage over your competition in your industry.",[12,4959,4960],{},"In conclusion, to achieve optimization of your IT operations processes, it is essential to be operating at the Service or Value level of Gartner, Inc.'s IT Service Management Maturity Model with the help of solutions such as those provided by FirstWave. Progressing through the stages of the model will result in widespread improvements to your overall service management and provide many benefits to your organization. Gartner has reported that in the first year of implementing such a framework, organizations experienced a 20% improvement to the initial incident response rate, a decreased number of problems requiring multiple man-days, a 66% decrease in the number of major failures, and a 20% decrease in human error in releases. After three years of implementing the framework, organizations experience a reduction in costs of 30%.",[12,4962,4963],{},"Ultimately, Gartner, Inc.'s IT Service Management Maturity Model can help organizations manage risks, improve decision making, increase productivity, and gain a competitive advantage from IT. If you need help progressing your level of maturity with respect to the framework, just reach out -- a member of the FirstWave team would be happy to guide you through our solutions in a free product demo.",[1166,4965],{},[22,4967,1171],{"id":1170},[116,4969,4970],{},[119,4971,4972],{},[151,4973,4975],{"href":4974},"\u002Fblog\u002Fadopting-itil-itsm-and-leveraging-opmantek-solutions-to-increase-performance-management\u002F","Adopting ITIL\u002FITSM and Leveraging FirstWave Solutions to Increase Performance Management",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":4977},[4978,4979,4980,4981,4982,4983],{"id":4864,"depth":179,"text":4865},{"id":4871,"depth":179,"text":4872},{"id":4926,"depth":179,"text":4927},{"id":4933,"depth":179,"text":4934},{"id":4953,"depth":179,"text":4954},{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":1171},"2018-09-06","A guide to Gartner's IT Service Management Maturity Model and how FirstWave solutions help organisations progress from chaotic to value-driven operations.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Ffrom-chaotic-to-value-driven-how-to-progress-in-your-it-service-management-maturity",{"title":4848,"description":4985},"from-chaotic-to-value-driven-how-to-progress-in-your-it-service-management-maturity","blog\u002Ffrom-chaotic-to-value-driven-how-to-progress-in-your-it-service-management-maturity",[4992,4993,4994,4995,1363,479],"itil","itsm","gartner","maturity model","9syq22VOXec85hvXIF8SairDEuAhfaDwGW12G_rg7Ho",{"id":4998,"title":4999,"author":1086,"body":5000,"categories":187,"category":1385,"date":5033,"description":5034,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":4670,"meta":5035,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5036,"seo":5037,"slug":5038,"stem":5039,"tags":5040,"__hash__":5041},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgartner-inc-opmantek-well-aligned-to-meet-the-needs-of-midsize-enterprise.md","Gartner, Inc.: FirstWave Well-Aligned to Meet the Needs of Midsize Enterprise",{"type":9,"value":5001,"toc":5031},[5002,5005,5012,5015,5023,5025],[12,5003,5004],{},"FirstWave is a leading provider of powerful and competitively priced network management software and the current ICT Australian Exporter of the Year. While offering solutions which can scale to meet the needs of the world's largest and most complex networks, including the world's largest telcos, FirstWave was most recently recognised by research institute Gartner, Inc. as also well-aligned to meet the needs of a midsize enterprise.",[12,5006,5007,5008,5011],{},"In the August 2018 report, ",[2526,5009,5010],{},"'Midmarket Context: Magic Quadrant for Network Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics,'"," Gartner, Inc. positioned FirstWave to be optimal for midsize enterprise seeking a consolidated Network Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics tool and network automation from a single vendor. FirstWave was the only one of 16 vendors recognised by Gartner in the report to have this capability.",[12,5013,5014],{},"FirstWave's award-winning suite of tools, including the two open-source products, NMIS and Open-AudIT, and commercial add-on modules, work together to holistically address all areas required to manage IT infrastructure. Notably, opEvents allows organisations of any size to automate event remediation and intelligently analyse event data, ensuring the root causes of issues are identified and dealt with in a convenient and timely manner.",[12,5016,5017,5018,5022],{},"With over 130,000 organisations now trusting FirstWave's solutions to enable their IT professionals to identify and address any issue, ",[151,5019,5021],{"href":3907,"rel":5020},[2485],"request a demo"," today to see how our solutions align to meet the needs of organisations of all sizes, including yours.",[1166,5024],{},[12,5026,5027,3114,5029],{},[250,5028,2853],{},[151,5030,505],{"href":2387},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5032},[],"2018-08-24","Gartner recognises FirstWave as the only vendor of 16 to offer consolidated network performance monitoring and network automation from a single platform.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fgartner-inc-opmantek-well-aligned-to-meet-the-needs-of-midsize-enterprise",{"title":4999,"description":5034},"gartner-inc-opmantek-well-aligned-to-meet-the-needs-of-midsize-enterprise","blog\u002Fgartner-inc-opmantek-well-aligned-to-meet-the-needs-of-midsize-enterprise",[4994,1363,1364,1395],"fj977EkK2CFl_HwjuJrJgv54CGbL1Cm4hC0ErNwlNcU",{"id":5043,"title":5044,"author":1086,"body":5045,"categories":187,"category":4833,"date":5098,"description":5099,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5100,"meta":5101,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5102,"seo":5103,"slug":5104,"stem":5105,"tags":5106,"__hash__":5108},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fai-and-health-what-does-the-future-hold.md","AI and Health: What Does the Future Hold?",{"type":9,"value":5046,"toc":5092},[5047,5050,5053,5056,5061,5065,5068,5072,5075,5079,5082,5086,5089],[12,5048,5049],{},"Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just the fantasy of sci-fi movies -- the future has arrived in full force!",[12,5051,5052],{},"In relation to healthcare, AI is playing an important role in saving the industry time and money, while improving patient outcomes. AI technology is helping clinicians and insurers to become more productive and back-end processes to become more efficient. According to the Harvard Business Review, when it comes to the top ten promising AI health applications, there could be up to $150 billion in annual savings for U.S. healthcare by 2026.",[12,5054,5055],{},"Sounds good, right? But what does AI in health really mean?",[12,5057,5058],{},[2526,5059,5060],{},"Four key AI applications for health you should know about are:",[240,5062,5064],{"id":5063},"robot-assisted-surgery","Robot-Assisted Surgery",[12,5066,5067],{},"Robots are already being used to assist operations on humans with great accuracy, and this trend is expected to take off in coming years. According to the Harvard Business Review, technological advancements in robotic solutions for surgery could result in $40 billion in annual savings for U.S. healthcare by 2026.",[240,5069,5071],{"id":5070},"virtual-nursing-assistants","Virtual Nursing Assistants",[12,5073,5074],{},"It is predicted AI-powered nurse assistants could save $20 billion annually in the U.S. by saving 20% of the time nurses spend on patient maintenance tasks. This means robots instead of people will be the ones asking patients questions about their health, assessing symptoms and directing them to the best option for care.",[240,5076,5078],{"id":5077},"administrative-workflow","Administrative Workflow",[12,5080,5081],{},"In the past, nurses have spent over half their workday on activities which have nothing to do with patient care. AI-based technologies, such as voice-to-text transcription, are predicted to be able to improve administrative workflows and eliminate time-consuming non-patient-care activities. The Harvard Business Review considers the application of AI to administrative workflow could result in great savings in U.S. healthcare, with an estimated potential annual value of $18 billion.",[240,5083,5085],{"id":5084},"fraud-detection","Fraud Detection",[12,5087,5088],{},"Finally, the ability for AI technologies to detect fraudulent activities is predicted by the Harvard Business Review to result in $17 billion of annual savings in the U.S., due to an increase in the speed and accuracy of the claims assessment process.",[12,5090,5091],{},"While AI in healthcare is still in its early days, there is a growing number of different applications for AI technology in the industry. As AI becomes more common in health-related activities, healthcare organisations and insurers will be able to deliver better value services. The focus will be on better care, as new technologies replace older ones in areas including, but in no way limited to, surgery, nursing, administration and the processing of claims.",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5093},[5094,5095,5096,5097],{"id":5063,"depth":449,"text":5064},{"id":5070,"depth":449,"text":5071},{"id":5077,"depth":449,"text":5078},{"id":5084,"depth":449,"text":5085},"2018-08-23","Four key AI applications in healthcare, from robot-assisted surgery to fraud detection, that could save the U.S. healthcare system over $150 billion annually.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FDual-Screen-Dashboarding-650.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fai-and-health-what-does-the-future-hold",{"title":5044,"description":5099},"ai-and-health-what-does-the-future-hold","blog\u002Fai-and-health-what-does-the-future-hold",[1080,4792,4843,5107],"innovation","H391lOs0kz9EfBsCyVavfM-9ugkU67OxVlOf5bW0cfM",{"id":5110,"title":5111,"author":1086,"body":5112,"categories":187,"category":4833,"date":5141,"description":5142,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5143,"meta":5144,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5145,"seo":5146,"slug":5147,"stem":5148,"tags":5149,"__hash__":5153},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fcisco-and-arista-settle-their-lawsuit.md","Cisco and Arista Settle Their Lawsuit",{"type":9,"value":5113,"toc":5139},[5114,5117,5122,5125,5131,5133],[12,5115,5116],{},"Cisco and Arista have agreed on a ceasefire regarding their ongoing legal battle. A joint statement regarding the matter is outlined below:",[2477,5118,5119],{},[12,5120,5121],{},"\"Cisco and Arista have come to an agreement which resolves existing litigation and demonstrates their commitment to the principles of IP protection. They have agreed that, with limited exceptions, no new litigation will be brought over patents or copyrights related to existing products, for five years. In addition, for three years, they will use an arbitration process to address any patent issues regarding new products. As part of this agreement, Arista will be making a $400 million payment to Cisco, is committed to maintaining the product modifications it made as a result of previous rulings and will be making limited changes to further differentiate its user interfaces from Cisco's.\"",[12,5123,5124],{},"The result can be seen as a positive for both parties, even if Arista is out of pocket $400 million. Cisco was able to protect their technology while maintaining their extensive network of users. Arista has steadily grown its user base and developing enterprise success; Gartner has even shortlisted Arista as a solution for large-scale environments. Regardless of your organizational decision, NMIS will be able to monitor the performance of both Cisco and Arista devices, and over 10,000 other vendors too.",[12,5126,5127],{},[38,5128],{"alt":5129,"src":5130},"NMIS monitoring dashboard view","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FNMIS-Dash-FULL-700.jpg",[1166,5132],{},[12,5134,5135,3114,5137],{},[250,5136,2853],{},[151,5138,3002],{"href":3001},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5140},[],"2018-08-15","Cisco and Arista reach a settlement including a $400 million payment, and NMIS monitors both vendors' devices seamlessly.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FNMIS-9-Banner-650.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcisco-and-arista-settle-their-lawsuit",{"title":5111,"description":5142},"cisco-and-arista-settle-their-lawsuit","blog\u002Fcisco-and-arista-settle-their-lawsuit",[5150,5151,1363,5152],"cisco","arista","industry news","ZfV8wVLY0JjRsLH1vFAEgLH7R4pyAig44b-1jhHTKwQ",{"id":5155,"title":4975,"author":1086,"body":5156,"categories":187,"category":4833,"date":5244,"description":5245,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5130,"meta":5246,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5247,"seo":5248,"slug":5249,"stem":5250,"tags":5251,"__hash__":5253},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fadopting-itil-itsm-and-leveraging-opmantek-solutions-to-increase-performance-management.md",{"type":9,"value":5157,"toc":5241},[5158,5161,5164,5169,5176,5179,5186,5192,5199,5205,5208,5214,5217,5230,5232,5234],[12,5159,5160],{},"Managing a network can be expensive, time-consuming, and at times confusing. Mixing different software and hardware products that are meant to assist in network management can sometimes add to the confusion. Managing different software versions, vendors, and products that only work with specific OSs can become a job in itself. Following the best standards and practices combined with a good network monitoring and inventory software solution can help you streamline the management process and increase performance management. No other IT standard is more valuable or praised than ITIL\u002FITSM (Information Technology Infrastructure Libraries, Information Technology Service Management). Adhering to this standard along with implementing FirstWave's software solutions can reduce the number of tools your team uses and increase performance management while lowering noise and confusion.",[12,5162,5163],{},"Learning and implementing the ITIL service lifecycle will significantly improve all aspects of IT management. However, ITIL is made up of an extensive series of processes. This blog will be focusing on the big four that have the most significant impact on performance management. The big four includes Incident, Availability, Capacity, and Service Level Management.",[12,5165,5166],{},[38,5167],{"alt":178,"src":5168},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FIT-Service-Management-Maturity-Model-700.png",[12,5170,5171,5172,5175],{},"Incident management is defined as a process for logging, recording, and resolving incidents. Not only can following ITIL help with incident management, but it also allows for operational maturity as a bonus. Operational maturity entails moving from a chaotic environment to one with value. Chaotic situations are typically ad hoc, have little to no documentation, and contain minimal IT operations. FirstWave solutions can assist you in every step towards a more mature organization. Moving from a chaotic level 0, as shown in the chart above, all the way to level 3 can be achieved merely by implementing NMIS, Open-AudIT, opEvents, and ",[151,5173,4949],{"href":4947,"rel":5174},[2485],". Getting to Level 4 is a matter of leveraging FirstWave solutions and planning within your organization to reach that goal.",[12,5177,5178],{},"These modules assist in inventory, alert and event management, component availability and more. The goal is to have a plan of action to resolve unexpected events and get services up and running again as quickly as possible. These solutions can help you and your team analyze network trends and predict incidents before many ever have a chance of occurring. If interested in learning more about the IT Service Management Maturity Model, take a look at our webinar on this topic.",[12,5180,5181,5182,5185],{},"Availability Management entails making sure that services are available for use during timeframes specified by SLAs. Another use of Availability Management is identifying and correcting issues before they have a chance to impact services. ",[151,5183,203],{"href":4897,"rel":5184},[2485],", FirstWave's network management system, grants the ability to monitor services and create alerts when they are down or underperforming. These alerts can be seen visually through the GUI, sent as an email, or even sent as a text message. The alerts are automated and customizable and will only be sent to people you and your team deem relevant through an internal priority level system. Reliability is the key concept in Availability Management. Expanding NMIS to include opEvents will allow you to automate event handling and use proactive event management to lessen outages, improve performance, and provide a fast-track problem resolution solution while managing all your network events in one place.",[12,5187,5188],{},[38,5189],{"alt":5190,"src":5191},"opEvents dashboard for incident and availability management","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopEvents-Dashboard.png",[12,5193,5194,5195,5198],{},"As organizations grow so does the usage of IT services. With this growth in usage comes a need to upgrade CPUs, storage, memory, etc. Proper Capacity Management ensures that the resources required are the right size to meet current and future business requirements. FirstWave's opTrend, ",[151,5196,1863],{"href":4912,"rel":5197},[2485],", and NMIS modules allow your team to manage network resources and visually analyze key performance metrics proactively. This enables you to predict resource exhaustion and plan more effectively by having the ability to create actionable activities when any current or future resource exhaustion is identified.",[12,5200,5201],{},[38,5202],{"alt":5203,"src":5204},"opCharts dashboard for capacity management","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopCharts-Dashboard-Home-Page.png",[12,5206,5207],{},"Service Level Management's goal is to have a negotiated SLA with customers, providing a framework by which services and service levels are defined and adhered to. Establishing the scope of services, hours of operations, and timelines to meet the SLAs are key factors in implementing a successful Service Level Management plan. Open-AudIT can assist your team with assessing the current state of your IT operations with detailed audits for Inventory Management, hardware\u002Fsoftware changes, reporting, and more. This helps your team create more accurate infrastructure sizing and helps mitigate the costs of excess or insufficient hardware capacity. Knowing exactly what is on your network makes it easier to meet SLAs, and implementing FirstWave's opSLA into your toolkit will grant you the ability to measure and monitor network and application response times with ease.",[12,5209,5210],{},[38,5211],{"alt":5212,"src":5213},"Open-AudIT inventory dashboards supporting SLA management","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-dashboards.png",[12,5215,5216],{},"Keeping track of what is on your network, adhering to agreed-upon SLAs, ensuring proper resources are allocated, automating event management and escalation, and adopting ITIL\u002FITSM does not require multiple tools from multiple vendors. It can all be accomplished with a group of FirstWave's core solutions, reducing the clutter and confusion of keeping track of numerous licenses and vendors. Even if you do need to keep track of multiple licenses, FirstWave does that too.",[12,5218,5219,5220,5224,5225,5229],{},"Fully adopting ITIL\u002FITSM and increasing performance management does not need to be a daunting task. Reach out to us and learn how your team can accomplish these goals and more. Schedule a demo of FirstWave solutions in action ",[151,5221,5223],{"href":3907,"rel":5222},[2485],"today"," or visit our ",[151,5226,5228],{"href":5227},"\u002Fblog\u002F","learn portal"," for more information.",[1166,5231],{},[22,5233,1171],{"id":1170},[116,5235,5236],{},[119,5237,5238],{},[151,5239,4848],{"href":5240},"\u002Fblog\u002Ffrom-chaotic-to-value-driven-how-to-progress-in-your-it-service-management-maturity\u002F",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5242},[5243],{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":1171},"2018-08-14","How adopting ITIL\u002FITSM standards combined with FirstWave's network management solutions improves incident, availability, capacity, and service level management.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fadopting-itil-itsm-and-leveraging-opmantek-solutions-to-increase-performance-management",{"title":4975,"description":5245},"adopting-itil-itsm-and-leveraging-opmantek-solutions-to-increase-performance-management","blog\u002Fadopting-itil-itsm-and-leveraging-opmantek-solutions-to-increase-performance-management",[4992,4993,1363,5252,479],"performance management","BFSwwRGquL9hntG6jmrw_I_DbSVh216RhMP53DoQRU4",{"id":5255,"title":5256,"author":1086,"body":5257,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":5244,"description":5366,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5367,"meta":5368,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5369,"seo":5370,"slug":5371,"stem":5372,"tags":5373,"__hash__":5375},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-use-baselining-to-your-advantage-in-open-audit.md","How to Use Baselining to Your Advantage in Open-AudIT",{"type":9,"value":5258,"toc":5363},[5259,5262,5265,5268,5273,5281,5286,5312,5317,5353,5355],[12,5260,5261],{},"For auditing and management purposes it can be advantageous to baseline individual devices against a fixed, known gold standard device. Baselines enable you to combine audit data with a set of attributes you have previously defined (your baseline) to determine the compliance of devices.",[12,5263,5264],{},"For example – you might create a baseline from a device running CentOS 6 that acts as one of your Apache servers in a cluster. You know this particular server is configured to your standards, but you're unsure if the other servers in the cluster are configured correctly. Baselines enable you to determine this.",[12,5266,5267],{},"The steps required for this process are outlined below.",[12,5269,5270],{},[250,5271,5272],{},"1. Identify the device that is your gold standard that you want to compare similar devices against:",[116,5274,5275,5278],{},[119,5276,5277],{},"First focus on what the end goal is, are you trying to baseline software, users, or Netstat data? What are the critical aspects to compare and report on?",[119,5279,5280],{},"Do you have a gold standard for this configuration? Perhaps a device located in a lab environment or a workstation you use to clone workstation VMs from.",[12,5282,5283],{},[250,5284,5285],{},"2. Create a Baseline for the exemplary device:",[116,5287,5288,5302,5309],{},[119,5289,5290,5291,5294,5295,5294,5298,5301],{},"In Open-AudIT Enterprise, Select ",[2526,5292,5293],{},"Manage"," -> ",[2526,5296,5297],{},"Baselines",[2526,5299,5300],{},"List Baselines"," from the top menu",[119,5303,5304,5305,5308],{},"To create a new entry click the ",[2526,5306,5307],{},"Create"," button in the top right-hand corner",[119,5310,5311],{},"Detailed instructions on creating Baselines can be found here – Baselines",[12,5313,5314],{},[250,5315,5316],{},"3. Determine how often you want to run the Baseline check against the database and create a Scheduled Report:",[116,5318,5319,5328,5332,5350],{},[119,5320,5321,5322,5294,5325,5301],{},"Select ",[2526,5323,5324],{},"Report",[2526,5326,5327],{},"Scheduled Reports",[119,5329,5304,5330,5308],{},[2526,5331,5307],{},[119,5333,5334,5337,5338,5341,5342,5345,5346,5349],{},[2526,5335,5336],{},"Note"," – Under ",[2526,5339,5340],{},"Type"," make sure to select ",[2526,5343,5344],{},"Baseline",", and under ",[2526,5347,5348],{},"Group"," you should select a Group of devices that apply to this baseline, selecting similar groups of devices will prevent erroneous entries from being logged.",[119,5351,5352],{},"More information on Scheduling Tasks can be found here – How to Schedule Tasks in Open-AudIT.",[22,5354,3583],{"id":1170},[116,5356,5357],{},[119,5358,5359],{},[151,5360,5362],{"href":5361},"\u002Fblog\u002Fbaselines-in-open-audit\u002F","Baselines in Open-AudIT",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5364},[5365],{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":3583},"A step-by-step guide to creating and scheduling baselines in Open-AudIT Enterprise for device compliance monitoring.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FBaseline-Edit-700.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-use-baselining-to-your-advantage-in-open-audit",{"title":5256,"description":5366},"how-to-use-baselining-to-your-advantage-in-open-audit","blog\u002Fhow-to-use-baselining-to-your-advantage-in-open-audit",[479,5374,472,2887],"baselines","NPCmt648MOjgP2Zskgz1zedMSssjio9sbpVbueN-HuI",{"id":5377,"title":5378,"author":1086,"body":5379,"categories":187,"category":4833,"date":5490,"description":5491,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5492,"meta":5493,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5494,"seo":5495,"slug":5496,"stem":5497,"tags":5498,"__hash__":5502},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fautomating-operations-7-benefits-of-automation-for-business.md","Automating Operations: 7 Benefits of Automation for Business",{"type":9,"value":5380,"toc":5480},[5381,5394,5397,5400,5404,5407,5411,5414,5418,5421,5427,5431,5434,5438,5441,5445,5448,5454,5458,5461,5463,5470,5472],[12,5382,5383,5384,5387,5388,5393],{},"Hearing the word ",[2526,5385,5386],{},"\"automation\""," may trigger images of a robot replacing human workers and rendering personal contributions to business irrelevant, as manual operations are replaced with ",[151,5389,5392],{"href":5390,"rel":5391},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fsolutions\u002Fprocess-automation\u002F",[2485],"automated processes",". While it is true that technology is reshaping the way we work, it shouldn't eliminate employment. Instead, automation is offering key advantages for proactive businesses. Nevertheless, many businesses put automation in the too-hard basket, feeling they don't have the time, money, or staff required to automate operations in their workplace, and thus fail to reap competitive advantages.",[12,5395,5396],{},"Are you one of them? The purpose of this blog is to highlight how automation should not be feared or avoided, as it can help businesses to achieve success and sustainability.",[12,5398,5399],{},"Some advantages of automation your business may be missing out on include:",[240,5401,5403],{"id":5402},"_1-improved-processing-speeds","1. Improved Processing Speeds",[12,5405,5406],{},"When a human is performing a task manually, they can only do so much in a certain time. When specific tasks are automated, processing times can dramatically improve through computational power and multithreading. Further, the worker(s) performing menial tasks are free to do other things, such as developing new skills, which ultimately helps productivity, job satisfaction, and benefits the business.",[240,5408,5410],{"id":5409},"_2-reliability","2. Reliability",[12,5412,5413],{},"There is improved reliability in automating tasks when compared to manual tasking. Automating operations ensures that tasks run on time and in sequence, that there is the successful completion of prerequisite jobs, that all data being inputted is correct, and finally, that appropriate processing is performed.",[240,5415,5417],{"id":5416},"_3-improved-tracking-and-monitoring","3. Improved Tracking and Monitoring",[12,5419,5420],{},"Improved tracking and monitoring of processes is a considerable business benefit that occurs when automating tasks. Business Intelligence Software allows businesses to use automation to process more significant amounts of data and compile extensive information based on the results. These insights allow businesses to make informed decisions based on information that is collected -- they now have a clearer insight into their performance and how their business operates.",[12,5422,5423],{},[38,5424],{"alt":5425,"src":5426},"Streamlining incident response with IT process automation","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FBlog-Streamlining-Incident-Response-Leveraging-IT-Process-Automation-with-NMIS-web.png",[240,5428,5430],{"id":5429},"_4-availability","4. Availability",[12,5432,5433],{},"Increased availability of collected data will significantly help businesses. It is possible to automate your save and recovery systems to ensure protection from potential disk loss or inadvertent damage to system objects resulting from human error.",[240,5435,5437],{"id":5436},"_5-cost-savings","5. Cost Savings",[12,5439,5440],{},"Automation also saves business money! By automating processes, more hours become available to workers to focus on more important tasks, in addition to there being a reduction in costly mistakes. This can make a significant difference to a business's bottom line.",[240,5442,5444],{"id":5443},"_6-reduced-human-error","6. Reduced Human Error",[12,5446,5447],{},"Although briefed on earlier, it is worth specifically acknowledging the positive impact that automation can have on reducing human error. Even the most intelligent and reliable employee can make costly mistakes. Automating certain processes can ensure that key tasks are done quickly and efficiently, with a far reduced risk of error.",[12,5449,5450],{},[38,5451],{"alt":5452,"src":5453},"opConfig Virtual Operator automation dashboard","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopConfig-Virtual-Operator-Dashboard-700.png",[240,5455,5457],{"id":5456},"_7-business-growth","7. Business Growth",[12,5459,5460],{},"Finally, it is important to recognise how automation can facilitate growth for your business. When a worker is freed up from a time-consuming task that has been automated, they are free to focus on other tasks or departments within the business. This results in cost savings for businesses, which allow them to focus on investing in strategies targeting growth, expansion, and allocation of workers to areas where their skills can be fully utilised.",[22,5462,423],{"id":422},[12,5464,5465,5466,5469],{},"Hopefully this blog has caused you to recognise the benefits of automating operations and identify the areas where ",[151,5467,1021],{"href":5390,"rel":5468},[2485]," can contribute to the success of your business. Automation shouldn't be perceived as a hassle or a threat to job security -- rather, it is an opportunity for businesses to do better!",[1166,5471],{},[12,5473,5474,3114,5476],{},[250,5475,2853],{},[151,5477,5479],{"href":5478},"\u002Fblog\u002Fnetwork-automation-for-configuration-and-change-management\u002F","Network Automation for Configuration and Change Management",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5481},[5482,5483,5484,5485,5486,5487,5488,5489],{"id":5402,"depth":449,"text":5403},{"id":5409,"depth":449,"text":5410},{"id":5416,"depth":449,"text":5417},{"id":5429,"depth":449,"text":5430},{"id":5436,"depth":449,"text":5437},{"id":5443,"depth":449,"text":5444},{"id":5456,"depth":449,"text":5457},{"id":422,"depth":179,"text":423},"2018-08-10","Seven key advantages of automating business operations, from improved processing speeds and reliability to cost savings and business growth.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FRPA-vs-BPA-vs-ITPA-diagram.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fautomating-operations-7-benefits-of-automation-for-business",{"title":5378,"description":5491},"automating-operations-7-benefits-of-automation-for-business","blog\u002Fautomating-operations-7-benefits-of-automation-for-business",[1021,5499,5500,5501],"business","operations","productivity","JGYqePJgZyK6v5T9r2CGs9ljDsDk1mQitI834d99qvE",{"id":5504,"title":5505,"author":1086,"body":5506,"categories":187,"category":463,"date":5575,"description":5576,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5577,"meta":5578,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5579,"seo":5580,"slug":5581,"stem":5582,"tags":5583,"__hash__":5586},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fautomated-configuration-change-detection.md","Automated Configuration Change Detection",{"type":9,"value":5507,"toc":5570},[5508,5512,5515,5518,5522,5539,5543,5549,5552,5555,5560,5562],[22,5509,5511],{"id":5510},"why-file-integrity-monitoring-is-critical","Why File Integrity Monitoring Is Critical",[12,5513,5514],{},"How important is File Integrity Monitoring? This is a difficult question because depending on the status of your network you may have very different answers. If you have a perfectly functioning network, you may say it is important, but not critical. However, if you have a device that is not working correctly or even a suspected privacy leak, this becomes critical.",[12,5516,5517],{},"For both cases, the answer should be critical -- prevention is always better than cure. Every week there is a new report about a database that was compromised or a cryptocurrency miner that was installed unbeknown to anyone.",[22,5519,5521],{"id":5520},"monitoring-critical-directories","Monitoring Critical Directories",[12,5523,5524,5525,2531,5528,5531,5532,2531,5535,5538],{},"One step in the prevention of these events is to monitor files and folders that are critical to operations, directories such as ",[2694,5526,5527],{},"C:\\Windows\\System32",[2694,5529,5530],{},"C:\\Windows\\Program Files"," on Windows, or ",[2694,5533,5534],{},"\u002Fbin\u002F",[2694,5536,5537],{},"\u002Fetc\u002F"," on Linux.",[22,5540,5542],{"id":5541},"how-open-audit-enterprise-helps","How Open-AudIT Enterprise Helps",[12,5544,5545],{},[38,5546],{"alt":5547,"src":5548},"Configuration changes view in opConfig","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopconfig-changes.png",[12,5550,5551],{},"Open-AudIT Enterprise can automatically detect configuration changes in files or folders -- this is a query that ships with the software. With every query for Open-AudIT Enterprise users, this can be scheduled: you could have this run weekly, daily, hourly, or even every 10 minutes if you need to.",[12,5553,5554],{},"The process is straightforward to initialize, and if it is ever needed, you will look like a god for thinking of it in advance. This is just scratching the surface of what is possible with automated change detection.",[12,5556,5557],{},[38,5558],{"alt":5559,"src":1122},"Discovery, auditing and compliance process diagram",[1166,5561],{},[12,5563,5564,3114,5566],{},[250,5565,2853],{},[151,5567,5569],{"href":5568},"\u002Fblog\u002Ffile-and-folder-audit-and-automation\u002F","File and Folder Audit and Automation",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5571},[5572,5573,5574],{"id":5510,"depth":179,"text":5511},{"id":5520,"depth":179,"text":5521},{"id":5541,"depth":179,"text":5542},"2018-07-23","How Open-AudIT Enterprise automatically detects file and configuration changes to help prevent security breaches and ensure compliance.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-Files-700.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fautomated-configuration-change-detection",{"title":5505,"description":5576},"automated-configuration-change-detection","blog\u002Fautomated-configuration-change-detection",[479,5584,5585,472,1325],"change detection","file integrity","9ZtTWxkHjeQ2p4bZIFjUZ8X68Or-ZBwQO6jlQnWMF8g",{"id":5588,"title":5569,"author":1086,"body":5589,"categories":187,"category":463,"date":5683,"description":5684,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5577,"meta":5685,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5686,"seo":5687,"slug":5688,"stem":5689,"tags":5690,"__hash__":5692},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Ffile-and-folder-audit-and-automation.md",{"type":9,"value":5590,"toc":5677},[5591,5603,5607,5610,5618,5622,5625,5630,5633,5637,5643,5646,5649,5653,5657,5668,5670],[12,5592,5593,5594,3479,5598,5602],{},"In previous posts (",[151,5595,5597],{"href":5596},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdiscover-and-manage-any-type-of-device\u002F","here first",[151,5599,5601],{"href":5600},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-you-should-implement-scheduled-reporting\u002F","secondly here",") I have talked about how easy it is to use Open-AudIT to discover devices and set up scheduled reporting. This post will look at how powerful Open-AudIT is and how it can save companies from incredible regulatory audit nightmares. One of the key proponents of regulatory audits is ensuring that business processes are adhered to and a log of changes is available. Proactive businesses will use these strict standards to outline their personal business processes. One way this is achieved is by automating file and folder audits and scheduling reports with the changes. Having this information readily available will help most businesses come audit season while ensuring they have a complete grasp on what is occurring on their network.",[22,5604,5606],{"id":5605},"setting-up-file-and-folder-auditing","Setting Up File and Folder Auditing",[12,5608,5609],{},"Let's look into how easy this would be to set up.",[12,5611,5612,5613,5617],{},"First off, it doesn't matter which operating system you are using for your server, Linux or Windows -- this feature is available on both. However, one minor change is required for Windows users (see the Open-AudIT documentation for details). This feature is also only available for Open-AudIT Enterprise users; you will have to ",[151,5614,5616],{"href":3907,"rel":5615},[2485],"contact us for a demo or enterprise trial license",", as our regular trial users only get access to Professional.",[22,5619,5621],{"id":5620},"adding-files-to-audit","Adding Files to Audit",[12,5623,5624],{},"Now you have Open-AudIT up and running, let's run through the process of setting up a file or folder to be audited, and then we will schedule a report to be generated. Navigate to \"Discover\", then \"Files\" (see the Files documentation for details), and finally \"List Files\" -- this will show you the list of files that will be audited by Open-AudIT, not a list of files in total.",[12,5626,5627],{},[38,5628],{"alt":5629,"src":5577},"Open-AudIT Files",[12,5631,5632],{},"As you can see in the above example, it is quite a straightforward addition. You only need to edit four fields: Name, Organisation, Description, and Path. Once these have been edited, we can now run a query to populate the File table. There will already be a preconfigured \"files\" Query if you want to test the standard -- navigate to queries and run the files query.",[22,5634,5636],{"id":5635},"automating-reports","Automating Reports",[12,5638,5639],{},[38,5640],{"alt":5641,"src":5642},"Open-AudIT scheduled task feature","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-features5.png",[12,5644,5645],{},"However, the point of this post is to automate as much as possible and remove stress and headaches.",[12,5647,5648],{},"To set up a report that lands in your inbox around your second coffee, head to \"Admin\", then \"Tasks\", and finally \"Create Tasks\". Here we can create a task with the type \"Query\" and called \"Files\" (unless we created a custom query). Make the time 10:30 am and set it to run daily, or whenever is convenient, and you will receive an email with the daily changes to the files or folders you are watching.",[22,5650,5652],{"id":5651},"wrapping-up","Wrapping Up",[12,5654,5655],{},[38,5656],{"alt":5559,"src":1122},[12,5658,5659,5660,5663,5664,5667],{},"This form of change management will help you if serious questions occur during audit season, as well as make sure that your system is secure and configured how you want it. This demonstration is for one of the fantastic features inside Open-AudIT -- there is more that is available too. Open-AudIT has a 20-device trial license for you to test out the features. If you would like a larger trial license (which you will need for this example), don't hesitate to ",[151,5661,3909],{"href":3907,"rel":5662},[2485]," or even ",[151,5665,5021],{"href":3907,"rel":5666},[2485]," -- we can help you get more wins every day.",[1166,5669],{},[12,5671,5672,3114,5674],{},[250,5673,2853],{},[151,5675,5505],{"href":5676},"\u002Fblog\u002Fautomated-configuration-change-detection\u002F",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5678},[5679,5680,5681,5682],{"id":5605,"depth":179,"text":5606},{"id":5620,"depth":179,"text":5621},{"id":5635,"depth":179,"text":5636},{"id":5651,"depth":179,"text":5652},"2018-07-02","How to set up automated file and folder auditing in Open-AudIT Enterprise to track changes and generate scheduled compliance reports.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Ffile-and-folder-audit-and-automation",{"title":5569,"description":5684},"file-and-folder-audit-and-automation","blog\u002Ffile-and-folder-audit-and-automation",[479,5691,1021,472,2887],"file audit","0B6cxe8_qCi1XdBhQzTJhP88phJrggz84qK_NdUPSjk",{"id":5694,"title":5695,"author":1086,"body":5696,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":5784,"description":5785,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3605,"meta":5786,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5787,"seo":5788,"slug":5789,"stem":5790,"tags":5791,"__hash__":5793},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fdiscover-and-manage-any-type-of-device.md","Discover and Manage Any Type of Device",{"type":9,"value":5697,"toc":5779},[5698,5706,5708,5714,5717,5719,5722,5728,5732,5738,5741,5747,5752,5756,5763,5765,5769],[12,5699,5700,5701,5705],{},"Open-AudIT is a powerful tool that can give any user invaluable information. Organizations are using Open-AudIT to scan tens of thousands of devices every hour across multiple vendors. This demonstrates the potential that this product has to offer; however, that isn't a good test case for new users. The best way to showcase Open-AudIT is to ",[151,5702,5704],{"href":2521,"rel":5703},[2485],"download the free trial"," and run a discovery on a single device.",[22,5707,1058],{"id":1057},[12,5709,5710],{},[38,5711],{"alt":5712,"src":5713},"Open-AudIT setup illustration","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopAudit-setup-img.png",[12,5715,5716],{},"Watch the below 10-minute video to get the software installed.",[2806,5718],{"title":2808,"src":2809,"width":2810,"height":2811,"frameBorder":2812,"allowFullScreen":195},[12,5720,5721],{},"Once installed, we can discover a single device and see the information that Open-AudIT can provide. Once the program is open, navigate to the \"Discover\" menu item, then \"Discoveries\" in the drop-down, and finally \"Discover a single device.\" The next step requires the information that will be used to get the data for you: the network address and the credentials (Windows username, SSH keys, or SNMP Community String). See below.",[12,5723,5724],{},[38,5725],{"alt":5726,"src":5727},"Single device credentials form","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FSingle-device-credentials-700.png",[22,5729,5731],{"id":5730},"exploring-your-results","Exploring Your Results",[12,5733,5734],{},[38,5735],{"alt":5736,"src":5737},"Open-AudIT discovery diagram","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-diagram.png",[12,5739,5740],{},"Once the fields are filled in, click the execute button, grab a coffee, and come back to see your results. These will be located on the devices page. Navigate back to the home screen and you will see a menu on the left panel; click on \"My Devices.\" The device that you discovered will show up, and more information can be found about the device by clicking the blue button on the left. In that short time, you were able to gather all this information about one of your networked devices, imagine the power and insights you would gain by implementing this at scale. You can try these steps with any device in your organization and get valuable information back.",[12,5742,5743],{},[38,5744],{"alt":5745,"src":5746},"Summary page","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FSummary-page-700.png",[12,5748,5749],{},[38,5750],{"alt":5751,"src":3506},"Open-AudIT detailed device summary page",[22,5753,5755],{"id":5754},"whats-next","What's Next",[12,5757,5758,5759,5762],{},"This demonstration covers just one of the fantastic features inside Open-AudIT, there is much more available too. Open-AudIT has a 20-device trial license for you to test out the features. If you would like a larger trial license, don't hesitate to ",[151,5760,3909],{"href":3907,"rel":5761},[2485],". We can help you get more wins every day.",[1166,5764],{},[12,5766,5767],{},[250,5768,2853],{},[116,5770,5771,5775],{},[119,5772,5773],{},[151,5774,2393],{"href":2392},[119,5776,5777],{},[151,5778,505],{"href":2387},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5780},[5781,5782,5783],{"id":1057,"depth":179,"text":1058},{"id":5730,"depth":179,"text":5731},{"id":5754,"depth":179,"text":5755},"2018-06-29","See how Open-AudIT can discover and report on any device on your network, from a single device to tens of thousands.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdiscover-and-manage-any-type-of-device",{"title":5695,"description":5785},"discover-and-manage-any-type-of-device","blog\u002Fdiscover-and-manage-any-type-of-device",[479,840,5792,2886],"device management","aNW0QIbvZBnCB49sSLh-HtiLM43nTWJjqb8OwK4LA7U",{"id":5795,"title":5796,"author":1086,"body":5797,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":5784,"description":5858,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5834,"meta":5859,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5860,"seo":5861,"slug":5862,"stem":5863,"tags":5864,"__hash__":5866},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-you-should-implement-scheduled-reporting.md","Why You Should Implement Scheduled Reporting",{"type":9,"value":5798,"toc":5855},[5799,5802,5807,5810,5814,5817,5824,5827,5830,5835,5845,5847],[12,5800,5801],{},"Investing time into automation can be extremely beneficial for you to achieve increased results, with less effort over time. Gartner has suggested that any manual task that is done more than four times a year should be automated. That may be on the extreme end because there are certain pitfalls that need to be avoided. The below image shows how people can spend too much time optimising and reviewing without actually saving any time.",[12,5803,5804],{},[38,5805],{"alt":178,"src":5806},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fautomation.png",[12,5808,5809],{},"Although this is a perfectly valid scenario, that occurs frequently, it shouldn't scare you off automation. Here at Opmantek, we believe we have the tools to make Network Automation easy for you. There are too many individual ways to outline in one post, so this post will look at a single part and how it can make your life easier.",[22,5811,5813],{"id":5812},"open-audits-scheduled-reporting","Open-AudIT's Scheduled Reporting",[12,5815,5816],{},"Through Open-AudIT you gain a lot of insight into your network, the devices attached, as well as the software that is running on the devices. There is a lot of information that is collected, the difficult part is deciding what information is valuable to your organization. For example, a business may be interested in the new devices that are connected to their network or new software that has been installed recently. This information can be collected automatically and at specific times, wrapped up in a nice bow and then emailed to you.",[12,5818,5819,5820,5823],{},"Once you have ",[151,5821,5822],{"href":5596},"Open-AudIT installed and have a device discovered"," you can create a scheduled report on that information. To create a report the first step is ensuring that the correct email details are in place. Navigate to 'Admin' in the menu bar on the top right, then 'Configuration' and finally 'Email' and you will have the email configuration screen loaded. Ensure all the details are correct and send a test email to yourself to make sure it is working.",[12,5825,5826],{},"Now we get to the fun stuff, that will make your life easier, while everyone thinks you are working double time. Open-AudIT uses 'Tasks' as the title for its automation, a task list can be found in 'Admin' and then 'Tasks', then 'List Tasks.' From this screen, you can set up the following types of tasks, Baseline, Discovery, Report, Query, Summary or Collector. In our previous post we did a single device discovery and had some success, let's do that again but we will schedule it for Monday morning.",[12,5828,5829],{},"Click on 'Create' on the top right and you will have all the options for scheduling available to you, essentially this is the same as a manual process, just adding in the time element. Enter a nice test name (this can always be edited later) and for type, we want a report. This will add an additional menu item and we want the report titled 'Devices Discovered in the Last 7 Days.' See below for what it should look like. I have created this task to run every Monday morning at 8:50 am, this is perfect coffee drinking reading material.",[12,5831,5832],{},[38,5833],{"alt":178,"src":5834},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FTask-Creation-700.png",[12,5836,5837,5838,5663,5841,5844],{},"If you configure this correctly, come Monday you will have a nice CSV report to look at, with one entry for our discovered device. However, in the future, this could be scaled to your organisational size, and before you even start your day, automation has completed a job for you. This demonstration is for one of the fantastic features inside Open-AudIT, there is more that is available too. Open-AudIT has a 20 device trial license for you to test out the features. If you would like a larger trial license don't hesitate to ",[151,5839,3909],{"href":3907,"rel":5840},[2485],[151,5842,5021],{"href":3907,"rel":5843},[2485],", we can help you get more wins every day.",[1166,5846],{},[12,5848,5849,3114,5851],{},[250,5850,2853],{},[151,5852,5854],{"href":5853},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthree-reports-you-should-run-every-week-in-open-audit\u002F","Three Reports You Should Run Every Week in Open-AudIT",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5856},[5857],{"id":5812,"depth":179,"text":5813},"How to set up automated scheduled reports in Open-AudIT to get network insights delivered to your inbox without lifting a finger.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-you-should-implement-scheduled-reporting",{"title":5796,"description":5858},"why-you-should-implement-scheduled-reporting","blog\u002Fwhy-you-should-implement-scheduled-reporting",[479,1021,5865,2887],"reporting","fu7-kDXeaka56fnQ_rHdrZE3TNDTS_0WRrA9TUqI15A",{"id":5868,"title":3002,"author":1086,"body":5869,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":5967,"description":5968,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5890,"meta":5969,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":5970,"seo":5971,"slug":5972,"stem":5973,"tags":5974,"__hash__":5977},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-companies-need-to-invest-in-network-monitoring.md",{"type":9,"value":5870,"toc":5958},[5871,5875,5878,5882,5885,5891,5895,5903,5909,5913,5916,5920,5923,5927,5930,5934,5937,5944,5946,5950],[22,5872,5874],{"id":5873},"the-cost-of-downtime","The Cost of Downtime",[12,5876,5877],{},"Businesses are becoming more reliant on information technology to achieve day-to-day business goals. The importance of having the right technological processes in place has a direct result on the viability and profitability of a business. A common misconception when regarding poor internet connectivity is \"the Internet is down.\" This demonstrates how important maintaining a network is, because troubleshooting should start and end with a network engineer. However, in practice, that employee will take time out of their day to \"fix the Internet.\" The time taken is the business cost for not having a reliable network monitoring solution in place. The less reliable the network is, the higher the direct financial loss.",[22,5879,5881],{"id":5880},"the-right-tools-talent-and-design","The Right Tools, Talent, and Design",[12,5883,5884],{},"At Opmantek, we take pride in being solution-focused. Let's look at what you would need to solve the above problem. The solution is to have the right combination of tools, talent, and design, you need the right people, in the right environment, armed with the best toolset. Opmantek can assist any business by providing the right tools, regardless of business size. The tools have been designed with synergy in mind: they all integrate with each other, there is set-and-forget configuration, and full customization is available if it is needed for your organization. APIs help integrate with existing software, and the installation process is designed to be seamless.",[12,5886,5887],{},[38,5888],{"alt":5889,"src":5890},"Swiss Army Knife and Laptop","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FSwiss-Army-Knife-and-Laptop-500.jpg",[22,5892,5894],{"id":5893},"fast-deployment-flexible-scaling","Fast Deployment, Flexible Scaling",[12,5896,5897,5898,5902],{},"The installation process is fast. The ",[151,5899,5901],{"href":2521,"rel":5900},[2485],"Virtual Machine"," can be up and running in 3 minutes, usable by your organization just minutes after that. The flexibility of the software is seen when operating at scale or across regions, because the solution can scale horizontally and vertically at any size you require, regardless of geographic locations. The software leverages agentless scripting, which removes the need to install software on every device while giving it the ability to generate incredible amounts of detail about your network. It is multi-tenanted out of the box and designed to be used for any device, any kit, and anywhere. Our demo server is housed in the Gold Coast office, see below, and used across the world without delay.",[12,5904,5905],{},[38,5906],{"alt":5907,"src":5908},"Seashell Beach Tower","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FSeashell-Beach-Tower-700.jpg",[22,5910,5912],{"id":5911},"access-control-and-visibility","Access Control and Visibility",[12,5914,5915],{},"The ability to share information with key stakeholders is crucial for business and personal success. Without the right knowledge, bad decisions can be executed. The ability to see information is essential, but so are the business decisions surrounding editing information. Without strict control over access, there can be security risks, even if they are not deliberate. Having the flexibility to implement role-based access controls or create view-only dashboards is an extremely valuable feature that gives the right information to the right people.",[22,5917,5919],{"id":5918},"event-correlation-and-automated-remediation","Event Correlation and Automated Remediation",[12,5921,5922],{},"In the example above, where we had the broken internet, the ability to recognize that there is an issue, the speed of recognition, the ability to detect the root cause of the issue, and the speed that the issue is resolved are metrics that a successful network team would like to improve while fixing connectivity issues. There are horror stories in the industry about groups of servers going down and the event notifications being missed due to other issues. The ability to correlate events, intelligently analyze resource load, and automate remediation will help a network team reduce the time to solve issues. Opmantek offers a sophisticated business rules engine that automates diagnostics and actions in response to events and gives actionable insight with guidelines to remediation.",[22,5924,5926],{"id":5925},"automation-and-custom-thresholding","Automation and Custom Thresholding",[12,5928,5929],{},"Gartner has long preached that if a process is conducted four times a year, it should be automated. Here at Opmantek we value that insight and extend it. We believe in automated and customizable alert escalation procedures. Custom thresholding is an extremely valuable tool if used correctly. Combined with alert escalation and notification procedures, it will reduce the stress on a network engineer, reduce the workload, and move the focus from fighting fires to improving the overall efficiency of the network.",[22,5931,5933],{"id":5932},"the-growing-need-for-monitoring","The Growing Need for Monitoring",[12,5935,5936],{},"Businesses that are now operating in a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) environment, coupled with the Internet of Things (IoT), have seen unprecedented stress on their networks, specifically where there was never a focus on networking. As technology has progressed, so has a general business's reliance on technology to complete simple tasks. With this increased reliance on IT for business operations, there is a growing necessity to choose the right network monitoring solution.",[12,5938,5939,5940],{},"Want to see the power of our network monitoring solutions? ",[151,5941,5943],{"href":3907,"rel":5942},[2485],"Register for a demo today and get back your workday!",[1166,5945],{},[12,5947,5948],{},[250,5949,2853],{},[116,5951,5952],{},[119,5953,5954],{},[151,5955,5957],{"href":5956},"\u002Fblog\u002Fbenefits-of-developing-a-strategic-noc-service\u002F","Benefits of Developing a Strategic NOC Service",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":5959},[5960,5961,5962,5963,5964,5965,5966],{"id":5873,"depth":179,"text":5874},{"id":5880,"depth":179,"text":5881},{"id":5893,"depth":179,"text":5894},{"id":5911,"depth":179,"text":5912},{"id":5918,"depth":179,"text":5919},{"id":5925,"depth":179,"text":5926},{"id":5932,"depth":179,"text":5933},"2018-06-22","How the right network monitoring tools, talent, and design can reduce downtime costs and improve operational efficiency.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-companies-need-to-invest-in-network-monitoring",{"title":3002,"description":5968},"why-companies-need-to-invest-in-network-monitoring","blog\u002Fwhy-companies-need-to-invest-in-network-monitoring",[5975,1363,5500,5976],"network monitoring","roi","649DEEZH5x-aWSUuYluW6S-OOiHcOuOprL67oL0bWRA",{"id":5979,"title":5980,"author":1086,"body":5981,"categories":187,"category":1385,"date":6033,"description":6034,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":6010,"meta":6035,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6036,"seo":6037,"slug":6038,"stem":6039,"tags":6040,"__hash__":6043},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-benefits-of-an-opmantek-demo.md","The Benefits of a FirstWave Demo",{"type":9,"value":5982,"toc":6029},[5983,5986,5989,5992,5995,5999,6002,6005,6011,6015,6018,6021,6023],[12,5984,5985],{},"The networking industry is known to impose high expectations while operating with minimal resources. This develops network engineers to become some of the more resourceful employees and most valuable assets to any organisation.",[12,5987,5988],{},"A common question that we constantly get asked about our products is:",[12,5990,5991],{},"\"Can you do ...\" or \"Can you help me with ...\" or even \"How does ... work?\"",[12,5993,5994],{},"And the best answer is always, let's show you in a demo.",[22,5996,5998],{"id":5997},"what-does-a-firstwave-demo-involve","What Does a FirstWave Demo Involve?",[12,6000,6001],{},"A demo involves setting up a common time with one of our systems engineers to demonstrate our products that are running off a server in our office on the Gold Coast of Australia. It is a fantastic way to see the insights and power that our products deliver while seeing how fast our actions are completed (if you are outside Australia you are dealing with international levels of latency).",[12,6003,6004],{},"The first screen you will see from our products is the Virtual Machine that we offer (available on request) seen below. From this screen, the product that will solve your problem is just one click away. Our engineers will take you on a tour of the product while explaining the key features that are relevant to your needs.",[12,6006,6007],{},[38,6008],{"alt":6009,"src":6010},"FirstWave VM full screenshot","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FVM-Full-Screenshot-700.png",[22,6012,6014],{"id":6013},"solving-your-specific-challenges","Solving Your Specific Challenges",[12,6016,6017],{},"However, the key feature of a FirstWave demo is the ability to outline a problem that you are having with your network and have one of our engineers show you how a solution can be easily achieved with our software. The flexibility and customisation in our products allow us to solve most problems facing network engineers.",[12,6019,6020],{},"Every network can be optimised further and with our tools, the following organisations have all seen value in our products:",[1166,6022],{},[12,6024,6025,3114,6027],{},[250,6026,2853],{},[151,6028,505],{"href":2387},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6030},[6031,6032],{"id":5997,"depth":179,"text":5998},{"id":6013,"depth":179,"text":6014},"2018-06-13","What to expect from a FirstWave product demo and how our engineers can help solve your specific network challenges.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-benefits-of-an-opmantek-demo",{"title":5980,"description":6034},"the-benefits-of-an-opmantek-demo","blog\u002Fthe-benefits-of-an-opmantek-demo",[6041,6042,2886],"demo","firstwave","RX9sWrTF9fRT9dSJv42hVPc5SODOqb_HE17lMrhZpm0",{"id":6045,"title":6046,"author":1086,"body":6047,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":6081,"description":6082,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":2878,"meta":6083,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6084,"seo":6085,"slug":6086,"stem":6087,"tags":6088,"__hash__":6094},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-use-delegated-authentication.md","Why Use Delegated Authentication",{"type":9,"value":6048,"toc":6079},[6049,6052,6055,6058,6061,6064,6071,6073],[12,6050,6051],{},"Opmantek has built its application suite with a few core principles shaping the decision making. Having an Open-Source core is very important, the ability to generate large amounts of data for customers, allowing for customisation to the programs and most relevant to the current article, the ability to integrate with as much as possible.",[12,6053,6054],{},"Integration into custom applications or reporting can be done with our RESTful API; there is an ability to create anything that is required personally. Open-AudIT, for instance, has its API outlined in the community documentation.",[12,6056,6057],{},"A critical feature that often gets overlooked, however, is the ability to create a dashboard for a client or custom group and allow access to view the dashboard without directly logging in to our system. This can be achieved using a generated token that is embedded into a URL that can be followed. The setup process for this can seem initially complex, but there is a detailed article on how to implement this in the community documentation.",[12,6059,6060],{},"This is a useful feature to give users access to the system without giving them direct control, for example, to managers who only want to see that SLAs are met or customers who only need to view their own data.",[12,6062,6063],{},"Using a combination of Delegated Authentication and RBAC, Managed Service Providers have been able to build out customer portals with relatively easy authentication protocols.",[12,6065,6066,6067,6070],{},"To find out more about our products, ",[151,6068,5021],{"href":3907,"rel":6069},[2485]," where we take you on a live tour of all our solutions.",[1166,6072],{},[12,6074,6075,3114,6077],{},[250,6076,2853],{},[151,6078,2438],{"href":2387},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6080},[],"2018-06-07","How delegated authentication and token-based access let you share dashboards and data views without giving users direct login access.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-use-delegated-authentication",{"title":6046,"description":6082},"why-use-delegated-authentication","blog\u002Fwhy-use-delegated-authentication",[6089,6090,6091,6092,6093],"authentication","rbac","dashboards","api","msp","u7FhI28EyvyEvvG7KSHWk7-hajHxWMzsxQrl_fLBikc",{"id":6096,"title":1988,"author":1086,"body":6097,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":6195,"description":6196,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5191,"meta":6197,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6198,"seo":6199,"slug":6200,"stem":6201,"tags":6202,"__hash__":6206},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fadvanced-event-management-using-opevents.md",{"type":9,"value":6098,"toc":6191},[6099,6102,6106,6116,6122,6126,6129,6135,6138,6144,6150,6153,6163,6166,6177,6183,6185],[12,6100,6101],{},"I have received some questions lately regarding how our systems deal with events and major outages. Dependent on your resolution environment you may call this a range of things such as hierarchical event management, deduplicating events or even weathering event storms. Regardless of the verbiage, the concept is the same: if a device is down, does your event management system send multiple notifications about dependent nodes also being down? opEvents handles these events in an incredibly simple method, using stateful deduplication and event correlation.",[22,6103,6105],{"id":6104},"stateful-deduplication","Stateful Deduplication",[12,6107,6108,6109,6112,6113,6115],{},"opEvents uses stateful deduplication to ensure that only one event has been created for one instance of a state. For example, if a node is registered as down, polled later and still down, this will not generate two events -- it will only be considered a single event. This is dependent on the current state still being registered as down and the node is not considered in a ",[2526,6110,6111],{},"flap"," window. A ",[2526,6114,6111],{}," is considered to be in effect if a node is going up and down inside a given window (default 90 seconds); this will help reduce the overall event notifications while still ensuring correct faults are recorded.",[12,6117,6118],{},[38,6119],{"alt":6120,"src":6121},"opEvents events grouped by node","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopEvents-by-node.png",[22,6123,6125],{"id":6124},"event-correlation","Event Correlation",[12,6127,6128],{},"The power of opEvents is encapsulated in how it handles event correlation. There is a point in fault management where a network engineer would prefer the right information compared to all the information. Event Correlation uses this principle to do some of the heavy-lifting for you and give you the information that is most relevant to a problem. A synthetic event can be generated that will process correlated events, based on location or dependency, for example, group these together and only one event is triggered. This will aid in diagnostics of faults, but also reduce the number of triggered events if a location is down.",[12,6130,6131],{},[38,6132],{"alt":6133,"src":6134},"Synthetic event status in opEvents from correlated events","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopEvents-Event-Status-on-a-Synthetic-Event-700.png",[12,6136,6137],{},"The combination of these two principles can help reduce the time to detecting root cause while maintaining a vigilant watch over your network. If you can shape your event management with these principles, you will be getting the best information for you to do your job, without the extra noise. A little investment in this process will save you considerably in the long run.",[12,6139,6140],{},[38,6141],{"alt":6142,"src":6143},"Event correlation with opEvents","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FEvent-correlation-with-opEvents-650.jpg",[12,6145,6146],{},[38,6147],{"alt":6148,"src":6149},"Editing event actions in opEvents","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopEvents-Edit-Event-Actions-700.png",[12,6151,6152],{},"As always our Community Wiki has detailed walkthroughs regarding how to implement these concepts:",[116,6154,6155,6157,6160],{},[119,6156,6125],{},[119,6158,6159],{},"Event Correlation based on location",[119,6161,6162],{},"Deduplication and storm control in opEvents",[12,6164,6165],{},"As well as some incredibly helpful webinars about these topics:",[116,6167,6168,6171,6174],{},[119,6169,6170],{},"Performance and Fault Management for MSP and Enterprise Level Businesses",[119,6172,6173],{},"Configuring Event Escalation and Notifications",[119,6175,6176],{},"Intelligent Fault and Configuration Management",[12,6178,6179,6180,2586],{},"If you have questions regarding any topics, have a feature request or any feedback, don't hesitate to ",[151,6181,3909],{"href":3907,"rel":6182},[2485],[1166,6184],{},[12,6186,6187,3114,6189],{},[250,6188,2853],{},[151,6190,5479],{"href":5478},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6192},[6193,6194],{"id":6104,"depth":179,"text":6105},{"id":6124,"depth":179,"text":6125},"2018-05-31","How opEvents uses stateful deduplication and event correlation to reduce alert noise and help engineers focus on root causes.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fadvanced-event-management-using-opevents",{"title":1988,"description":6196},"advanced-event-management-using-opevents","blog\u002Fadvanced-event-management-using-opevents",[6203,6204,6205,1021],"opevents","event management","fault management","6dLcc-iucTdBl2VXr5yOBAXJGuZRSaZE-QkRq2IgA50",{"id":6208,"title":6209,"author":1086,"body":6210,"categories":187,"category":4833,"date":6242,"description":6243,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":4670,"meta":6244,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6245,"seo":6246,"slug":6247,"stem":6248,"tags":6249,"__hash__":6253},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-user-satisfaction-should-drive-your-business-decision-making.md","Why User Satisfaction Should Drive Your Business Decision Making",{"type":9,"value":6211,"toc":6239},[6212,6215,6226,6229,6231,6233],[12,6213,6214],{},"Over the last month, Australia's largest telecommunications provider, Telstra, has come under fire because of three significant disruptions to their services. Although the incidents have been reported as coincidental, the company received negative feedback and complaints which aggregated together to form a negative brand image. When mistakes disrupt a whole country, one that is dependent on your services to run businesses, it is hard to rebound positively. This is exemplified in a significant loss in their share price the last month, dropping from $3.25 to $2.74 in two weeks. However, these disruptions should help shape the way every business deals with faults. If your business is reactive, significant operational faults will seem worse than your proactive competitors. There is an advantage in ensuring you are committing resources to proactive fault management. A quote from a communication manager that works to limit downtime for their clients best represents this issue: they wish to \"solve customer problems before they even contact us\". This mentality, putting user satisfaction first, will help them generate more clients because they are focused on increasing user satisfaction. To start a change from a reactive to a proactive team requires resources committed to help shape an automation process. The upfront cost of developing these protocols can be high, but the ROI is seen shortly and is extrapolated over time. Essential information to start this can be found in the following webinars, conducted by Mark Henry:",[116,6216,6217,6220,6223],{},[119,6218,6219],{},"Developing a Strategic NOC",[119,6221,6222],{},"Guide to Automating Event Configuration",[119,6224,6225],{},"Fault and Configuration Management for MSPs",[12,6227,6228],{},"Mark is a Senior Systems Engineer at FirstWave but has built his own MSPs; his history has been driven by increasing user satisfaction. This will give you the foundation to start automating your troubles away. If your focus is to improve user satisfaction, growing your business will be more straightforward and catastrophic events will be limited.",[1166,6230],{},[22,6232,1171],{"id":1170},[116,6234,6235],{},[119,6236,6237],{},[151,6238,5957],{"href":5956},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6240},[6241],{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":1171},"2018-05-29","How prioritising user satisfaction and proactive fault management gives businesses a competitive edge over reactive competitors.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-user-satisfaction-should-drive-your-business-decision-making",{"title":6209,"description":6243},"why-user-satisfaction-should-drive-your-business-decision-making","blog\u002Fwhy-user-satisfaction-should-drive-your-business-decision-making",[6250,6251,6205,6252],"user satisfaction","proactive","noc","mcQgZO0_UlTvDIsqBHI7VGmQhJJ8S70zzzxfGtnwSnc",{"id":6255,"title":6256,"author":1086,"body":6257,"categories":187,"category":463,"date":6320,"description":6321,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":1141,"meta":6322,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6323,"seo":6324,"slug":6325,"stem":6326,"tags":6327,"__hash__":6329},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fusing-compliance-management-as-a-task-sheet.md","Using Compliance Management as a Task Sheet",{"type":9,"value":6258,"toc":6313},[6259,6263,6266,6270,6273,6276,6280,6283,6287,6290,6295,6299,6302,6305,6307],[22,6260,6262],{"id":6261},"why-compliance-matters","Why Compliance Matters",[12,6264,6265],{},"It is extremely crucial for a network to be configured in a compliant manner. This can be due to relevant legislation but also to ensure the highest quality of service is delivered. Checks are needed on IT infrastructure assessing whether they are in compliance with rulesets that are implemented. This was becoming increasingly difficult with the scope of IT infrastructure that is now required to maintain strict SLAs, but now those checks can be transitioned from manual to automated.",[22,6267,6269],{"id":6268},"the-opconfig-compliance-engine","The opConfig Compliance Engine",[12,6271,6272],{},"opConfig has an incredibly powerful compliance engine built into it that can be used to audit a network and ensure that all devices are compliant to a set of policies. The product ships with the CISCO-NSA best practices as the default compliance policy set, but adding your own custom policies is extremely easy to do. The Community page has all the resources you will need to create your own policies or edit some existing policies (see the opConfig and Compliance Management documentation).",[12,6274,6275],{},"However, the focus of this brief is what to do with the information that is provided once these policies are in place. There are two key ways to process this information and get your network back to being compliant, depending on how many devices are required to fix.",[22,6277,6279],{"id":6278},"handling-large-scale-compliance-issues","Handling Large-Scale Compliance Issues",[12,6281,6282],{},"The first is usually used if you have inherited a compliance problem, through mergers and acquisitions, for example, where a large number of devices are not compliant. The best process for this instance may be to push out new config to all devices. This can take longer than single-item fixes, but there is the knowledge that each device will be configured to the same baseline. Configuration pushes have been explained through the Community page, which outlines a terrific example (see the Automating Configuration Changes with opConfig documentation).",[22,6284,6286],{"id":6285},"using-the-compliance-report-as-a-daily-task-sheet","Using the Compliance Report as a Daily Task Sheet",[12,6288,6289],{},"This leads to the most common occurrence where small changes to a device have been noted by the auditing system. The compliance report can be automated to run each morning before a team's scheduled start time and generate a report of devices that are not compliant. A lot of network engineers will use this as a task sheet for the day or morning -- the report on one monitor and the required CLI on the other. As they complete tasks, their environment will become more compliant and the service levels will be increased.",[12,6291,6292],{},[38,6293],{"alt":6294,"src":1141},"opConfig Compliance Task Sheet",[22,6296,6298],{"id":6297},"reading-the-report","Reading the Report",[12,6300,6301],{},"The outcome of the report can be seen above. This exemplifies what the opConfig compliance engine will look for. The hit\u002Fmiss category refers to the policies that are tested. If there is a configuration point that is testable for the policy, this will result in a hit. If there is nothing available, there will be a miss (note that a hit or a miss doesn't imply there is a fault -- it's detailing a successful testing protocol). The second column refers to Exceptions and OKs: an exception will require changing configuration on a device, while OK denotes that the device is acting in accordance with how the policy requires.",[12,6303,6304],{},"If you would like more information on these topics, feel free to contact us.",[1166,6306],{},[12,6308,6309,3114,6311],{},[250,6310,2853],{},[151,6312,4740],{"href":4739},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6314},[6315,6316,6317,6318,6319],{"id":6261,"depth":179,"text":6262},{"id":6268,"depth":179,"text":6269},{"id":6278,"depth":179,"text":6279},{"id":6285,"depth":179,"text":6286},{"id":6297,"depth":179,"text":6298},"2018-05-18","How to use opConfig's compliance engine and daily compliance reports as a practical task sheet for keeping your network devices compliant.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fusing-compliance-management-as-a-task-sheet",{"title":6256,"description":6321},"using-compliance-management-as-a-task-sheet","blog\u002Fusing-compliance-management-as-a-task-sheet",[6328,472,1021,843],"opconfig","l0PEGPR3SriVoopPAR9BC4rDpmW3wyvOtperaObK8l0",{"id":6331,"title":5957,"author":1086,"body":6332,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":6391,"description":6392,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5100,"meta":6393,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6394,"seo":6395,"slug":6396,"stem":6397,"tags":6398,"__hash__":6401},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fbenefits-of-developing-a-strategic-noc-service.md",{"type":9,"value":6333,"toc":6386},[6334,6337,6341,6344,6348,6351,6357,6361,6370,6375,6378,6380],[12,6335,6336],{},"Integrating automation is a crucial step in developing your IT department into a beneficial business contributor to a company. However, automation alone will not achieve this; there also has to be a shift in ideology towards improving the user experience inside the business.",[22,6338,6340],{"id":6339},"the-traditional-noc","The Traditional NOC",[12,6342,6343],{},"When a traditional Network Operations Center (NOC) is present, the fault response is reactionary, and monitoring focuses on equipment state and roles are usually split between fault resolution and routine maintenance. Pressure on NOCs has never been higher, increasing the requirements of greater network performance while simultaneously reducing downtime puts increased stress on a NOC.",[22,6345,6347],{"id":6346},"the-strategic-noc-model","The Strategic NOC Model",[12,6349,6350],{},"By using a strategic NOC model, the stress implications can be significantly reduced. A strategic model will focus on improving the collaboration between all lines of business, increasing user satisfaction and ensuring that there is an end-to-end quality of the network. This model looks into the application performance rather than the equipment performance. A vital example of this may be that the internet is currently connected, but Office365 is down, this will affect the user experience and decrease productivity despite the hardware states being unaffected.",[12,6352,6353],{},[38,6354],{"alt":6355,"src":6356},"opCharts dashboard for strategic NOC monitoring","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopcharts-dahsboard.png",[22,6358,6360],{"id":6359},"the-role-of-automation","The Role of Automation",[12,6362,6363,6364,6369],{},"To facilitate this transition to a strategic NOC, automation is required with the goal to increase user experience (UX) not save on overheads; the emphasis is on improving the UX which leads to increased productivity. This can be exemplified by Visa's 75% reduction in time to resolve incidents, and JPMorgan Chase's 75% first call resolution rate (",[151,6365,6368],{"href":6366,"rel":6367},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww3.pinkelephant.com\u002Farticles\u002FTheBenefitsOfITILv26.pdf",[2485],"Reference","). Both those figures were attained by utilising the core principles that a strategic NOC operates on.",[12,6371,6372],{},[38,6373],{"alt":6374,"src":5426},"Automation streamlining incident response",[12,6376,6377],{},"To find out more about these principles, understand how to develop a service catalogue or to architect a solution for fast client on-boarding, register your interest at our free webinar.",[1166,6379],{},[12,6381,6382,3114,6384],{},[250,6383,2853],{},[151,6385,3002],{"href":3001},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6387},[6388,6389,6390],{"id":6339,"depth":179,"text":6340},{"id":6346,"depth":179,"text":6347},{"id":6359,"depth":179,"text":6360},"2018-04-09","How shifting from a reactive to a strategic NOC model improves user experience, reduces incident resolution time, and boosts productivity.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fbenefits-of-developing-a-strategic-noc-service",{"title":5957,"description":6392},"benefits-of-developing-a-strategic-noc-service","blog\u002Fbenefits-of-developing-a-strategic-noc-service",[6252,6399,1021,6400],"network operations","strategy","HXg0gfohNZuvxsyFxiTd4FRUPh39ksLk8wvVoJDmoNs",{"id":6403,"title":4558,"author":1086,"body":6404,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":6439,"description":6440,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":4541,"meta":6441,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6442,"seo":6443,"slug":6444,"stem":6445,"tags":6446,"__hash__":6448},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-helps-solve-your-software-asset-management-needs.md",{"type":9,"value":6405,"toc":6437},[6406,6409,6418,6421,6423,6427],[12,6407,6408],{},"This was the phrase that started it all, this forced Open-AudIT founder Mark to develop the Open-AudIT software. Fast-forward almost 20 years and similar questions are still being asked in many organisations worldwide. What has changed though is the process of acquiring this information; 20 years ago Mark drove to each location and manually counted each install. Today to get this same information, a report can be run and it will take a few seconds. The more proactive user will have this report scheduled and waiting in an inbox whenever desired.",[12,6410,6411,6412,6417],{},"The goal extends further than a counting exercise, there is now a lot more at stake. Formerly, software licensing was the number of installs, but this process has expanded and become more complicated. ",[151,6413,6416],{"href":6414,"rel":6415},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gartner.com\u002Fdoc\u002F3104823\u002Fuse-gartners-tool-decision-framework",[2485],"Gartner"," has presented guidelines to leverage the current software licensing that is in place using Software Asset Management.",[12,6419,6420],{},"The first steps, however, are fundamental to what Open-AudIT does as an open source program. Device Discovery and Inventory Management are two core principles behind Open-AudIT and they also coincide with the first two steps in minimising your software licensing spend.",[1166,6422],{},[12,6424,6425],{},[250,6426,2853],{},[116,6428,6429,6433],{},[119,6430,6431],{},[151,6432,4427],{"href":4626},[119,6434,6435],{},[151,6436,2438],{"href":2387},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6438},[],"2018-03-26","How Open-AudIT's device discovery and inventory management capabilities support effective software asset management and licensing compliance.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-helps-solve-your-software-asset-management-needs",{"title":4558,"description":6440},"open-audit-helps-solve-your-software-asset-management-needs","blog\u002Fopen-audit-helps-solve-your-software-asset-management-needs",[479,6447,4571,472],"software asset management","PCK74DV6jpUpvNR3CmLG-AnVL24wvtKX_zOq_DSt_sk",{"id":6450,"title":4823,"author":1086,"body":6451,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":6514,"description":6515,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5130,"meta":6516,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6517,"seo":6518,"slug":6519,"stem":6520,"tags":6521,"__hash__":6524},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-importance-of-network-visibility-in-response-to-the-internet-of-things.md",{"type":9,"value":6452,"toc":6508},[6453,6458,6462,6471,6475,6478,6482,6485,6489,6492,6495,6497,6501],[12,6454,6455],{},[38,6456],{"alt":6457,"src":5130},"NMIS Dashboard",[22,6459,6461],{"id":6460},"the-rise-of-iot","The Rise of IoT",[12,6463,6464,6465,6470],{},"The Internet of Things (IoT) has led to many businesses capitalizing on the computational potential and the increase in data available in everyday objects. The breadth of devices with internet connectivity has been increasing exponentially. CEB (",[151,6466,6469],{"href":6467,"rel":6468},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.cebglobal.com\u002F",[2485],"CEBglobal"," -- IoT Security Primer) suggests that the number of connections will grow from 6 million in 2015 to 27 billion by 2025. This increase has led to many new products and many new vendors operating in a market that can be vulnerable to catastrophic attacks. They continue by saying almost 40% of businesses believe that poor visibility and understanding is their leading risk management challenge.",[22,6472,6474],{"id":6473},"why-visibility-matters","Why Visibility Matters",[12,6476,6477],{},"The underlying problem with a network that is considered to have poor visibility is the limited ability to discover everything that is connected to it. NMIS can manage any device that has an IP address, so if it is connected to your network, directly or indirectly, NMIS will know.",[22,6479,6481],{"id":6480},"device-modelling-and-vendor-support","Device Modelling and Vendor Support",[12,6483,6484],{},"With the evolution of devices, there should be equal to greater sophistication in the understanding practices that are used to monitor devices. NMIS collects information from any device on your network and by using the \"sysObjectId\" variable, it can attribute a vendor to the device from the Enterprise list. The list of vendors is continually expanding, and you can peruse the most common list on the NMIS vendor and device support page. However, the true functionality of NMIS is the ability to control new vendors. This process is better explained in the NMIS device model development documentation.",[22,6486,6488],{"id":6487},"custom-thresholding-and-control","Custom Thresholding and Control",[12,6490,6491],{},"The increased visibility combined with custom thresholding using NMIS means there will be greater control over your network. Users of NMIS will be familiar with SNMP and device modelling, but there are more custom controls available. Keith Sinclair (Opmantek CTO) presented a webinar that walks through the use of MIBs for custom functions, device modelling, and custom thresholding.",[12,6493,6494],{},"Here at Opmantek, we are constantly looking for new ways to help your workday. If you have any feature requests, webinar topics, or ideas you would like to see get developed, don't hesitate to reach out.",[1166,6496],{},[12,6498,6499],{},[250,6500,2853],{},[116,6502,6503],{},[119,6504,6505],{},[151,6506,4755],{"href":6507},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-iot-revolution\u002F",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6509},[6510,6511,6512,6513],{"id":6460,"depth":179,"text":6461},{"id":6473,"depth":179,"text":6474},{"id":6480,"depth":179,"text":6481},{"id":6487,"depth":179,"text":6488},"2018-03-20","Why network visibility matters as IoT devices proliferate, and how NMIS helps you discover and monitor every connected device.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-importance-of-network-visibility-in-response-to-the-internet-of-things",{"title":4823,"description":6515},"the-importance-of-network-visibility-in-response-to-the-internet-of-things","blog\u002Fthe-importance-of-network-visibility-in-response-to-the-internet-of-things",[1363,4842,6522,6523],"network visibility","device modelling","cWRuszirtsZrrVIocmxNcw7mHWK3TWyFFyMW-6JKt0w",{"id":6526,"title":6527,"author":1086,"body":6528,"categories":187,"category":1385,"date":6602,"description":6603,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":6604,"meta":6605,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6606,"seo":6607,"slug":6608,"stem":6609,"tags":6610,"__hash__":6612},"blog\u002Fblog\u002F20-years-of-open-audit.md","20 Years of Open-AudIT",{"type":9,"value":6529,"toc":6599},[6530,6533,6536,6539,6542,6545,6548,6551,6557,6560,6566,6569,6572,6577,6580,6583,6585,6587],[12,6531,6532],{},"A long, long time ago, in a town far, far away, I used to work for a financial institution. A small financial institution. Quite small. As in no IT management software small. As in if we wanted to update our desktops, we had to write a batch script and copy it \"by hand\" to individual devices and run it one at a time.",[12,6534,6535],{},"Once upon a time, my manager approached me and asked: \"How many installs of MS Office do we have?\". I could not reliably answer the question, so I set about finding out how I would find out. At the time Microsoft had a product called SMS Server. Its purpose was to manage your Microsoft Windows PCs. It was also expensive. Well, it was expensive for a small financial institution. Expensive enough that my manager denied the funding and put me in a car to drive from north to south and record by hand the MS Office installs on 100 PCs across 12 branches and 200 kilometres. Good times!",[12,6537,6538],{},"I've always been the kind of guy who likes to write code. I think I first wrote some BASIC back in about 1982. Damn, I'm showing my age now! Obviously, I was thinking -- well, if Microsoft can retrieve the information, then how? How are they doing that? That led me to VBScript and WMI. For our Windows NT machines, these were optional components, but for our new Windows 98 machines, it was built in, yay! Yes -- Windows NT and 98. Things are a little different now, but back then a lot of businesses looked at IT as a simple expense that they didn't want. Hence as little money as possible was spent on it. Windows NT and 98 it was. And no management software for you.",[12,6540,6541],{},"OK, so I found VBScript and WMI. So what? I somehow need to write a script to retrieve details from PCs and actually store it somewhere. The obvious answer is in a database. We were a Microsoft shop, so SQL Server. Uh oh -- that costs money. No way. Funding denied. Sigh. Well, guess what? Further research turned up this software called \"Open Source\". I could have a web server, a database and even an entire operating system FOR FREE. What? What is this voodoo? Oh, and the kicker -- it would run on an old desktop PC we had retired. Call me sold.",[12,6543,6544],{},"I was so enamoured with the idea of open source that when requesting the project approval I stated that the code should be licensed under an open source license. I would write it by night at home and use it at work. The copyright would stay with me, but the business would benefit from having a tool to be able to list what software was on our machines. It would cost the business $0. Project approved!",[12,6546,6547],{},"And so was born WINventory. Windows Inventory. It was designed first and foremost to retrieve details from Windows machines. Along the way came a name change to Open-AudIT, a healthy community, the ability to audit network devices (routers, switches, printers, etc.) as well as computers running various operating systems (Windows, Linux, macOS, AIX, Solaris, etc.). Open-AudIT has grown and grown.",[12,6549,6550],{},"We added the ability to run reports on the data. Even to make your own reports. To \"discover\" a network as opposed to running the audit scripts on individual PCs and so much more.",[12,6552,6553],{},[38,6554],{"alt":6555,"src":6556},"Open-AudIT team photo at FirstWave","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-Team-Photo-650.jpg",[12,6558,6559],{},"Today, almost 20 years later, I couldn't be more proud of how far this little spare time project has come and what we've achieved. Nowadays I work for FirstWave and develop Open-AudIT as a full-time job. Since arriving at FirstWave, Open-AudIT has gone from strength to strength and shows no signs of slowing down. Indeed we have so many ideas that I don't know how I'm ever going to realise them all!",[12,6561,6562],{},[38,6563],{"alt":6564,"src":6565},"Modern Open-AudIT release announcement graphic","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-Release-650.png",[12,6567,6568],{},"So many ideas, so little time.",[12,6570,6571],{},"So that's how Open-AudIT came to be. We're not slowing down so get in, sit down, shush up and hang on!",[12,6573,6574],{},[38,6575],{"alt":6576,"src":5213},"Current Open-AudIT dashboards screenshot",[12,6578,6579],{},"Onwards and upwards.",[12,6581,6582],{},"Mark Unwin.",[1166,6584],{},[22,6586,1171],{"id":1170},[116,6588,6589,6593],{},[119,6590,6591],{},[151,6592,505],{"href":2387},[119,6594,6595],{},[151,6596,6598],{"href":6597},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-6-release\u002F","Open-AudIT 6 Release",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6600},[6601],{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":1171},"2018-03-19","The story of how Open-AudIT grew from a simple script into a comprehensive IT asset management platform over two decades.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-Blog-Mark-650.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002F20-years-of-open-audit",{"title":6527,"description":6603},"20-years-of-open-audit","blog\u002F20-years-of-open-audit",[479,6611,4422,1395],"history","g7ZTZHqt5KVrJ4lzIR0eJTvfn3i2sYr_l75ot258rLk",{"id":6614,"title":5479,"author":1086,"body":6615,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":6670,"description":6671,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":1141,"meta":6672,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6673,"seo":6674,"slug":6675,"stem":6676,"tags":6677,"__hash__":6680},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fnetwork-automation-for-configuration-and-change-management.md",{"type":9,"value":6616,"toc":6664},[6617,6621,6624,6627,6631,6634,6638,6641,6645,6648,6650,6654],[22,6618,6620],{"id":6619},"the-case-for-automation","The Case for Automation",[12,6622,6623],{},"The act of automation can greatly improve the efficiency of any network team. With regards to managing network infrastructure, Gartner suggests that any manual task performed more than 4 times a year should be automated. These mandates are usually answered by the more proactive teams and remain a fancy for most teams struggling with limited resources. However, the initial cost, in time or budget, is minor compared to the ability to leverage the opportunity costs of reducing human error, improving compliance and increasing work availability of staff.",[12,6625,6626],{},"Process automation is becoming a requirement because humans may no longer be able to manually keep up with real-time configuration changes. The prioritization of automation technologies enables a business to become more agile and responsive to shifting market\u002Fcustomer requirements.",[22,6628,6630],{"id":6629},"gdpr-and-compliance","GDPR and Compliance",[12,6632,6633],{},"The fast-approaching addition of the GDPR compliance standard to existing standards, PCI or HIPAA for example, will require businesses to be less passive with risk management. Risk should be managed and not avoided, GDPR acts as an invitation to change traditional business protocols because there is no avoiding the GDPR. To mitigate the risk of the GDPR, improved compliance and accurate reporting is required, both rewards to successful network automation.",[22,6635,6637],{"id":6636},"automation-and-your-team","Automation and Your Team",[12,6639,6640],{},"A common misconception regarding automation is that the outcome reduces the size of a team. This can occur in a reactive business, but a proactive business will transfer the workload from one project to another. The ability to cross-train or upskill staff will make your team more valuable. There is the added benefit of becoming more agile in your approach to transitioning workflow from administrative tasks towards managing infrastructure or increasing client satisfaction.",[22,6642,6644],{"id":6643},"configuration-management-with-opconfig","Configuration Management with opConfig",[12,6646,6647],{},"Configuration and Compliance Management is now easier to implement with opConfig. opConfig will continuously monitor the configuration of devices discovered by Open-AudIT Enterprise or managed by NMIS, track the changes and store a complete history of configuration information. opConfig can leverage NMIS' business policy engine, opEvents, to provide instantaneous correlation and notification when device configurations change or stray from enterprise policies. The combination of these systems will aid in your network automation, assist in the quick resolution of problems and compliance with standards.",[1166,6649],{},[12,6651,6652],{},[250,6653,2853],{},[116,6655,6656,6660],{},[119,6657,6658],{},[151,6659,5505],{"href":5676},[119,6661,6662],{},[151,6663,4740],{"href":4739},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6665},[6666,6667,6668,6669],{"id":6619,"depth":179,"text":6620},{"id":6629,"depth":179,"text":6630},{"id":6636,"depth":179,"text":6637},{"id":6643,"depth":179,"text":6644},"2018-03-13","Why automating configuration and compliance management with opConfig reduces human error, improves compliance, and frees up engineering resources.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fnetwork-automation-for-configuration-and-change-management",{"title":5479,"description":6671},"network-automation-for-configuration-and-change-management","blog\u002Fnetwork-automation-for-configuration-and-change-management",[6328,1021,6678,472,6679],"configuration management","gdpr","2rWwykg2hl7ahVuFGv2yS8FU1UiwW4xsLADZnM3-umQ",{"id":6682,"title":6683,"author":1086,"body":6684,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":6749,"description":6750,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":6708,"meta":6751,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6752,"seo":6753,"slug":6754,"stem":6755,"tags":6756,"__hash__":6760},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fmonitoring-business-services.md","Monitoring Business Services",{"type":9,"value":6685,"toc":6744},[6686,6688,6691,6694,6698,6701,6704,6709,6713,6720,6723,6734,6736],[22,6687,5874],{"id":5873},[12,6689,6690],{},"In ITIC's 2016 survey 98% of respondents indicated a single hour of network downtime costs them over $100,000, while 81% of Enterprises reported hourly outage costs exceeding $300,000, and 33% reporting losses in excess of $1-5 million\u002Fhour. When we talk network downtime we're really referring to application and business service availability -- is the software the business relies on operating within acceptable norms of responsiveness and accuracy?",[12,6692,6693],{},"Gone are the days when engineers could simply wait for an end-user to phone in a performance problem. Networks are far too complex, with multiple layers of redundancy and failover, for the focus to be on the individual parts -- a manager once told me, \"it's not the equipment that makes the money, it's what the equipment enables us to do that gets everyone paid.\" With potential losses of 5MM\u002Fhr it is crucial network teams have the tools in place to handle performance and fault monitoring, automate event handling, and roll up individual device state and service status into more complex application and business service profiles.",[22,6695,6697],{"id":6696},"layered-service-monitoring","Layered Service Monitoring",[12,6699,6700],{},"You can visualise application and business service monitoring as a multi-layer problem; a pyramid of pieces. At the very bottom, the wide base of the pyramid, are all the individual parts, or widgets, that represent the components of the service. These are the servers, storage devices, switches, and load balancers that the application relies on for hosting and operation. But that base layer is also comprised of the specific key interfaces data flows through as well as the services each server hosts that the application needs -- like the mysql or apache daemon. Above that layer are the components that comprise the entry user experience (UX); does the application's login page load in a reasonable time? Finally, at the top end of the pyramid is an end-to-end exercise of the application itself. Usually referred to as a synthetic transaction, this is about ensuring the entire application works from presentation, to business logic, and back-end layer.",[12,6702,6703],{},"The chart below displays the results of just such a test. The black line represents the state of the synthetic transaction, while the yellow line shows how long it takes to execute the synthetic transaction and get a result back. You can see where the black line dips that the synthetic transaction failed during that period, but since the yellow line was still drawing something came back, just not the expected result.",[12,6705,6706],{},[38,6707],{"alt":178,"src":6708},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fservice_sample.png",[22,6710,6712],{"id":6711},"from-devices-to-business-outcomes","From Devices to Business Outcomes",[12,6714,6715,6716,6719],{},"Each of these parameters can be thresholded, with escalation rules and alarms assigned quickly and reliably using FirstWave's Network Monitoring Information System (NMIS) Solution for performance and fault monitoring. Expanding NMIS with ",[151,6717,1863],{"href":4912,"rel":6718},[2485]," allows the creation of detailed application-centric dashboards containing easily interpreted charts, like the one above.",[12,6721,6722],{},"Demands placed on the Network Operations Centre increase exponentially as the Lines of Business they serve become more dependent on applications and their frameworks to generate revenue. Tools like NMIS, opCharts, and others can help engineers quickly and efficiently go from a high, abstracted view of the application down to a root cause, automating collection of troubleshooting information and even self-healing the network.",[12,6724,6725,6726,2531,6731,2586],{},"For more information, visit ",[151,6727,6730],{"href":6728,"rel":6729},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002F",[2485],"firstwave.com",[151,6732,3909],{"href":3907,"rel":6733},[2485],[1166,6735],{},[12,6737,6738,3114,6740],{},[250,6739,2853],{},[151,6741,6743],{"href":6742},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopcharts-maximize-efficiency-with-scheduled-outages\u002F","opCharts: Maximise Efficiency with Scheduled Outages",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6745},[6746,6747,6748],{"id":5873,"depth":179,"text":5874},{"id":6696,"depth":179,"text":6697},{"id":6711,"depth":179,"text":6712},"2018-03-02","Why application and business service monitoring matters, and how NMIS and opCharts help you move beyond device-level monitoring.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fmonitoring-business-services",{"title":6683,"description":6750},"monitoring-business-services","blog\u002Fmonitoring-business-services",[1363,6757,6758,3020,6759],"opcharts","business services","synthetic transactions","9pzu5_e0tjCIbNQ-WqA00PaIinG1MM8Yw-c659ROnEA",{"id":6762,"title":6763,"author":1086,"body":6764,"categories":187,"category":463,"date":6847,"description":6848,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":2878,"meta":6849,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6850,"seo":6851,"slug":6852,"stem":6853,"tags":6854,"__hash__":6856},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-and-the-gdpr.md","Open-AudIT and the GDPR",{"type":9,"value":6765,"toc":6840},[6766,6772,6776,6779,6782,6786,6789,6792,6796,6799,6803,6806,6809,6813,6816,6823,6826,6829,6832,6834],[12,6767,6768,6771],{},[2526,6769,6770],{},"\"Open-AudIT is exactly what we needed to be able to address the GDPR requirements of a large European government. We had it up and collecting in 90 minutes.\""," -- PeterS (Sales Engineering head of EMEA Global Systems Integrator).",[22,6773,6775],{"id":6774},"what-is-the-gdpr","What is the GDPR?",[12,6777,6778],{},"The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation that intends to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the European Union (EU). It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU. If your company is EU based or does business in the EU, you will have to comply with the GDPR. The GDPR comes into effect on the 25th May, 2018.",[12,6780,6781],{},"Open-AudIT can provide very valuable insights into your IT infrastructure and assist in your GDPR compliance.",[22,6783,6785],{"id":6784},"know-where-your-data-is","Know where your data is",[12,6787,6788],{},"As part of the GDPR you must be able to show that you know where your customer data is stored and be monitoring for potential breaches. To be able to determine where your data is, first you need to know what is on your network. Obviously, this is where Open-AudIT steps up.",[12,6790,6791],{},"From download to install to discovering devices and reporting on their hardware, software and settings in under 10 minutes. Don't believe me? Too good to be true? Check out this recent blog post of mine that proves it. Under 10 minutes from nothing to having a discovered network of devices.",[22,6793,6795],{"id":6794},"track-changes-automatically","Track changes automatically",[12,6797,6798],{},"Not only can Open-AudIT discover your devices, but it also tracks any changes to them. Software installed or removed, users and group membership changes, file changes, hardware changes -- and so much more. So there's your devices found and any changes to them being recorded.",[22,6800,6802],{"id":6801},"go-beyond-discovery","Go beyond discovery",[12,6804,6805],{},"But Open-AudIT can do more, much more. What about listing all your databases (SQL Server and MySQL) and websites (IIS and Apache)? What about comparing a group of devices to see where they are different in terms of installed software? What about emailing the many included reports and summaries directly to you in a format of your choosing? What about the RESTful JSON API? It's completely open. It's your data. We just help you to unlock it.",[12,6807,6808],{},"And on top of that -- what about automating it all?",[22,6810,6812],{"id":6811},"get-started-today","Get started today",[12,6814,6815],{},"Open-AudIT really does make it simple to report on what is on your network and help with your GDPR compliance.",[12,6817,6818,6819,6822],{},"Download it today from ",[151,6820,6730],{"href":2521,"rel":6821},[2485],"; there's a free 20 device license waiting for you.",[12,6824,6825],{},"I genuinely hope you find Open-AudIT as useful as I do.",[12,6827,6828],{},"Oh, and by the way -- I still didn't mention Active Directory and OpenLDAP integration. And the maps. And the networks listing. And assigning assets to different departments or companies. And the custom fields. And the many inbuilt queries and summaries. And the ability to make your own queries and summaries. And the other features too numerous to list. It's all documented on the Open-AudIT wiki. Check it out for either a quick overview or a deep dive into the specifics. And if you have questions -- there are always the Forums and Questions sites as well!",[12,6830,6831],{},"What are you waiting for? Try Open-AudIT today!",[1166,6833],{},[12,6835,6836,3114,6838],{},[250,6837,2853],{},[151,6839,1185],{"href":1184},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6841},[6842,6843,6844,6845,6846],{"id":6774,"depth":179,"text":6775},{"id":6784,"depth":179,"text":6785},{"id":6794,"depth":179,"text":6795},{"id":6801,"depth":179,"text":6802},{"id":6811,"depth":179,"text":6812},"2018-02-28","How Open-AudIT helps organisations achieve GDPR compliance by discovering devices, tracking changes, and reporting on IT infrastructure.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-and-the-gdpr",{"title":6763,"description":6848},"open-audit-and-the-gdpr","blog\u002Fopen-audit-and-the-gdpr",[479,6679,472,6855],"data protection","RYUjdIDXJ31E77gJ-tCdh-Og_dbKEE5_XqyWK1vp-sk",{"id":6858,"title":6859,"author":1086,"body":6860,"categories":187,"category":4833,"date":6927,"description":6928,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":6908,"meta":6929,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6930,"seo":6931,"slug":6932,"stem":6933,"tags":6934,"__hash__":6939},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fmutual-benefits-of-consultative-relationships-between-msp-and-business.md","Mutual Benefits of Consultative Relationships Between MSP and Business",{"type":9,"value":6861,"toc":6920},[6862,6865,6869,6872,6876,6879,6883,6886,6890,6893,6897,6900,6903,6909,6912,6914],[12,6863,6864],{},"It is well known that any partnership that is built on mutual gain has more potential to last longer and progress further. How to define this relationship, however, can be difficult when dealing with constantly changing technology and differing client bases. The relationship between a managed service provider (MSP) and a business is one that can be prone to these difficulties, especially if the service level agreements (SLAs) are not defined precisely.",[22,6866,6868],{"id":6867},"proactive-monitoring-sets-you-apart","Proactive Monitoring Sets You Apart",[12,6870,6871],{},"The critical factor for a successful MSP is being able to predict and be proactive to problems rather than reactive. This is what will differentiate you from a break\u002Ffix method, but also increase your customer satisfaction. If an MSP can predict hardware malfunction or server thresholds, the advice that can be given is invaluable in the MSP\u002Fbusiness relationship. The fundamental principle behind this is increasing the user experience inside the business.",[22,6873,6875],{"id":6874},"shifting-focus-to-user-experience","Shifting Focus to User Experience",[12,6877,6878],{},"The end goal, to increase user experience, should be the focus for MSPs; this is a crucial factor for a successful business. With a happy user experience, there is an increase in staff productivity which can help the business grow. Changing the MSP's goal of keeping the equipment in an ideal state to increasing or maintaining user experience can help solidify business relationships.",[22,6880,6882],{"id":6881},"building-a-consultative-relationship","Building a Consultative Relationship",[12,6884,6885],{},"The higher the communication and visibility that a user has, the more it can help facilitate the belief they are in an actual consultative working relationship; currently, 48% of businesses working with an MSP would prefer a higher level of consultative relationship. This will increase the business's perceived value for money with the SLA because you are working intimately with the MSP regardless of the situation. Further, the level of service is increased because the MSP has a better understanding of why client requirements are present. When those two factors are taken into consideration, the business has a higher return on investment, and the MSP is doing a better job -- this is mutually beneficial.",[22,6887,6889],{"id":6888},"adjusting-monitoring-and-reporting","Adjusting Monitoring and Reporting",[12,6891,6892],{},"The change in mentality from equipment state to customer satisfaction requires the MSP to adjust their monitoring and reporting. The adjustments may include things such as third-party SaaS monitoring, software licensing management, and even topographical readings. A customer is happier when their internet or service is down if they know why -- for example, poor weather. Further, the ability to predict trouble can facilitate better relationships; through hardware monitoring an MSP can predict when hardware may need replacing.",[22,6894,6896],{"id":6895},"presenting-meaningful-data-with-optrend","Presenting Meaningful Data with opTrend",[12,6898,6899],{},"Presenting meaningful data to businesses through meetings can increase the level of control and transparency that a client has over their system while simultaneously growing the business relationship. To gain the data, an MSP can use opTrend, which provides cutting-edge predictive analytics. The AI-driven application identifies resources that are showing abnormal activity based on historical behaviour and provides an organisation with correct trend analysis of critical resources. This assists in the early detection of potential failures and resource exhaustion.",[12,6901,6902],{},"An application that builds its own baselines will be more accurate than any model that is provided by a vendor. Using six months of data, a baseline is constructed that is a custom representation of the device while taking into account the time of day and also the day of the week. This builds an accurate snapshot of what your system should be doing at a given time and assists in identifying outliers that are not considered normal.",[12,6904,6905],{},[38,6906],{"alt":6907,"src":6908},"opTrend predictive analytics graph","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopTrend-Graph-700.png",[12,6910,6911],{},"The graph above demonstrates the power of the application; the blue lines are the expected ranges, the green is the overall mean, and the black is the recorded value. The graph indicates that on December 6th the system was in heavy use, but it was expected and not considered an outlier -- this may be due to a system back-up, for instance. However, from December 9--13 there was a significant increase that is not regarded as normal. Using this information, although no major fault may have occurred, an MSP could extrapolate potential vulnerabilities in the future.",[1166,6913],{},[12,6915,6916,3114,6918],{},[250,6917,2853],{},[151,6919,5957],{"href":5956},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6921},[6922,6923,6924,6925,6926],{"id":6867,"depth":179,"text":6868},{"id":6874,"depth":179,"text":6875},{"id":6881,"depth":179,"text":6882},{"id":6888,"depth":179,"text":6889},{"id":6895,"depth":179,"text":6896},"2018-02-17","How managed service providers can build stronger client relationships by shifting focus from equipment state to user experience and proactive monitoring.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fmutual-benefits-of-consultative-relationships-between-msp-and-business",{"title":6859,"description":6928},"mutual-benefits-of-consultative-relationships-between-msp-and-business","blog\u002Fmutual-benefits-of-consultative-relationships-between-msp-and-business",[6093,6935,6936,6937,6938],"user experience","optrend","consulting","sla","wri4N5E9R8KlG98VKOc8gagdgQV28spFltY6RmE5UpY",{"id":6941,"title":6743,"author":1086,"body":6942,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":6995,"description":6996,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":6969,"meta":6997,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":6998,"seo":6999,"slug":7000,"stem":7001,"tags":7002,"__hash__":7004},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopcharts-maximize-efficiency-with-scheduled-outages.md",{"type":9,"value":6943,"toc":6993},[6944,6947,6950,6957,6962,6965,6970,6973,6978,6981,6984,6986],[12,6945,6946],{},"Knowing what is on your network is equally as important as understanding how your network operates. An often overlooked component while gathering performance data is accounting for scheduled outages.",[12,6948,6949],{},"If scheduled outages are not accounted for, there can be negative effects on your reporting and your efficiency. Preparation can stop events from expected outages taking up valuable diagnostic time by engineers. Further, the performance metrics will look better while being more accurate.",[12,6951,6952,6953,6956],{},"Using ",[151,6954,1863],{"href":4912,"rel":6955},[2485],", scheduled outages can be planned and tracked. By leveraging the powerful tools at your disposal, you can view, display and warn about planned outages. This creates a historical record of start time, stop time and which user created the outage for review purposes. Communication between teams is increased by having a regular maintenance window that is agreed upon by all.",[12,6958,6959],{},[38,6960],{"alt":178,"src":6961},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fafter.png",[12,6963,6964],{},"To create or view existing scheduled outages select the Views drop-down menu and select Scheduled Outages.",[12,6966,6967],{},[38,6968],{"alt":178,"src":6969},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FNew-Outage-700.png",[12,6971,6972],{},"This will display a list of all the scheduled outages that are in the system. If you would like to add a new outage, simply click the New Outage button.",[12,6974,6975],{},[38,6976],{"alt":178,"src":6977},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FDescription-Change-ID-700.png",[12,6979,6980],{},"This will open a window to input a new Scheduled Outage.",[12,6982,6983],{},"Once these are filled in and saved there is a scheduled outage in place and you are one step closer to having the most reliable data.",[1166,6985],{},[12,6987,6988,3114,6990],{},[250,6989,2853],{},[151,6991,6683],{"href":6992},"\u002Fblog\u002Fmonitoring-business-services\u002F",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":6994},[],"2018-02-13","Plan and track scheduled outages with opCharts to improve reporting accuracy and reduce unnecessary diagnostic time.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopcharts-maximize-efficiency-with-scheduled-outages",{"title":6743,"description":6996},"opcharts-maximize-efficiency-with-scheduled-outages","blog\u002Fopcharts-maximize-efficiency-with-scheduled-outages",[6757,7003,6399,2887],"outage management","O56JJ8MOBSvteq9CIQIahrf2MPnep8lPdWF0oxI7GFQ",{"id":7006,"title":4665,"author":1086,"body":7007,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":7079,"description":7080,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":2878,"meta":7081,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":7082,"seo":7083,"slug":7084,"stem":7085,"tags":7086,"__hash__":7088},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fknowing-whats-on-your-network.md",{"type":9,"value":7008,"toc":7073},[7009,7013,7016,7020,7023,7026,7030,7033,7036,7040,7047,7050,7053,7056,7058,7062],[22,7010,7012],{"id":7011},"the-problem-with-manual-inventory","The Problem with Manual Inventory",[12,7014,7015],{},"The standards for many organizations are still in the proverbial \"dark ages\" when it comes to keeping track of what is on their network. As a support engineer with Opmantek, I speak with multiple engineers every day. It isn't unusual for me to hear that engineers at large, Fortune 500 companies are still using text documents, spreadsheets, and even sticky notes to manage their device inventories. The challenge with this is in how long the manual process takes. Manually updating records often leads to maintaining inventory records inconsistently, causing the information to be incorrect and outdated.",[22,7017,7019],{"id":7018},"how-open-audit-automates-discovery","How Open-AudIT Automates Discovery",[12,7021,7022],{},"Opmantek's Open-AudIT software delivers IT auditing and inventory management automation, as well as many other useful features. Keeping track of your organization's computers, printers, telephones, or any other network device is made easy with Open-AudIT. There are many ways to get information into Open-AudIT. One way is to simply enter your network's subnet(s) and valid credentials and watch Open-AudIT start to populate with your network information.",[12,7024,7025],{},"With this information you can keep track of and report on what software the devices have installed, warranty information, software licenses, hardware information, configuration changes, and much more. Open-AudIT monitors any changes made to your network, software updates, devices removed or added, and so on. This is accomplished by running scheduled scans of your network daily, weekly, or at any other interval you designate, then comparing the audit results over time to previous scan results.",[22,7027,7029],{"id":7028},"custom-fields-and-queries","Custom Fields and Queries",[12,7031,7032],{},"Customizable fields and queries allow you to keep track of any other information you feel is relevant to your organization. Open-AudIT comes preloaded with many queries out of the box. Device types, installed software, and hardware changes are a few of these. If a query is needed that is not pre-packaged, Open-AudIT allows you to create and customize queries to address any of your specific needs.",[12,7034,7035],{},"Quickly migrating from your current manual inventory and device management process is designed to be as automated as possible. Open-AudIT can import inventory information from various formats including XML, CSV, and others. For those still managing your inventory with spreadsheets and other files, this feature allows for the seamless implementation of your inventory records into Open-AudIT.",[22,7037,7039],{"id":7038},"available-editions","Available Editions",[12,7041,7042,7043,7046],{},"This software offers many more features than just what was discussed here, and did I mention you can even use the Community edition of Open-AudIT for free to get a feel for how it works? The Community edition gives you ",[151,7044,545],{"href":2521,"rel":7045},[2485],", Device and Software Auditing (including Device Port and Storage Appliances), Configuration Changes Detection and Reporting, Hardware Warranty Status, Inventory Management, and Custom Fields.",[12,7048,7049],{},"If you want to keep your network monitoring and inventory management system up to date along with having other useful features, you can upgrade from the Community edition to the Professional or Enterprise editions. With the Professional and Enterprise editions, you get Interactive Dashboards, Geographical Maps, Scheduling of Discoveries and Reports, and Enhanced Reports. These editions also come with commercial support to provide you with any assistance you may need in implementing and customizing Open-AudIT to your specific needs.",[12,7051,7052],{},"The Enterprise version is highly scalable for large organizations and includes additional features that improve and simplify administration. Enterprise also includes File Auditing, Baselines, and Configurable Role Based Access Control including Active Directory and LDAP support. More information on the different versions of Open-AudIT can be found on the Opmantek website.",[12,7054,7055],{},"Having all of your device and inventory information in one place while replacing most of the manual process behind maintaining that information can save countless hours. Custom fields and queries allow you to be in control of what information you want to collect, report on, and view. Configuration changes let you know when a device has been removed or added. I don't believe sticky notes or spreadsheets can do that. Make the switch to Open-AudIT and see how easy it is to know what is on your network.",[1166,7057],{},[12,7059,7060],{},[250,7061,2853],{},[116,7063,7064,7068],{},[119,7065,7066],{},[151,7067,505],{"href":2387},[119,7069,7070],{},[151,7071,3374],{"href":7072},"\u002Fblog\u002Ffinding-devices-with-custom-queries-in-open-audit\u002F",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":7074},[7075,7076,7077,7078],{"id":7011,"depth":179,"text":7012},{"id":7018,"depth":179,"text":7019},{"id":7028,"depth":179,"text":7029},{"id":7038,"depth":179,"text":7039},"2018-01-04","How Open-AudIT replaces manual inventory methods with automated device discovery, auditing, and configuration change tracking.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fknowing-whats-on-your-network",{"title":4665,"description":7080},"knowing-whats-on-your-network","blog\u002Fknowing-whats-on-your-network",[479,840,7087,1021],"inventory management","jXEHC3iDuhmtFSl-5_C7L9UUA0iNRY5CVob25Pl_Hwc",{"id":7090,"title":2438,"author":1086,"body":7091,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":7211,"description":7212,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":4522,"meta":7213,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":7214,"seo":7215,"slug":504,"stem":7216,"tags":7217,"__hash__":7218},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-open-audit.md",{"type":9,"value":7092,"toc":7202},[7093,7097,7100,7103,7107,7115,7118,7121,7124,7128,7131,7134,7137,7145,7148,7151,7154,7158,7161,7164,7168,7171,7173,7176,7179,7182,7185,7189,7191],[22,7094,7096],{"id":7095},"what-does-it-do","What does it do?",[12,7098,7099],{},"Open-AudIT is an application to tell you exactly what is on your network, how it is configured and when it changes.",[12,7101,7102],{},"Open-AudIT is designed to be run on a server (Windows or Linux) and to scan your networks for devices. Once a device is found, Open-AudIT runs a series of commands upon it and stores the resulting data in a database. This data is then available for various reporting purposes. Open-AudIT comes with a list of over 50 reports with any number of additional reports able to be created by the user.",[22,7104,7106],{"id":7105},"but-why","But Why?",[12,7108,7109,7110,7114],{},"Why would you want to go to the trouble (\"trouble\", hah, see ",[151,7111,7113],{"href":7112},"\u002Fblog\u002Finstalling-open-audit\u002F","the blog post"," about downloading, installing and discovering in under 10 minutes here) of keeping track of every device and its configuration? Well, here are some contrived examples…",[12,7116,7117],{},"Would you know if someone installed a bitcoin miner program on their desktop PC and left it running every night? With Open-AudIT, you would not only be alerted when this new software was found, but you would also know which user account installed it and exactly when.",[12,7119,7120],{},"What about if someone bought their laptop into the office and plugged in – would you know? That laptop could be a security nightmare and now it's sitting on your network. Open-AudIT will see this new device and the \"New Devices found in the last 7 days\" report will show you. The Dashboard in Professional and Enterprise will also populate its graph. You will know. Your network will be safer.",[12,7122,7123],{},"And then there's software licensing – that's a given. Naturally, Open-AudIT can report on exactly what software packages are installed. It's simple and easy to see if you have bought the required number of licenses.",[22,7125,7127],{"id":7126},"features","Features?",[12,7129,7130],{},"As a result of Open-AudIT storing the data about a device, it also recognizes and stores any changes affected upon a device. If software was added or removed, for example, Open-AudIT stores this and can report upon it. This is taken even further by the concept of a Baseline, which exists in Open-AudIT Enterprise. Baselines enable you to compare one device against another and report the differences.",[12,7132,7133],{},"Open-AudIT has an extensive role-based access control mechanism which allows administrator-level users to define the access rights of other application users. If you have multiple departments in your company and would like John from Finance to be able to view all assets, but not be able to change them, for example, this is simply and easily achievable. Open-AudIT can also leverage Active Directory and OpenLDAP for authentication and authorization.",[12,7135,7136],{},"In addition to the standard array of attributes retrieved, Open-AudIT can also be configured to retrieve and store the details of files and\u002For entire directories of files.",[12,7138,7139,7140,7144],{},"As a benefit of being open-source, users can add specific attributes for retrieval to the audit scripts. Opmantek is always open to including more attributes – all you need to ",[151,7141,7143],{"href":3907,"rel":7142},[2485],"do is ask!"," There is also the feature to be able to define \"custom fields\" which users can populate manually. If you need to store some piece of information about a device, Open-AudIT likely already does so, but if not, can be made to do so in a few mouse clicks.",[12,7146,7147],{},"Once you have the data, you can use the Restful JSON API to export it – or CSV, XML, HTML – whatever you like, because it's your data. The API supports the standard create, read, update and delete functions on all endpoints.",[12,7149,7150],{},"When Open-AudIT scans a network, it is called a \"Discovery\". Discoveries can be scheduled and hence automated. Set and forget. Along with automating discoveries, you can automate reports to be run and emailed to you on whatever schedule you choose. Why not send yourself a report containing all new devices found on your network in the last 7 days? This can be done in just a few mouse clicks.",[12,7152,7153],{},"The feature list is extensive and enables tracking of all IT assets, whether they be on your network or not. Need to record the details of a phone given to a user – not an issue. Open-AudIT can do that. What about the PC that's not physically connected to the network – Open-AudIT still has the ability to audit the machine and store the details. From their location, to how they're configured, to who is in the Administrators group, to when a piece of software was installed, to ensuring file changes (\u002Fetc\u002Fhtpasswd ?) are recorded. Open-AudIT can tell you exactly WHAT is on your network, HOW it is configured and WHEN it changes. Easily. Automatically. Simple.",[22,7155,7157],{"id":7156},"how-does-it-work","How does it work?",[12,7159,7160],{},"Open-AudIT works best when you supply a list of credentials that it then uses to query devices. Open-AudIT makes use of Nmap to scan a network and report any responding devices. These devices are then queried to determine their attributes. Even if you don't have the credentials for a device on your network, Open-AudIT will still have a record of it thanks to Nmap. If a device is found, working credentials determined and it is a 'computer', an \"audit script\" is copied to the device and run. The script gathers extensive information and sends it back to the Open-AudIT server. If the device is a switch, router, printer, etc and it has SNMP enabled and Open-AudIT has working credentials, its attributes will be queried using SNMP and no audit scripts will be used.",[12,7162,7163],{},"Once the data is in Open-AudIT, it is yours to query at will. The database structure is open and documented with examples to get you started (if one of the built-in 50 reports don't do just what you need).",[22,7165,7167],{"id":7166},"how-is-it-built","How is it built?",[12,7169,7170],{},"Open-AudIT Community is built using free and cross-platform tools such as PHP, MySQL, and Apache. In addition, Open-AudIT uses VBscript and Bash for its audit scripts. Both Professional and Enterprise use the same codebase with available features enabled by the license. Both Professional and Enterprise are compiled binary code with support offered to users by Opmantek.",[22,7172,636],{"id":4571},[12,7174,7175],{},"Open-AudIT started as a free software project. To this day it remains so. In recent years Opmantek Software has become the owners of the codebase and monetize this by creating add-ons in the form of Open-AudIT Professional and Open-AudIT Enterprise.",[12,7177,7178],{},"The original Open-AudIT is referred to as Open-AudIT Community.",[12,7180,7181],{},"Open-AudIT Community is the \"engine\" of Professional and Enterprise. It is Afferro GPL licensed and will always remain free software.",[12,7183,7184],{},"Open-AudIT Professional and Enterprise are commercial closed source programs, licensed by Opmantek to customers and users. Opmantek supply a free 20 device license to users. Professional and Enterprise build upon the foundation of Community and offer extra features and benefits. These can be seen in the table below.",[12,7186,7187],{},[38,7188],{"alt":178,"src":4522},[22,7190,3583],{"id":1170},[116,7192,7193,7198],{},[119,7194,7195],{},[151,7196,7197],{"href":7112},"Installing Open-AudIT",[119,7199,7200],{},[151,7201,6598],{"href":6597},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":7203},[7204,7205,7206,7207,7208,7209,7210],{"id":7095,"depth":179,"text":7096},{"id":7105,"depth":179,"text":7106},{"id":7126,"depth":179,"text":7127},{"id":7156,"depth":179,"text":7157},{"id":7166,"depth":179,"text":7167},{"id":4571,"depth":179,"text":636},{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":3583},"2017-12-19","An overview of Open-AudIT, what it does, how it works, its features, and the licensing tiers available from Community to Enterprise.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-open-audit",{"title":2438,"description":7212},"blog\u002Fwhat-is-open-audit",[479,840,2886],"2pYDhhIIkqJh2m2KLM_xqDLv6ZgsZpSgbJ5xMZbghRk",{"id":7220,"title":7221,"author":1086,"body":7222,"categories":187,"category":1385,"date":7343,"description":7344,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":4670,"meta":7345,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":7346,"seo":7347,"slug":7348,"stem":7349,"tags":7350,"__hash__":7354},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopmanteks-top-5-technology-deals-this-sales-season.md","Top 5 Technology Deals This Sales Season",{"type":9,"value":7223,"toc":7341},[7224,7227,7245,7254,7261,7270,7280,7289,7296,7305,7312,7321,7328,7331,7333],[12,7225,7226],{},"Cyber Monday is here and we are getting excited for some bargains!",[12,7228,7229,7230,7236,7237,7240,7241,7244],{},"While Opmantek are offering ",[151,7231,7233],{"href":2521,"rel":7232},[2485],[250,7234,7235],{},"25% off an Open-AudIT Professional 100 device subscription"," with the promo code '",[250,7238,7239],{},"CYBER17","' until ",[250,7242,7243],{},"5th December 2017",", we have also been trawling the internet for the best deals for technology products and services our small business customers will love. Here are our top 5:",[12,7246,7247],{},[250,7248,7249],{},[151,7250,7253],{"href":7251,"rel":7252},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.adobe.com\u002Fau\u002Fproducts\u002Fspecial-offers.html",[2485],"Adobe",[12,7255,7256,7257,7260],{},"Mirroring their sale from last year, Adobe has on offer a ",[250,7258,7259],{},"20% discount"," off a year's subscription to Creative Cloud. The offer is available via Adobe's website until 1st December 2017.",[12,7262,7263],{},[250,7264,7265],{},[151,7266,7269],{"href":7267,"rel":7268},"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.ciscopress.com\u002Fpromotions\u002Fblack-friday-cyber-monday-2017-141538",[2485],"CISCO",[12,7271,7272,7273,7276,7277],{},"CISCO are offering an online Black Friday and Cyber Monday deal ",[250,7274,7275],{},"buy 2, save 55%"," off the list price of books, eBooks, video training, practice tests, and simulators with promo code '",[250,7278,7279],{},"BF2017'.",[12,7281,7282],{},[250,7283,7284],{},[151,7285,7288],{"href":7286,"rel":7287},"http:\u002F\u002Fstore.vmware.com\u002Fstore\u002Fvmwaus\u002Fhome",[2485],"VMware",[12,7290,7291,7292,7295],{},"VMware have up to ",[250,7293,7294],{},"25% discount"," on a number of their virtualization products as well as their training and certification programs designed to grow skills so you can exploit the opportunities made possible by VMware technology.",[12,7297,7298],{},[250,7299,7300],{},[151,7301,7304],{"href":7302,"rel":7303},"https:\u002F\u002Fenvato.com\u002F",[2485],"Envato Marketplace",[12,7306,7307,7308,7311],{},"Envato Marketplace are offering ",[250,7309,7310],{},"50% off 500 of their digital assets",", templates and files. If you are looking to replace your old WordPress theme, rebrand some documents or purchase stock videos and images for your marketing stash, check it out!",[12,7313,7314],{},[250,7315,7316],{},[151,7317,7320],{"href":7318,"rel":7319},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.udemy.com\u002F",[2485],"Udemy",[12,7322,7323,7324,7327],{},"Lastly, learn a new skill with massive savings on all online courses until tomorrow night. Get your IT team up to speed with NMIS core with ",[250,7325,7326],{},"basic courses in Perl starting from $15"," and loads of other development, marketing and business courses available.",[12,7329,7330],{},"Happy shopping!",[1166,7332],{},[12,7334,7335,3114,7337],{},[250,7336,2853],{},[151,7338,7340],{"href":7339},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-enterprise-license-changes-for-the-better\u002F","Open-AudIT Enterprise License Changes for the Better",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":7342},[],"2017-11-27","Our picks for the best Cyber Monday 2017 technology deals for small business customers, from Adobe to CISCO to Udemy.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopmanteks-top-5-technology-deals-this-sales-season",{"title":7221,"description":7344},"opmanteks-top-5-technology-deals-this-sales-season","blog\u002Fopmanteks-top-5-technology-deals-this-sales-season",[7351,7352,7353],"deals","cyber monday","small business","cCfvwfCmx3nJ8oUQFKWVWZEmz3s3I-qMNfd3XCOi0Mw",{"id":7356,"title":5854,"author":1086,"body":7357,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":7428,"description":7429,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":2878,"meta":7430,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":7431,"seo":7432,"slug":7433,"stem":7434,"tags":7435,"__hash__":7437},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fthree-reports-you-should-run-every-week-in-open-audit.md",{"type":9,"value":7358,"toc":7420},[7359,7363,7366,7369,7372,7375,7378,7382,7385,7389,7392,7396,7403,7406,7408],[22,7360,7362],{"id":7361},"introduction","Introduction",[12,7364,7365],{},"Open-AudIT provides many useful reports about your network, the devices that exist on it and many other items.",[12,7367,7368],{},"Three quick and easy reports that will provide you with an invaluable insight to your network are: Daily Discovered Devices, Daily Discovered Software, and Devices Not Seen.",[12,7370,7371],{},"You can schedule these to run each week and to email you the report for the previous week's items. This simple action will give you an essential view of what's happening with devices on your network. All automated. Set and forget. Easy.",[12,7373,7374],{},"We have a quick video showing these reports, here:",[2806,7376],{"title":2808,"src":7377,"width":2810,"height":2811,"frameBorder":2812,"allowFullScreen":195},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FXhE5P3_wsYY",[22,7379,7381],{"id":7380},"daily-discovered-devices","Daily Discovered Devices",[12,7383,7384],{},"When you run this report you will see a list of the devices discovered each day. You will also see any devices that are \"unknown\". These might be devices you do not have credentials to access or devices that do not respond to the normal discovery tests. This is a very quick and easy way to discover any unauthorized devices that have been plugged in.",[22,7386,7388],{"id":7387},"daily-discovered-software","Daily Discovered Software",[12,7390,7391],{},"Now you can easily see if new software has been installed. Was it authorized? Is it on the list of allowed software? Who installed it? When? Easily get a report each week that you can quickly skim through and know what's happening.",[22,7393,7395],{"id":7394},"devices-not-seen","Devices Not Seen",[12,7397,7398,7399,7402],{},"How would you know if a device has ",[2526,7400,7401],{},"not"," been on your network for an extended amount of time? Because Open-AudIT records when it has seen devices, calculating how long since it has seen a device is easy. You might expect to not see a salesman's laptop for a couple of weeks, but what about a couple of months? What about a desktop, why would it not have been seen? With this report, you can quickly get to the bottom of missing devices, including even who is responsible for the device in question. Quick. Simple. Easy.",[12,7404,7405],{},"Simply scheduling these three simple reports will provide you much more visibility on your network, and will even make your network safer!",[240,7407,3583],{"id":1170},[116,7409,7410,7416],{},[119,7411,7412],{},[151,7413,7415],{"href":7414},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-quickly-determine-user-rights-for-a-device\u002F","How to Quickly Determine User Rights for a Device",[119,7417,7418],{},[151,7419,5796],{"href":5600},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":7421},[7422,7423,7424,7425],{"id":7361,"depth":179,"text":7362},{"id":7380,"depth":179,"text":7381},{"id":7387,"depth":179,"text":7388},{"id":7394,"depth":179,"text":7395,"children":7426},[7427],{"id":1170,"depth":449,"text":3583},"2017-10-23","Automate three essential weekly reports in Open-AudIT, Daily Discovered Devices, Daily Discovered Software, and Devices Not Seen, for better network visibility.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthree-reports-you-should-run-every-week-in-open-audit",{"title":5854,"description":7429},"three-reports-you-should-run-every-week-in-open-audit","blog\u002Fthree-reports-you-should-run-every-week-in-open-audit",[479,7436,1021,2887],"reports","EPsDiOBdD2NJN3aSCtuL541tnsqMVV-8uvAALLg6COs",{"id":7439,"title":3591,"author":1086,"body":7440,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":7670,"description":7671,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3506,"meta":7672,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":7673,"seo":7674,"slug":7675,"stem":7676,"tags":7677,"__hash__":7679},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fcustom-fields-in-open-audit.md",{"type":9,"value":7441,"toc":7663},[7442,7444,7447,7450,7453,7457,7461,7464,7468,7474,7477,7480,7484,7490,7493,7496,7499,7507,7510,7513,7572,7575,7652,7654,7660],[22,7443,7362],{"id":7361},[12,7445,7446],{},"Adding fields that are specific to your requirements is an extremely simple process with Open-AudIT. You can then populate these fields with whatever data you would like recorded. Asset Numbers, Cost Codes, specific attributes, etc.",[12,7448,7449],{},"Fields can be one of two types. A freeform text field or a selectable list of values. A log is kept of any changes to a field – when it was changed, what it previously was and who changed it.",[12,7451,7452],{},"We have a quick video showing this process, here:",[2806,7454],{"width":2810,"height":2811,"src":7455,"title":2808,"frameBorder":2812,"allow":7456,"allowFullScreen":195},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002F_r8B9FiEAnk","accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture",[22,7458,7460],{"id":7459},"community-requests","Community Requests",[12,7462,7463],{},"As always, if you have a field that is not already in Open-AudIT and you think would be useful to the community at large, please do send us your idea. We're only too happy to incorporate new fields into Open-AudIT when the community requests them.",[22,7465,7467],{"id":7466},"the-gui","The GUI",[12,7469,7470],{},[38,7471],{"alt":7472,"src":7473},"Open-AudIT GUI feature view","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-features1.png",[12,7475,7476],{},"Creating a field is simply a matter of menu -> Manage -> Fields -> Create Fields. Provide it with a name (as a minimum) and you're done. Easy! Now the field will appear on the Device Details pages.",[12,7478,7479],{},"You can change the type to either a text field or a list of predefined values.",[22,7481,7483],{"id":7482},"the-api","The API",[12,7485,7486],{},[38,7487],{"alt":7488,"src":7489},"Open-AudIT admin user management screen","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FUser-Admin-Open-AudIT-650.png",[12,7491,7492],{},"As with all collections within Open-AudIT, fields are also accessible via the JSON API. Simply send a GET request to \u002Ffields for a list. The standard POST, DELETE and PATCH requests also work as expected.",[12,7494,7495],{},"More specific details are available on the Open-AudIT wiki, Fields.",[12,7497,7498],{},"Updating the value of a device's custom field is also available via the API. Send a PATCH to \u002Fdevices\u002F{id} with a JSON formatted, URL encoded payload of data.",[3424,7500,7505],{"className":7501,"code":7503,"language":7504},[7502],"language-text","data=%7B%22data%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%221%22%2C%22type%22%3A%22devices%22%2C%22attributes\n%22%3A%7B%22My+select+field%22%3A%226%22%7D%7D%7D\n","text",[2694,7506,7503],{"__ignoreMap":178},[12,7508,7509],{},"An example of the JSON formatted, URL encoded data payload is below. In this instance, we are changing the value of \"My select field\" for device #1.",[12,7511,7512],{},"When it's not URL encoded, it looks thus:",[3424,7514,7518],{"className":7515,"code":7516,"language":7517,"meta":178,"style":178},"language-json shiki shiki-themes github-light github-dark","{\"data\":{\"id\":\"1\",\"type\":\"devices\",\"attributes\":{\"My select field\":\"6\"}}}\n","json",[2694,7519,7520],{"__ignoreMap":178},[3432,7521,7522,7526,7530,7533,7536,7539,7543,7546,7549,7551,7554,7556,7559,7561,7564,7566,7569],{"class":3434,"line":3435},[3432,7523,7525],{"class":7524},"sVt8B","{",[3432,7527,7529],{"class":7528},"sj4cs","\"data\"",[3432,7531,7532],{"class":7524},":{",[3432,7534,7535],{"class":7528},"\"id\"",[3432,7537,7538],{"class":7524},":",[3432,7540,7542],{"class":7541},"sZZnC","\"1\"",[3432,7544,7545],{"class":7524},",",[3432,7547,7548],{"class":7528},"\"type\"",[3432,7550,7538],{"class":7524},[3432,7552,7553],{"class":7541},"\"devices\"",[3432,7555,7545],{"class":7524},[3432,7557,7558],{"class":7528},"\"attributes\"",[3432,7560,7532],{"class":7524},[3432,7562,7563],{"class":7528},"\"My select field\"",[3432,7565,7538],{"class":7524},[3432,7567,7568],{"class":7541},"\"6\"",[3432,7570,7571],{"class":7524},"}}}\n",[12,7573,7574],{},"And nicely formatted for human consumption, it looks thus:",[3424,7576,7578],{"className":7515,"code":7577,"language":7517,"meta":178,"style":178},"{\n    \"data\": {\n        \"id\": \"1\",\n        \"type\": \"devices\",\n        \"attributes\": {\n            \"My select field\": \"6\"\n        }\n    }\n}\n",[2694,7579,7580,7585,7593,7606,7617,7624,7634,7640,7646],{"__ignoreMap":178},[3432,7581,7582],{"class":3434,"line":3435},[3432,7583,7584],{"class":7524},"{\n",[3432,7586,7587,7590],{"class":3434,"line":179},[3432,7588,7589],{"class":7528},"    \"data\"",[3432,7591,7592],{"class":7524},": {\n",[3432,7594,7595,7598,7601,7603],{"class":3434,"line":449},[3432,7596,7597],{"class":7528},"        \"id\"",[3432,7599,7600],{"class":7524},": ",[3432,7602,7542],{"class":7541},[3432,7604,7605],{"class":7524},",\n",[3432,7607,7608,7611,7613,7615],{"class":3434,"line":3533},[3432,7609,7610],{"class":7528},"        \"type\"",[3432,7612,7600],{"class":7524},[3432,7614,7553],{"class":7541},[3432,7616,7605],{"class":7524},[3432,7618,7619,7622],{"class":3434,"line":3538},[3432,7620,7621],{"class":7528},"        \"attributes\"",[3432,7623,7592],{"class":7524},[3432,7625,7626,7629,7631],{"class":3434,"line":3544},[3432,7627,7628],{"class":7528},"            \"My select field\"",[3432,7630,7600],{"class":7524},[3432,7632,7633],{"class":7541},"\"6\"\n",[3432,7635,7637],{"class":3434,"line":7636},7,[3432,7638,7639],{"class":7524},"        }\n",[3432,7641,7643],{"class":3434,"line":7642},8,[3432,7644,7645],{"class":7524},"    }\n",[3432,7647,7649],{"class":3434,"line":7648},9,[3432,7650,7651],{"class":7524},"}\n",[22,7653,3583],{"id":1170},[116,7655,7656],{},[119,7657,7658],{},[151,7659,3374],{"href":7072},[3593,7661,7662],{},"html pre.shiki code .sVt8B, html code.shiki .sVt8B{--shiki-default:#24292E;--shiki-dark:#E1E4E8}html pre.shiki code .sj4cs, html code.shiki .sj4cs{--shiki-default:#005CC5;--shiki-dark:#79B8FF}html pre.shiki code .sZZnC, html code.shiki .sZZnC{--shiki-default:#032F62;--shiki-dark:#9ECBFF}html .default .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-default);background: var(--shiki-default-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-default-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-default-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-default-text-decoration);}html .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-default);background: var(--shiki-default-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-default-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-default-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-default-text-decoration);}html .dark .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-dark);background: var(--shiki-dark-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-dark-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-dark-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-dark-text-decoration);}html.dark .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-dark);background: var(--shiki-dark-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-dark-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-dark-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-dark-text-decoration);}",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":7664},[7665,7666,7667,7668,7669],{"id":7361,"depth":179,"text":7362},{"id":7459,"depth":179,"text":7460},{"id":7466,"depth":179,"text":7467},{"id":7482,"depth":179,"text":7483},{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":3583},"2017-10-06","How to create and manage custom fields in Open-AudIT to store additional device attributes like asset numbers, cost codes, and more.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcustom-fields-in-open-audit",{"title":3591,"description":7671},"custom-fields-in-open-audit","blog\u002Fcustom-fields-in-open-audit",[479,7678,6092,2887],"custom fields","axusMhMD60li1BoU7_j4XeESjpt9zDjCVpcErn-OSIY",{"id":7681,"title":4740,"author":1086,"body":7682,"categories":187,"category":463,"date":7721,"description":7722,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":1141,"meta":7723,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":7724,"seo":7725,"slug":7726,"stem":7727,"tags":7728,"__hash__":7729},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fconfiguration-and-compliance-automation.md",{"type":9,"value":7683,"toc":7719},[7684,7687,7690,7693,7698,7701,7707,7709],[12,7685,7686],{},"Gartner have just released their 2017 Market Guide for Network Automation with Opmantek featured for the second year in a row.",[12,7688,7689],{},"The annual market review assesses sentiment and trends as well as key developments in the platforms and tools that automate the maintenance of virtual and physical network device configurations, providing an opportunity to lower costs, reduce human error and improve compliance with configuration policies.",[12,7691,7692],{},"opConfig and Open-AudIT have long been regarded as some of the most powerful, easy-to-use products on the market. Check out the video below on automated configuration comparisons to see one of the many ways that you can use opConfig to reduce manual network tasks.",[12,7694,7695],{},[38,7696],{"alt":7697,"src":5548},"opConfig configuration changes view",[2806,7699],{"width":2810,"height":2811,"src":7700,"title":2808,"frameBorder":2812,"allow":7456,"allowFullScreen":195},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FueoDRG5E8Ao",[12,7702,7703],{},[38,7704],{"alt":7705,"src":7706},"opConfig run command interface","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopConfig-Run-Command-700.png",[1166,7708],{},[12,7710,7711,3114,7713,7716,7717],{},[250,7712,2853],{},[151,7714,6256],{"href":7715},"\u002Fblog\u002Fusing-compliance-management-as-a-task-sheet\u002F"," | ",[151,7718,5479],{"href":5478},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":7720},[],"2017-05-02","opConfig and Open-AudIT featured in Gartner's 2017 Market Guide for Network Automation, see automated configuration comparisons in action.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fconfiguration-and-compliance-automation",{"title":4740,"description":7722},"configuration-and-compliance-automation","blog\u002Fconfiguration-and-compliance-automation",[6328,479,1021,472,4994],"vtCVHqEQ4x3wa5Q5ZDzqhHxxhL6iyUv2B97tEgRTyQo",{"id":7731,"title":7415,"author":1086,"body":7732,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":7767,"description":7768,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":7489,"meta":7769,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":7770,"seo":7771,"slug":7772,"stem":7773,"tags":7774,"__hash__":7776},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-quickly-determine-user-rights-for-a-device.md",{"type":9,"value":7733,"toc":7764},[7734,7737,7740,7743,7746,7749,7752,7756,7758],[12,7735,7736],{},"Who has Administrator level access on your computers?",[12,7738,7739],{},"Would you know if someone was added to the Local Administrators (or root \u002F sudo) group on a computer?",[12,7741,7742],{},"You can use Open-AudIT to quickly determine if the required users have administrator access to your devices and conversely, easily determine users who have local administrator access when they should not.",[12,7744,7745],{},"Open-AudIT has a built-in query to easily show you the user access on each of your devices.",[12,7747,7748],{},"Information is presented in an easily readable table format that is exportable to CSV (Excel), HTML, XML and JSON formats.",[12,7750,7751],{},"To enable the query go to menu -> Admin -> Queries -> Activate Query. You will see a list of available queries. Click the 'tick' icon on the right side to activate the \"Local Administrators\" query and make it appear in your menus.",[12,7753,7754],{},[38,7755],{"alt":178,"src":7489},[240,7757,3583],{"id":1170},[116,7759,7760],{},[119,7761,7762],{},[151,7763,5854],{"href":5853},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":7765},[7766],{"id":1170,"depth":449,"text":3583},"2016-07-25","Use Open-AudIT's built-in query to quickly identify which users have administrator access on your devices.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-quickly-determine-user-rights-for-a-device",{"title":7415,"description":7768},"how-to-quickly-determine-user-rights-for-a-device","blog\u002Fhow-to-quickly-determine-user-rights-for-a-device",[479,7775,3612,1325],"user rights","Oot59cgq1huTI3pNQ-A_8F5Wx3IjWLETGlUIGMVCmo4",{"id":7778,"title":2393,"author":1086,"body":7779,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":7817,"description":7818,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":2878,"meta":7819,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":7820,"seo":7821,"slug":7822,"stem":7823,"tags":7824,"__hash__":7825},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fsimple-device-discovery-using-open-audit.md",{"type":9,"value":7780,"toc":7814},[7781,7784,7787,7790,7793,7796,7799,7802,7804],[12,7782,7783],{},"Open-AudIT will discover any device on your network.",[12,7785,7786],{},"Using the correct credentials will allow Open-AudIT to retrieve a great deal of information about any given device via SNMP, SSH or WMI.",[12,7788,7789],{},"Windows, Linux, OSX, AIX and VMware have specific audit scripts that can be run against the target device and will do so automatically as part of discovery.",[12,7791,7792],{},"Other network devices that respond to SNMP can have their most important attributes retrieved.",[12,7794,7795],{},"When running a Discovery session you can automatically assign any detected devices to a location and\u002For organization.",[12,7797,7798],{},"Check out the video below to see how quickly you can see exactly what is connected to your network, if it's connected, Open-AudIT will find it!",[2806,7800],{"width":2810,"height":2811,"src":7801,"title":2808,"frameBorder":2812,"allow":7456,"allowFullScreen":195},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002F0LCgTtD1kIs",[240,7803,3583],{"id":1170},[116,7805,7806,7810],{},[119,7807,7808],{},[151,7809,7197],{"href":7112},[119,7811,7812],{},[151,7813,505],{"href":2387},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":7815},[7816],{"id":1170,"depth":449,"text":3583},"2016-07-06","See how quickly Open-AudIT can discover every device on your network, if it's connected, Open-AudIT will find it.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fsimple-device-discovery-using-open-audit",{"title":2393,"description":7818},"simple-device-discovery-using-open-audit","blog\u002Fsimple-device-discovery-using-open-audit",[479,840,2886],"3h3uQXf2arIfATQabcc2jsmYDgRFvuqp4JB654ij43I",{"id":7827,"title":7828,"author":1086,"body":7829,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":7884,"description":7885,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":3506,"meta":7886,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":7887,"seo":7888,"slug":7889,"stem":7890,"tags":7891,"__hash__":7893},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fauditing-web-servers-with-open-audit.md","Auditing Web Servers with Open-AudIT",{"type":9,"value":7830,"toc":7882},[7831,7834,7837,7840,7842,7845,7851,7854,7859,7867,7872,7874],[12,7832,7833],{},"Do you know how many websites are running in your organisation?",[12,7835,7836],{},"You might be surprised to see the number, not only of actual web servers -- but also the number of sites those web servers are serving.",[12,7838,7839],{},"Open-AudIT has a built-in query to easily show you the websites (even those not running) in your organisation.",[12,7841,7748],{},[12,7843,7844],{},"For each website you will see the name, OS and environment of the computer running it, the web server name and the site's name, description, status, instance log status, log format, log rotation policy and directory.",[12,7846,7847],{},[38,7848],{"alt":7849,"src":7850},"Open-AudIT software inventory feature view","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpen-AudIT-features3.png",[12,7852,7853],{},"To enable the query go to menu -> Admin -> Queries -> Activate Query. You will see a list of available queries. Click the 'tick' icon on the right side to activate the \"Web Sites\" query and make it appear in your menus.",[12,7855,7856],{},[38,7857],{"alt":178,"src":7858},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FAudit-Servers-700.png",[2477,7860,7861],{},[12,7862,7863,7866],{},[250,7864,7865],{},"Note:"," Open-AudIT retrieves the most information from IIS-based servers, but Apache servers on Linux are also supported.",[12,7868,7869],{},[38,7870],{"alt":7871,"src":5213},"Open-AudIT dashboards for navigating audit results",[1166,7873],{},[12,7875,7876,3114,7878],{},[250,7877,2853],{},[151,7879,7881],{"href":7880},"\u002Fblog\u002Fantivirus-program-auditing-with-open-audit\u002F","Antivirus Program Auditing with Open-AudIT",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":7883},[],"2016-06-21","Discover and audit all web servers and websites running in your organisation using Open-AudIT's built-in query.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fauditing-web-servers-with-open-audit",{"title":7828,"description":7885},"auditing-web-servers-with-open-audit","blog\u002Fauditing-web-servers-with-open-audit",[479,7892,2417,2887],"web servers","dpUw7sDqwCl7Gh0zmhS09cbaFZtGRIfMcckF9eREC8I",{"id":7895,"title":7881,"author":1086,"body":7896,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":7952,"description":7953,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":7954,"meta":7955,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":7956,"seo":7957,"slug":7958,"stem":7959,"tags":7960,"__hash__":7962},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fantivirus-program-auditing-with-open-audit.md",{"type":9,"value":7897,"toc":7949},[7898,7901,7904,7907,7909,7914,7917,7920,7923,7926,7929,7934,7940,7942],[12,7899,7900],{},"Your AntiVirus console should tell you which PCs have their AntiVirus software installed. But will it tell you which PCs don't have their AntiVirus software installed? What about your servers that live in a DMZ or another disconnected network? What about AntiVirus software from another vendor?",[12,7902,7903],{},"Because Open-AudIT captures the programs installed on a PC, Open-AudIT can report on specific installed programs very easily.",[12,7905,7906],{},"Open-AudIT contains a query for installed antivirus software which will tell you not only which PCs have which AntiVirus software installed, but also those without AntiVirus software installed.",[12,7908,7748],{},[12,7910,7911],{},[38,7912],{"alt":7913,"src":3605},"Open-AudIT all devices listing for export",[12,7915,7916],{},"This is a very simple query and can easily be extended by the user to add additional software names when checking (if your antivirus software name doesn't match the default names provided).",[12,7918,7919],{},"To enable the query go to menu -> Admin -> Queries -> Activate Query. You will see a list of available queries. Click the 'tick' icon on the right side to activate the \"Installed AntiVirus\" query and make it appear in your menus.",[12,7921,7922],{},"Now go back to the homepage and click on the name of a group.",[12,7924,7925],{},"Once you see that group of devices, click menu -> Queries -> Installed – AntiVirus.",[12,7927,7928],{},"Done. How easy was that!",[12,7930,7931],{},[38,7932],{"alt":178,"src":7933},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FAnti-Virus-Audit-700.png",[12,7935,7936],{},[38,7937],{"alt":7938,"src":7939},"Open-AudIT modern Windows security dashboard with antivirus status","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-windows-security-dashboard.png",[240,7941,3583],{"id":1170},[116,7943,7944],{},[119,7945,7946],{},[151,7947,7828],{"href":7948},"\u002Fblog\u002Fauditing-web-servers-with-open-audit\u002F",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":7950},[7951],{"id":1170,"depth":449,"text":3583},"2016-06-02","Use Open-AudIT to audit antivirus software across your network, find which PCs have it installed and which don't.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-windows-security.png",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fantivirus-program-auditing-with-open-audit",{"title":7881,"description":7953},"antivirus-program-auditing-with-open-audit","blog\u002Fantivirus-program-auditing-with-open-audit",[479,7961,2417,1325],"antivirus","hQe3sJ4MqJtTtQ7ZYpnf0H3MI-qRgfFYbqJv556BP3c",{"id":7964,"title":7965,"author":1086,"body":7966,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":8060,"description":8061,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":8008,"meta":8062,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":8063,"seo":8064,"slug":8065,"stem":8066,"tags":8067,"__hash__":8069},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fbusiness-services-redefining-multi-tenancy.md","Business Services: Redefining Multi-Tenancy",{"type":9,"value":7967,"toc":8054},[7968,7976,7980,7983,7987,7990,7993,7997,8000,8003,8009,8012,8018,8022,8028,8033,8040,8043,8046,8048],[12,7969,7970,7971,7975],{},"Over the last decade or so, I have worked with many organisations and while all of them are different, they have many things in common. One thing organisations have in common is the need for more flexibility in the authentication system to give them the ability to provide access to resources being managed by the people who need to see them. This needs to include the ability to view individual resources, like interfaces and chart data, which are defined at a lower level than the operating system (e.g. a node). It needs to be possible to permit users of the ",[151,7972,7974],{"href":4897,"rel":7973},[2485],"network management system"," access to more specific data from almost arbitrary objects.",[22,7977,7979],{"id":7978},"a-new-approach-to-authorisation","A New Approach to Authorisation",[12,7981,7982],{},"Over the last few months, FirstWave has been working on an alternate authorisation system which will permit our customers to be able to define views of what is being managed so that they can permit their customers to see information that they might not ordinarily be able to see without giving them access to view an entire node.",[22,7984,7986],{"id":7985},"service-provider-use-case","Service Provider Use Case",[12,7988,7989],{},"A simple example of the benefits of this capability would be for service providers who have shared equipment, where multiple customers are using one or more interfaces from one or more switches. This might be a metropolitan area network, with switches in the basements of buildings and each customer uses one or more interfaces.",[12,7991,7992],{},"With our new multi-tenancy authorisation, roles are created for each customer and the associated user names, then several business service views are created by selecting the interfaces of one or more switches and adding them to a business services view for the customer. When the customer logs in, they have access to see the business services view and all of the associated interfaces. They are then able to drill into the interface to see the statistics.",[22,7994,7996],{"id":7995},"third-party-vendor-access","Third-Party Vendor Access",[12,7998,7999],{},"Another good example of this might be an IT services company which provides general IT services to businesses, along with network and server management. Amongst the equipment being managed are some telephones and the related network interfaces. A partner of the IT services company assists with the management of the phone systems and requires the ability to see switch ports which the phones connect to. With traditional authorisation schemes the telephony engineers would require logins giving them permission to see the entire switch, including interfaces for things not related to their duties.",[12,8001,8002],{},"With the new multi-tenancy authorisation, a business services view can be created and the required telephony interfaces added to that view. When the telephony engineer logs into the system, they will only see the interface information they need to keep an eye on the telephony system.",[12,8004,8005],{},[38,8006],{"alt":8007,"src":8008},"opCharts Business Services view","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopCharts-Business-Services-1-View-700.png",[12,8010,8011],{},"As an option, the ability to display summary node information in business services views is also available, allowing key operational summary information to be shared without providing access to the full device. When clicking on an interface name, it is possible to see the detailed graph of the interface.",[12,8013,8014],{},[38,8015],{"alt":8016,"src":8017},"opCharts Business Services interface detail","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopCharts-Business-Services-2-Interface-View-700.png",[22,8019,8021],{"id":8020},"extending-to-charts-and-maps","Extending to Charts and Maps",[12,8023,8024],{},[38,8025],{"alt":8026,"src":8027},"opCharts map locations view for multi-tenant access","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FopCharts-Map-Locations-700.png",[12,8029,8030],{},[38,8031],{"alt":8032,"src":5204},"opCharts dashboard home page",[12,8034,8035,8036,8039],{},"While providing this is already very powerful, we felt that providing more detailed access would also be beneficial, so we have extended this capability to the charts and maps in ",[151,8037,1863],{"href":4912,"rel":8038},[2485],". This means that you can create a chart including, for example, the CPU load of several devices, and then permit the customer to view that chart. The same applies to maps.",[12,8041,8042],{},"Going forward, FirstWave will expand this capability significantly to include more granularity in the authorisation and more resources available to be permitted. We will also work to simplify administration of the system wherever possible.",[12,8044,8045],{},"We are very excited by being able to take authorisation to a new level of flexibility and simplicity, enabling our customers to in turn be more flexible with their customers and manage third-party vendor access more diligently.",[1166,8047],{},[12,8049,8050,3114,8052],{},[250,8051,2853],{},[151,8053,6683],{"href":6992},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":8055},[8056,8057,8058,8059],{"id":7978,"depth":179,"text":7979},{"id":7985,"depth":179,"text":7986},{"id":7995,"depth":179,"text":7996},{"id":8020,"depth":179,"text":8021},"2016-05-18","How FirstWave's new multi-tenancy authorisation system enables granular, interface-level access control for service providers and their customers.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fbusiness-services-redefining-multi-tenancy",{"title":7965,"description":8061},"business-services-redefining-multi-tenancy","blog\u002Fbusiness-services-redefining-multi-tenancy",[8068,6757,1363,3135,6090],"multi-tenancy","Ab0z0WbiFWuM1jlR0brNyrZpshbc041GLLZMzxeHpsI",{"id":8071,"title":8072,"author":1086,"body":8073,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":8060,"description":8145,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":8117,"meta":8146,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":8147,"seo":8148,"slug":8149,"stem":8150,"tags":8151,"__hash__":8154},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fsystem-automation-through-integration.md","System Automation Through Integration",{"type":9,"value":8074,"toc":8139},[8075,8078,8085,8089,8092,8095,8099,8102,8105,8109,8112,8118,8122,8125,8128,8131,8133],[12,8076,8077],{},"I have the pleasure of working with dozens of engineers every month from companies all over North America. No matter the type of business they work for I have found they all have one thing in common -- they're all trying to maintain larger and more complex networks with a smaller team of staff.",[12,8079,8080,8084],{},[151,8081,8083],{"href":4897,"rel":8082},[2485],"Network management systems"," strive to automate the user experience, from the implementation of complex scheduling systems to the use of heuristics engines to assist with event handling. The one piece that is often missing is the maintenance of the monitoring solution itself. Recently Opmantek had the opportunity to address this issue head-on. What we did, how it works, and the results we achieved are the subject of this article.",[22,8086,8088],{"id":8087},"the-challenge","The Challenge",[12,8090,8091],{},"Like many North American businesses, our client, a large multinational corporation, had grown over the years through several mergers and acquisitions. Their infrastructure management consisted of several disparate platforms from more than a dozen vendors.",[12,8093,8094],{},"Our implementation services include a series of up-front workshops designed to elicit information and feedback from all levels; engineer to upper management. When we conducted these investigative meetings we discovered many challenges and pain points specifically to our client's business. We also learned that they had Service Now -- a configuration management database (CMDB) -- that was being used as the company's single source of truth for all equipment inventory. This gave us an idea...",[22,8096,8098],{"id":8097},"the-integration","The Integration",[12,8100,8101],{},"Service Now, like most modern CMDB systems, includes a very robust application programming interface (API). Using this API we were easily able to create an integration which would pull a list of active devices, compare them to the devices currently being monitored, and reconcile the list by adding new devices, updating existing devices, and even retiring devices from monitoring when they were marked as out of service.",[12,8103,8104],{},"Our architectural solution for this client included a series of geographically diverse polling engines all rolling-up to a series of redundant primary servers. Each layer offering multiple methods of redundancy and failover. Our integration with Service Now accounted for this, automating the assignment of devices to polling engines geographically, even supporting devices with different service levels; some need 1 or 2 assigned polling engines.",[22,8106,8108],{"id":8107},"expanding-the-solution","Expanding the Solution",[12,8110,8111],{},"To further enhance the system, we also automated the assignment of devices to opConfig, our Configuration and Compliance Management solution and opEvents, our intelligent event management system which provides event correlation, deduplication, and action automation. These solutions were then complemented by the addition of opTrend, which expands on Opmantek's already expansive thresholding and alerting system by implementing a highly flexible Statistical Exception Detection System (SEDS), Igor Trubin's methodology, that learns what's normal behavior on the client's network and adjusts thresholding dynamically based on historical usage for every hour of each day of the week.",[12,8113,8114],{},[38,8115],{"alt":8116,"src":8117},"ServiceNow integration architecture diagram","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FServiceNowDiagram.jpeg",[22,8119,8121],{"id":8120},"results-and-next-steps","Results and Next Steps",[12,8123,8124],{},"Our Phase 1 implementation focused on network devices and has allowed the client to consolidate their monitoring platform to a single Opmantek based solution, decommissioning several other systems. In our next Phase, we will be automating the monitoring of their expansive server network. This effort will continue to leverage the information in Service Now, allowing us to monitor services and applications, generate synthetic transactions to exercise each application tier, and continue to expand their view across the enterprise through a single pane of glass.",[12,8126,8127],{},"The last piece of this puzzle was the addition of Service Assurance and Monitoring. This provides an additional layer of support through monthly server checks, software upgrades, and 24\u002F7 monitoring of the monitoring solution. With these solutions in place the client needn't worry that they will miss an event because their monitoring solution wasn't up-to-date or worse, wasn't functioning as designed.",[12,8129,8130],{},"In all, Opmantek's integrated solution has now removed the maintenance needed to maintain most network monitoring systems, ensured all devices are properly monitored to the correct SLA and delivered an enterprise-class solution through a single pane of glass.",[1166,8132],{},[12,8134,8135,3114,8137],{},[250,8136,2853],{},[151,8138,5479],{"href":5478},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":8140},[8141,8142,8143,8144],{"id":8087,"depth":179,"text":8088},{"id":8097,"depth":179,"text":8098},{"id":8107,"depth":179,"text":8108},{"id":8120,"depth":179,"text":8121},"A case study in automating network monitoring maintenance through ServiceNow CMDB integration with Opmantek's NMIS platform.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fsystem-automation-through-integration",{"title":8072,"description":8145},"system-automation-through-integration","blog\u002Fsystem-automation-through-integration",[1363,1021,8152,8153,4640],"integration","servicenow","zS58apTY5lGjcKNUmwR_kEMGoR9_qWmCgt10hG-yeUg",{"id":8156,"title":2996,"author":1086,"body":8157,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":8201,"description":8202,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":8166,"meta":8203,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":8204,"seo":8205,"slug":8206,"stem":8207,"tags":8208,"__hash__":8211},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fimprove-mean-time-to-resolution-using-nmis-automated-base-lining.md",{"type":9,"value":8158,"toc":8199},[8159,8162,8167,8170,8173,8178,8181,8186,8189,8191],[12,8160,8161],{},"Managing a large complex environment with ever-changing operational states is challenging. Several of our engineers who previously managed shifts in large 24-hour Network Operation Centres described how they used Automated Live Baselining when starting a shift and during shift handovers to immediately understand a network's current health and recent history. NMIS Live Baselining was able to provide them with a fast synopsis of current network stability and an ability to quickly drill into the most relevant occurrences.",[12,8163,8164],{},[38,8165],{"alt":178,"src":8166},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FNMIS-Metrics-Health-700.png",[12,8168,8169],{},"Live baselining is achieved by automatically calculating a single \"network wide\" health metric, reachability metric and availability metric as seen in this graph.",[12,8171,8172],{},"The secret to showing engineers where to look for deteriorating conditions is that the current state (metrics) of your network are then continuously compared against a rolling period (configurable, last 8 hours by default) to see whether performance is deteriorating or improving. This is done not only on the network as a whole but also on subsections (groups) of your network.",[12,8174,8175],{},[38,8176],{"alt":178,"src":8177},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FNMIS-Baseline-700.png",[12,8179,8180],{},"Status trends are reported visually using arrows to show if health is improving or declining. You can then drill down into more detailed KPI data for an individual device.",[12,8182,8183],{},[38,8184],{"alt":178,"src":8185},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FNMIS-KPIs-500.png",[12,8187,8188],{},"The visual alerts, along with the ability to very quickly access detailed information relating to performance deterioration, allow an organisation to identify issues and make corrective decisions faster -- vastly improving mean time to resolution (MTTR).",[1166,8190],{},[12,8192,8193,3114,8195],{},[250,8194,2853],{},[151,8196,8198],{"href":8197},"\u002Fblog\u002Fnmis-9-network-automation\u002F","NMIS 9 Network Automation",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":8200},[],"2016-02-18","How NMIS live baselining gives NOC engineers immediate visibility into network health trends and helps resolve issues faster.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fimprove-mean-time-to-resolution-using-nmis-automated-base-lining",{"title":2996,"description":8202},"improve-mean-time-to-resolution-using-nmis-automated-base-lining","blog\u002Fimprove-mean-time-to-resolution-using-nmis-automated-base-lining",[1363,8209,8210,6399],"baselining","mttr","XQySbTM74fQWheF_W3SbdHh2UQ_y20r-8D6M2r3_Nrs",{"id":8213,"title":5362,"author":1086,"body":8214,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":8295,"description":8296,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":5367,"meta":8297,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":8298,"seo":8299,"slug":8300,"stem":8301,"tags":8302,"__hash__":8303},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fbaselines-in-open-audit.md",{"type":9,"value":8215,"toc":8289},[8216,8220,8223,8226,8229,8232,8235,8239,8242,8245,8249,8252,8257,8260,8265,8269,8274,8280,8282],[22,8217,8219],{"id":8218},"how-baselines-work","How Baselines Work",[12,8221,8222],{},"Our new major feature for 1.10 is the beginning of our Baselines feature. This is not finished as yet (in 1.10), but we wanted it out there for feedback. Baselines in Open-AudIT Enterprise allow you to take the details of one machine (say its software list) and use that as a basis for comparison against another machine or group of machines.",[12,8224,8225],{},"Being able to determine which machines are configured the same is a major part of systems administration and auditing – and now reporting on that will be made simple and automated. Once you define your baseline it will automatically run against a set of devices on a predetermined schedule. The output of these executed baselines will be available for web viewing, importing into a third party system or even as a printed report.",[12,8227,8228],{},"For example – you might create a baseline from a device running Centos 6 which acts as one of your apache servers in a cluster. You know this particular server is configured just the way you want it but you're unsure if other servers in the cluster are configured exactly the same. Baselines enables you to determine this.",[12,8230,8231],{},"So you can say \"Take the software installed on device X and tell me where it's different on all the machines in the Web Servers group.\"",[12,8233,8234],{},"You get a nice GUI interface showing which machines did or did not meet the expected software install state. You can also apply this to users and netstat ports. Other tables will be introduced in the future.",[22,8236,8238],{"id":8237},"whats-coming-next","What's Coming Next",[12,8240,8241],{},"Our initial release (in 1.10) is functional but not yet complete. You can create a baseline, run it against a group of devices and view the results in a web browser. We plan to add scheduled execution, more tables for comparison (currently only software, netstat ports and users are enabled), in place baseline and policy editing, archiving of results, exporting of results and more.",[12,8243,8244],{},"A sample baseline definition screen is below. In this example we show a baseline consisting of software policies targeted at Centos 6 devices.",[12,8246,8247],{},[38,8248],{"alt":178,"src":5367},[12,8250,8251],{},"Once this has been run against our target group we have a result which is below.",[12,8253,8254],{},[38,8255],{"alt":178,"src":8256},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FBaseline-Result-700.png",[12,8258,8259],{},"From our result page we can inspect individual devices or individual policies for compliance.\nOnce we have completed the implementation of Baselines in Open-AudIT you will see how powerful this feature can be for reporting items like compliance, ensuring device consistency and more. Stay tuned for more Baselines in our next Open-AudIT release!",[12,8261,8262],{},[38,8263],{"alt":8264,"src":8177},"NMIS baseline view",[22,8266,8268],{"id":8267},"terminology","Terminology",[12,8270,8271,8273],{},[250,8272,5344],{}," – the overarching document that contains the baseline definition and the individual policy tests.",[12,8275,8276,8279],{},[250,8277,8278],{},"Policies"," – The individual tests contained within a Baseline. Each test is for a specific item. An example would be testing for SSH version 1.2.3.",[22,8281,3583],{"id":1170},[116,8283,8284],{},[119,8285,8286],{},[151,8287,5256],{"href":8288},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-use-baselining-to-your-advantage-in-open-audit\u002F",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":8290},[8291,8292,8293,8294],{"id":8218,"depth":179,"text":8219},{"id":8237,"depth":179,"text":8238},{"id":8267,"depth":179,"text":8268},{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":3583},"2016-01-26","Introducing the Baselines feature in Open-AudIT Enterprise, compare device configurations against a gold standard and report on compliance.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fbaselines-in-open-audit",{"title":5362,"description":8296},"baselines-in-open-audit","blog\u002Fbaselines-in-open-audit",[479,5374,472,2417],"wwOCR4SFDVZdv0zPhJ2Dfy7-GxQgHg4SV1GsEA9Da5s",{"id":8305,"title":8306,"author":1086,"body":8307,"categories":187,"category":188,"date":8333,"description":8334,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":8316,"meta":8335,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":8336,"seo":8337,"slug":8338,"stem":8339,"tags":8340,"__hash__":8343},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-extend-nmis-with-opmodules.md","How to Extend NMIS with OpModules",{"type":9,"value":8308,"toc":8331},[8309,8312,8317,8323,8325],[12,8310,8311],{},"Looking to extend the features and functionality of NMIS, but not sure where to start? We've put together a product selection guide to help you tailor a network management solution to meet your organization's requirements using our range of modules.",[12,8313,8314],{},[38,8315],{"alt":178,"src":8316},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOMK-Product-Wheel-700.png",[12,8318,8319],{},[151,8320,8322],{"href":8321},"\u002Fdocuments\u002FExtend-NMIS-with-opModules.pdf","Click Here to Download the PDF",[1166,8324],{},[12,8326,8327,3114,8329],{},[250,8328,2853],{},[151,8330,8198],{"href":8197},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":8332},[],"2015-11-10","A product selection guide to help you extend NMIS with the right combination of OpModules for your network management needs.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-extend-nmis-with-opmodules",{"title":8306,"description":8334},"how-to-extend-nmis-with-opmodules","blog\u002Fhow-to-extend-nmis-with-opmodules",[1363,8341,8342],"opmodules","product guide","AphGiY8Po8QLGP6Zk4AKee2oFEDjt_iGRA4IlcOFQGg",{"id":8345,"title":8346,"author":1086,"body":8347,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":8440,"description":8441,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":8374,"meta":8442,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":8443,"seo":8444,"slug":8445,"stem":8446,"tags":8447,"__hash__":8449},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-enterprise-license-changes-for-the-better.md","Open-AudIT Enterprise License Changes (for the Better)",{"type":9,"value":8348,"toc":8432},[8349,8357,8360,8363,8367,8370,8375,8379,8382,8386,8389,8392,8396,8399,8404,8408,8411,8414,8418,8421,8424,8426],[12,8350,8351,8352,8356],{},"Great news everyone -- FirstWave now provide a free license for 20 devices that is not time limited. That's right -- you can now use Open-AudIT Enterprise on 20 devices for free, forever. We don't mind if you're a ",[151,8353,7353],{"href":8354,"rel":8355},"https:\u002F\u002Ffirstwave.com\u002Fsolutions\u002Fsmall-medium-businesses\u002F",[2485]," owner, a student or just have an extensive home network. Open-AudIT Enterprise is free for you to use on 20 devices.",[12,8358,8359],{},"This is a change from our old \"25 devices for 30 days\" license that customers tended to find expired rather quickly. We feel it will allow our users to better evaluate Open-AudIT -- including using it as a test system. You can run it at home, at work or wherever you like.",[12,8361,8362],{},"Of course Open-AudIT Community is still free and open source software, just as it always has been. And now for added extra bonus points, the source is available on GitHub. Feel free to fork it and contribute back for both your own and everyone else's benefit.",[22,8364,8366],{"id":8365},"its-now-even-easier-to-see-whats-on-your-network","It's now even easier to see \"What's on your network\"!",[12,8368,8369],{},"Maps, Scheduled Discovery, Dashboard, Scheduled Reports, Enterprise specific \"over time\" reports -- it's all there, waiting for you to use free of charge.",[12,8371,8372],{},[38,8373],{"alt":178,"src":8374},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOAE-Screenshot-700.png",[22,8376,8378],{"id":8377},"why-is-firstwave-doing-this","Why is FirstWave doing this?",[12,8380,8381],{},"Besides the fact that FirstWave and our staff all love open source (we have built the company on it, after all), we feel that allowing users to actually experience Open-AudIT Enterprise without having to worry about when their trial license will expire will remove some of the weight and urgency around evaluating our software. It will also allow users to install and use Open-AudIT in testing environments without worry and knowing what they're using is exactly the same as what they see in production. Users can try out various aspects of the software free from worry about breakage of their important data.",[22,8383,8385],{"id":8384},"what-do-i-get-in-the-free-license","What do I get in the Free license?",[12,8387,8388],{},"You get everything a paid for license gets in terms of the software and its features. Obviously we cannot offer our enterprise grade support for nothing, so we do keep that for our paying customers. There is always FirstWave Questions and the Open-AudIT forums though. We have many contributors who are happy to help where they can. Some users though simply require support and know that if they have an issue, FirstWave is there to assist.",[12,8390,8391],{},"We do encourage our users to consider a paid license where they can as this helps FirstWave, which in turn helps Open-AudIT. We love open source, but we need to eat!",[22,8393,8395],{"id":8394},"will-i-see-anything-new-in-the-software","Will I see anything new in the software?",[12,8397,8398],{},"In short -- yes. We have added a new modal to Open-AudIT that will detail the Open-AudIT Enterprise offering. If you don't wish to see it, it is easily dismissable. We even provided a \"don't show me again\" option. We think that's a very fair trade. Dismiss it if you don't want to see it 🙂",[12,8400,8401],{},[38,8402],{"alt":178,"src":8403},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FModal-Enterprise-700.png",[22,8405,8407],{"id":8406},"will-the-open-audit-source-be-altered-to-make-using-enterprise-required","Will the Open-AudIT source be altered to make using Enterprise required?",[12,8409,8410],{},"Absolutely not. Open-AudIT is free and open source software. Always has been. Always will be. It's on GitHub. We do happily accept code contributions though and would encourage users to contribute to the main project rather than blindly fork it. We obviously spend a lot of time developing Open-AudIT and will continue to do so going forward. A fork (for forks sake) would likely require considerable effort just to stay current. Why not simply contribute to the main project and let us do it for you? It's called upstreaming.",[12,8412,8413],{},"We hope you like the changes and we hope you will install, test, play with and improve Open-AudIT with us.",[22,8415,8417],{"id":8416},"what-if-i-want-more-than-20-devices-in-open-audit-enterprise","What if I want more than 20 devices in Open-AudIT Enterprise?",[12,8419,8420],{},"FirstWave offer very attractive 12 month subscription licenses for Open-AudIT Enterprise. 100 devices is just $249 US and 500 devices is just $799 US -- and both include our awesome support package! If you would like even more devices, please hit the Contact Us link on FirstWave.com and a staff member in your geographical area will contact you ASAP. We have staff in Europe, USA, South America and Australia.",[12,8422,8423],{},"We love open source and we know you do as well. Let's improve it together and at the same time, help make your life easier.",[1166,8425],{},[12,8427,8428,3114,8430],{},[250,8429,2853],{},[151,8431,505],{"href":2387},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":8433},[8434,8435,8436,8437,8438,8439],{"id":8365,"depth":179,"text":8366},{"id":8377,"depth":179,"text":8378},{"id":8384,"depth":179,"text":8385},{"id":8394,"depth":179,"text":8395},{"id":8406,"depth":179,"text":8407},{"id":8416,"depth":179,"text":8417},"2015-09-22","FirstWave now offers a free 20-device Open-AudIT Enterprise license with no time limit, here's what's changed and why.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-audit-enterprise-license-changes-for-the-better",{"title":8346,"description":8441},"open-audit-enterprise-license-changes-for-the-better","blog\u002Fopen-audit-enterprise-license-changes-for-the-better",[479,4571,4422,8448],"product updates","9hS9ZbE3vvDpCf1JT8N56hhUj07aGywJ3-jno2Aq-K0",{"id":8451,"title":8452,"author":1086,"body":8453,"categories":187,"category":1385,"date":8569,"description":8570,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":8469,"meta":8571,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":8572,"seo":8573,"slug":8574,"stem":8575,"tags":8576,"__hash__":8578},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-importance-of-decision-support-systems.md","The Importance of Decision Support Systems",{"type":9,"value":8454,"toc":8561},[8455,8459,8462,8465,8470,8474,8482,8485,8489,8492,8495,8515,8518,8521,8525,8528,8531,8535,8539,8542,8545,8548,8551,8553,8555],[22,8456,8458],{"id":8457},"the-concept-that-started-it-all","The Concept That Started It All",[12,8460,8461],{},"While studying business before my start in Information Technology, we learnt lots of great concepts, like cross subsidisation, cash flow, bottom line vs top line, but the most lasting concept for me was Decision Support Systems. A relatively simple concept but incredibly powerful: better information means better decisions. Systems which collect data and allow relationships, associations, and connections to be found and made.",[12,8463,8464],{},"Enriching the data to make it information, these systems were called information systems, a term still used today but not as fashionable as cloud systems or something with a fantastic marketing meaning and little substance.",[12,8466,8467],{},[38,8468],{"alt":178,"src":8469},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FProgramming-650.jpg",[22,8471,8473],{"id":8472},"from-business-studies-to-network-management","From Business Studies to Network Management",[12,8475,8476,8477,8481],{},"From my business studies I discovered that I had an affinity with computers (my wife says computers are scared of me), and I started studying computer science. The studies moved to data communication when QUT ended its interest at the time with CS, but the programming bug was planted. Later, in the late 90s, while working with customers on how to get more information about their networks, I learned how poor the available ",[151,8478,8480],{"href":4897,"rel":8479},[2485],"network management systems"," were, with a few exceptions.",[12,8483,8484],{},"I started tinkering with open source network management solutions about then, having been introduced to Linux in 1993. This was not a difficult stretch. My favourite at the time was Tobias Oetiker's MRTG. I made a few changes, wrote some reporting systems, and along with some policy and SLA management systems, we launched a managed service provider business.",[22,8486,8488],{"id":8487},"the-birth-of-nmis","The Birth of NMIS",[12,8490,8491],{},"I learnt a lot. I changed jobs and was asked to deploy a management system. I asked \"buy or build\" and the decision was both -- build what was needed and buy what made sense. The precursor to NMIS was born, and not long later NMIS was released to open source.",[12,8493,8494],{},"Initially, NMIS was designed to follow a few simple principles:",[116,8496,8497,8500,8503,8506,8509,8512],{},[119,8498,8499],{},"Do more than one thing (completely against popular Unix doctrine of the time)",[119,8501,8502],{},"Keep a history of everything (looking at anything over time is powerful)",[119,8504,8505],{},"Use policies as well as configuration to make NMIS do things",[119,8507,8508],{},"Make it do more with less configuration by using defaults",[119,8510,8511],{},"Summarise data into metrics and KPIs, creating visible baselines",[119,8513,8514],{},"Create information rather than data",[12,8516,8517],{},"This started from the idea that I am going to be polling the nodes for interface utilisation and CPU load. While I was already polling, why not poll a little extra data for fault? And why not keep some basic inventory information? Then why don't I summarise the data for metrics? And it should threshold the data to create events and alerts.",[12,8519,8520],{},"I thought at the time that commercial companies might figure this out and release something which does all of this. After five years no one had, and today there are only a few systems which do. By this stage the NMIS community had swollen and people who had similar views got involved in extending and enhancing NMIS. As a result, NMIS remained in use for a long time.",[22,8522,8524],{"id":8523},"scaling-up","Scaling Up",[12,8526,8527],{},"Before joining FirstWave I had a long and convoluted career working with Cisco (twice) and Macquarie Bank performing many roles, from Network Consulting Engineer to Technical Leader to Network Architect then Solution Architect.",[12,8529,8530],{},"During this time I worked with big problems -- networks with 15,000 routers in 2000, how to scale things, what to do with data from 500,000 devices -- and learnt the importance of architecture. I also learnt a lot about knowledge, how tangible and intangible it can be.",[12,8532,8533],{},[38,8534],{"alt":178,"src":4670},[22,8536,8538],{"id":8537},"building-knowledge-systems","Building Knowledge Systems",[12,8540,8541],{},"In 2011 I joined FirstWave as CTO. We needed to do many things and I started thinking of the holes with network management systems I had designed before and what people needed to be able to do their jobs better. I have been working with the FirstWave customers and team since then on building software which complements NMIS and leverages all that information. I knew that the founding principles of NMIS had worked, so we kept them.",[12,8543,8544],{},"Our focus has been around building knowledge systems -- software which captures engineering knowledge and experience and encapsulates it so that companies can use our software to bolster their teams, allowing less skilled and experienced team members to leverage the knowledge already in our products as well as being able to add organisation-specific knowledge.",[12,8546,8547],{},"FirstWave has also delivered a framework which supports knowledge automation, allowing operational knowledge to be captured and then automated when needed.",[12,8549,8550],{},"I am very excited about the capabilities which FirstWave can deliver to an organisation and how those capabilities can help companies and especially their staff to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently.",[1166,8552],{},[22,8554,1171],{"id":1170},[116,8556,8557],{},[119,8558,8559],{},[151,8560,1982],{"href":1981},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":8562},[8563,8564,8565,8566,8567,8568],{"id":8457,"depth":179,"text":8458},{"id":8472,"depth":179,"text":8473},{"id":8487,"depth":179,"text":8488},{"id":8523,"depth":179,"text":8524},{"id":8537,"depth":179,"text":8538},{"id":1170,"depth":179,"text":1171},"2015-06-30","A personal reflection on the origins of NMIS and how decision support systems shaped the development of FirstWave's network management philosophy.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-importance-of-decision-support-systems",{"title":8452,"description":8570},"the-importance-of-decision-support-systems","blog\u002Fthe-importance-of-decision-support-systems",[1363,6611,8577,4422],"decision support","CJrrLdmBSmqyoZlsJorBOOAJrmw0LrqTUeJh-yb8Gao",{"id":8580,"title":8581,"author":1086,"body":8582,"categories":187,"category":531,"date":8569,"description":8652,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":8615,"meta":8653,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":8654,"seo":8655,"slug":8656,"stem":8657,"tags":8658,"__hash__":8660},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fupdate-device-attributes-in-bulk-with-open-audit.md","Update Device Attributes in Bulk with Open-AudIT",{"type":9,"value":8583,"toc":8648},[8584,8587,8589,8592,8597,8600,8605,8608,8611,8616,8619,8622,8626,8629,8634,8637,8640,8642],[12,8585,8586],{},"Open-AudIT provides a simple and powerful way to edit the attributes of multiple devices at the same time. Using this feature enables Administrators to quickly and easily update thousands of devices with manually set values for attributes such as device location, type, purchase details, credentials, etc.",[22,8588,1058],{"id":1057},[12,8590,8591],{},"Any user of Open-AudIT with an access level of Edit Details on a given group can edit the devices in that group. You can check the access level of any user by going to menu -> Admin -> Users -> List Users.",[12,8593,8594],{},[38,8595],{"alt":178,"src":8596},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002F1_users_access_level.png",[12,8598,8599],{},"To use the bulk edit feature on a select list of devices, first view the group that contains the devices that you have Edit Details level access to. Don't worry if the Group doesn't contain every device you need to edit -- you can always repeat the process on another Group. It's simply faster to select a group that contains as many devices that you wish to edit as possible as the process can be performed potentially only a single time. You should see a list of checkboxes on the right hand side of the view. Selecting a checkbox marks that device to be bulk edited. You can toggle selecting all devices by clicking the checkbox in the table header row.",[12,8601,8602],{},[38,8603],{"alt":178,"src":8604},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002F2_select_devices.png",[12,8606,8607],{},"Depending on the number of devices you wish to select, it may be faster to select all devices, then deselect certain devices -- or the other way around.",[12,8609,8610],{},"After selecting the desired devices, click the Edit button in the table header row. You will be sent to the Edit Systems form. You can view the selected devices in the table below the form (you may need to scroll down to see the table).",[12,8612,8613],{},[38,8614],{"alt":178,"src":8615},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002F3_edit_systems.png",[12,8617,8618],{},"From this form, any attribute values you set will be applied to all devices in the table below. To remove that value of an attribute, insert a dash '-' into the field in question. Leaving a field blank will not remove the attribute's value in the database -- they will not be changed. Inserting a dash\u002Fminus symbol tells Open-AudIT \"this attribute should have its value set to blank\".\nWhen you are done, click the Submit button.",[12,8620,8621],{},"That's all there is to it!",[22,8623,8625],{"id":8624},"advanced-scenario","Advanced Scenario",[12,8627,8628],{},"Now imagine a more advanced scenario -- I wish to set all my VMware based Linux servers 'class' attribute to virtual server.",[12,8630,8631],{},[38,8632],{"alt":178,"src":8633},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002F4_select_devices-1.png",[12,8635,8636],{},"I select the group Gnu\u002FLinux systems. I run the report Device Hardware. I mouse over a device's manufacturer that is VMware, Inc. Three stars appear (***), which I mouse over. A pop-over appears that contains Filter Out and Filter Only. I click the Filter Only option. The report re-runs and shows only those devices that have a manufacturer of VMware, Inc. I click the Select All checkbox in the table header and then click the Edit button. From the Edit Systems form I now set the class to Virtual Server -- done!\nI have just edited from 1 to any number of devices in 6 clicks!",[12,8638,8639],{},"You can apply the same logic for setting devices in locations, in organisations (maybe departments), etc. When you need to update manually supplied data to multiple devices which is the same, Bulk Editing can save you (literally) hours.",[1166,8641],{},[12,8643,8644,3114,8646],{},[250,8645,2853],{},[151,8647,5695],{"href":5596},{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":8649},[8650,8651],{"id":1057,"depth":179,"text":1058},{"id":8624,"depth":179,"text":8625},"Learn how to use Open-AudIT's bulk editing feature to update attributes across hundreds or thousands of devices in just a few clicks.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fupdate-device-attributes-in-bulk-with-open-audit",{"title":8581,"description":8652},"update-device-attributes-in-bulk-with-open-audit","blog\u002Fupdate-device-attributes-in-bulk-with-open-audit",[479,8659,5792,2887],"bulk editing","WWoAdtMyaa4Slx2IP9xwWDWdifuNnm8CU2yddjTXotA",{"id":8662,"title":8663,"author":1086,"body":8664,"categories":187,"category":1385,"date":8705,"description":8706,"extension":191,"featured":192,"fields":187,"image":8676,"meta":8707,"modified":187,"navigation":195,"path":8708,"seo":8709,"slug":8710,"stem":8711,"tags":8712,"__hash__":8715},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-source-software-coming-of-age-in-australia.md","Open Source Software Coming of Age in Australia",{"type":9,"value":8665,"toc":8703},[8666,8669,8672,8677,8680,8683,8686,8691,8694,8696],[12,8667,8668],{},"This article was written for and originally published in the ACCI Commerce and Industry Magazine -- Autumn 2015.",[12,8670,8671],{},"The 52nd Australian Export Awards marked a turning point for open source software in Australia with network management and IT audit software company, Opmantek, recognised as the ICT exporter of the year for their innovative approach to development and customer acquisition.",[12,8673,8674],{},[38,8675],{"alt":178,"src":8676},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FOpmantek-on-Stage-650.jpg",[12,8678,8679],{},"Opmantek software is offered under a Commercial Open Source Software (COSS) model. This model has been largely overlooked in Australia despite the fact that it provides a huge value-add to growing businesses and significant cost savings to larger enterprise and government departments. Europe has been taking advantage of the flexibility and security of COSS for many years and more recently popularity has been growing in the Americas. With a no-cost framework providing the core functionality, additional features and specialist support services can be added at a fraction of the cost of a traditional off-the-shelf (OTS) solution and be customized to suit the requirements of the business.",[12,8681,8682],{},"Opmantek develops network and infrastructure management tools that are essential to the smooth running of over 60,000 small and (massively) large organisations globally. Opmantek's flagship product, NMIS, can be installed for free and helps IT teams detect faults, review current and historical network performance, and predict where future failures are likely to occur. Commercial support and additional business modules and custom dashboards can be added as the need grows. An astounding statistic is that every 6 minutes somewhere in the world an organisation implements an Opmantek product.",[12,8684,8685],{},"COSS is an effective and safe way to update aging or disparate systems. COSS is generally easier to integrate, more secure and almost certainly lower cost than traditional commercial software, while organisations deploying COSS receive the commercial support, certainty of product direction and company stability that Free Open Source Software (FOSS) usually lacks. In fact, in the case of COSS it is indeed commercial software; however, users get access to the source code. Opmantek has shown through the commercial signing of some of the world's largest telecommunications, government, and banking organisations that they are riding a strong global trend towards COSS and that COSS competes head-on with commercial software companies, not with FOSS.",[12,8687,8688],{},[38,8689],{"alt":178,"src":8690},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002FDanny-Winning-650.jpg",[12,8692,8693],{},"There are many benefits of COSS to organisations large and small and the global rise of COSS companies like Opmantek is set to continue -- the proposition is compelling -- increasing the capability of software systems while reducing the cost. There also seems to be a compelling position for these companies in developed economies like Australia, the US and Europe -- it is one way to combat the off-shoring of development and R&D -- by maintaining key expertise in-country and accessing a global community of contributors and followers at zero cost. The COSS revolution and coming of age in Australia has massive commercial benefits for organisations that embrace it and no doubt we will see the rise of more Australian software companies like Opmantek.",[1166,8695],{},[12,8697,8698,3114,8700],{},[250,8699,2853],{},[151,8701,8452],{"href":8702},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-importance-of-decision-support-systems\u002F",{"title":178,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":8704},[],"2015-06-15","How Opmantek's Australian Export Award win marked a turning point for commercial open source software in Australia.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fopen-source-software-coming-of-age-in-australia",{"title":8663,"description":8706},"open-source-software-coming-of-age-in-australia","blog\u002Fopen-source-software-coming-of-age-in-australia",[4422,4844,8713,1395,8714],"coss","awards","tlbKfMBswmDBEoEGgT7VSapiXRF0d2g5PHLFZqXz-dw",1782795848530]