Network World published an article yesterday, Dear IT: Forget the technology, in which Josh Hinkle is quoted "Somebody will say, 'There's a big sinkhole in front of the building' -- and everyone wil think, 'Oh, it must be the network.'" This article struck a chord with me because that's what I've seen on a regular basis in consulting work. The article even mentions one application development group who built an error message that tells the user that a network problem has been detected and to call the help desk, assuming that the problem was due to the network. Finger pointing at the extreme!
The above examples are why I started Netcordia down the path of creating a network analysis product. By proactively finding an fixing common network problems, the networking team can make the network much more reliable and efficient. With the right types of monitoring, the network team can see that a particular application or perhaps a branch site are having problems and to work with the application groups to make it work better. It is the 'heads up' on pending problems that allow the IT organization (the networking, server, and applications teams working together) to make their applications work well -- better than the apps at their competitors.
A more smoothly operating set of applications results in a business that's more efficient than its competitors, which means that the business can focus its efforts on providing greater value to its customers. That's how companies thrive and grow in difficult economic times and accelerate past their competition in better economic times.
-Terry