In today's tight economy, where IT departments are having to make tradeoffs and choices with their IT dollars, among the questions IT staffers are asking themselves is, " Is it good enough? " Is the management tool that I'm looking at good enough to help me manage what I need to and get me the information that I really need?
There's really several ways of looking at this question. There are management tools that are very inexpensive, or in some cases free (either as part of a bundle or as shareware). If this is the case, some IT organizations simply make do with the functionality provided by the tool, even though it may not fully meet their needs.
It's my contention that you get what you pay for, which means that a cheap tool will probably give you less functionality. But if the functionality is good enough to meet the important needs of the IT department, then the tool provides a good value for the price. In the past, when I've asked readers to send in their nominations for their favorite tools, they usually recommend some low-cost tools.
This balancing act between price and functionality is especially felt in small businesses.
One management service provider aiming at smaller businesses is Oculan. The company understands that such businesses can't pay a lot for management services, so it created targeted offerings that don't include all of the bells and whistles a large enterprise would need. The advantage is that these offerings are quick to implement, the price is low enough, and they have enough functionality for certain users.
One of our readers reported that consultants had told him that in order to get the functionality that the IT department needed he would need to spend $20,000 to $100,000. By checking out a tool recommendation from another of our readers (What's Up Gold, from Ipswitch), he was delighted to find the functionality he needed for $1,000.
However, if a tool lacks enough functionality to help IT staffers do their jobs properly and efficiently, then the value of the tool is questionable, despite its low cost. IT departments must take a close look at the opportunity cost of using the " cheap " tool. If the lack of functionality causes the IT staff to thrash and ineffectively manage the infrastructure, then the low cost of the tool is an illusion.
Going the " cheap " route may actually cost the company more money in the long run in terms of: additional IT staff time spent dealing with problems, added costs or lost revenue due to downtime or poor performance, and staff turnover.
Some of the areas where investing in a better tool can bring dividends to IT staffs is through automation, ease of use, intelligent information delivery, integration, and more. Tools that automate mundane tasks or help diagnose problems by automatically filtering through stacks of data can save money by reducing the amount of time people have to spend to get their jobs done. Tools that have these attributes may be well worth the investment for organizations that require them.
Some IT organizations are " making do " with the tools that they have, even if the tools aren't meeting their needs. Sometimes that's because of budget issues, sometimes it's plain ol' inertia. But despite tighter budgets these days, IT organizations must periodically evaluate the management tools they are using. As mentioned above, inadequate tools can end up costing more in unproductive exercises.
So, the question that you need to periodically ask yourself is: Are your management tools good enough?
If your answer is no, it's time to start looking.
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Dennis Drogseth is a director with Enterprise Management Associates, a leading analyst and market research firm based in Boulder, Colorado, focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise management. Dennis has extensive experience in network management platforms and products and is researching trends in management software and changing IT roles internationally. His 18-plus years of experience in high-tech includes positions at IBM and Cabletron. He has been quoted in the press and is a speaker at industry events. He can be reached via e-mail.
Audrey Rasmussen is a research director with Enterprise Management Associates in Boulder, Colorado, a leading analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise management. Audrey has more than 20 years of experience working with distributed systems, applications and networks. Her current focus at EMA is e-business, SMB/SME and MSPs. She can be reached via e-mail.
Enterprise Management Associates in Boulder, Colorado, is a leading analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise management software and services.
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