Justifying the Investment in M4 Asset Manager
The most critical problems M4 Asset Manager solves are those caused by having network documentation and data housed in a variety of locations from spreadsheets to paper records to employees’ memories.
In too many organizations countless hours are spent annually identifying and managing the location of passive cable locations and paths, tracking service tags and rediscovering jack locations. With M4 Asset Manager, all of these connections and equipment are documented as efficiently as possible by tying together the best, most detailed records available through auto-discovery network software and the records manually maintained on paper and spreadsheet. In addition, M4 Asset Manager brings into a single easy-to-use repository critical end-user data such as employees’ phone extensions, handset records, and hardware/software assignments - thereby creating an efficient process for managing employee adds, changes and deletions as they relate to IT nfrastructure.
Importantly, M4 Asset Manager enhances both the initial population of data in M4 Network Equipment Manager by mining a deeper level of detail from network devices than is provided by network management systems, as well as monitoring and managing network changes on an ongoing basis. In conjunction with your current NMS, M4 Asset Manager combines the configurable detail you specify for your equipment with location information for rooms, racks and jacks to deliver a visual interface for IT asset management.
Within the M4 Solution Suite, M4 Asset Manager extends the topographical network visibility beyond the active equipment at the rack all the to the jack at each employees’ desk. With M4 Asset Manager, M4 now enables visualization not just of the central office and remotes, but the entire office. The result is significant time savings on the part of IT and networking professionals as they manage the full array of network devices and infrastructure.
To support the never ending quest for new revenue streams, M4 Asset Manager can also be deployed on a shared-revenue basis as a valued-added service that Mapcom customers can offer to their own commercial customers. Using the bird-eye view into an end customer’s network and building that M4 Asset Manager provides, network administration services can be offered via the same network operations infrastructure that is already in place to manage the telecommunications network. As the technology leader in your area, offering additional network services is a natural extension of your telecom/IT expertise and community presence – allowing you to leverage existing infrastructure and personnel to gain additional revenues and support your customers more fully.