Abstract
Anything related to technology has changed, technology today cannot be compared in terms of speed, accessibility, and functionality to how it was like 100 years ago. As technology advances, so does knowledge, which created more need for management of all things related to technology. Network Management has also come along way from its invention to actualization and modification, however, how networks are being managed today is not the end of the concept as there is more to come. A review of what is to come is important to make people have an idea of what to expect in the future and just how that will be like.
Introduction
ISO (International Organization of Standards) are the pioneers of networking who proposed and started working on a system that would interconnect and coordinate systems and tools through an overall model. This was in 1984; both the works had begun seven years before. This was the foundation of networking and, more so, management of networks (Ding, 2016). ISO defines network management in terms of a small network known as a single LAN, medium network, also known as few LANs, and a large network mostly described as wide-area network. From the OSI (Open Systems interconnection) that was developed by ISO so much development has been made allowing remote operations, development of switching networks and even security systems like SNMPv3 all made to advance networking and secure the systems. Today, network have become more complicated and larger which creates more and more need for network management which is executed by a network manager. They are expected to control and monitor the networks using management tools like SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and RMON1 (Remote Monitor) respectively.
According to Erickson (2018), network Management can therefore be defined as the coordination, integration and deployment of software’s, human elements and hardware’s used to configure, monitor, test, evaluate and control networks to meet the real-time performance of the network in a reasonable, valuable and effective way. The process combines remote and local management and configuration of software and devices in conjugations with a network manger to accomplish this. As mentioned earlier network management has come along way and being birthed form technology take keeps evolving every time, there is surely more to come in the future. This research paper will review how far networking and networking management has come and its future in the days to come. To predict the future the paper will revise some of the delay limitations that limit networking and network management and build of the limitations to predict its future.
Literature Review
No one or nothing in this world is perfect and similar to that is the network management concept. A review of some of theories and concepts that have been discarded or outlined by previous scholars and researchers would help identify the gaps in the network management process. To revise this and empirical research will aid in acquiring these findings. All the findings will be used to build the paper in speculating the future of the process.
Hirsch (2018) points out observations he made from network management system. He notes that the system comes at a high cost of licensing per interface that makes the users are not in a position to mange all interfaces necessary in the system, This means that the system is not fully utilized since the manager is only able to utilize the system to the point at which it complies with the licensing. When this happens, the functions of the network management system are compromised and the security of the system, this poses a danger to all the users and vulnerable to security threats associated with networks.
Additionally, he states that most of the network management systems fails to report and error and if they do, they do not diagnose the percentage of the error and exactly which part of the networking is affected. When an interface is at the verge of being overtasked, the system in most cases does not diagnose quickly but only issues a diagnosis once the interface gets to a point of overload, this leads to a major malfunctioning which would have been avoided had the system been designed in a manner that signals such failure.
Duenos (2018) notes working with a system that that failed to provide good export of data that made it difficult for him to capture data necessary for analysis. He was forced to manually do estimation of values that was time consuming and involved a lot of work. A system is implemented to make such work easier but in this case the inability of the system to export good data made work more tedious.
Methodology
To build up on the findings and the failures of network management a qualitative approach of data collection was used to acquire theories, analyze data and observation made from interviews, case studies and articles. The data collected will help identify more gaps and improvements that should be done in the near future to eliminate the gaps in the system. The data will also help build up a prediction of future innovations that would take network management into a scene that has not been experienced yet.
Questionnaires were prepared based on the views from literature reviews just to build up from the findings and appropriated exact findings revolving around the same concerns. The questionnaires to ensure that the information obtained is accurate and precise will be directed to network manager, Server, system and network admins, and security specialists. Theories revolving around networking like Gidden’s structuration theory will be used to analyze the governance process of networking that foster network dynamics. Articles on network management will alco be reviewed to build on the findings that can be used to predict the future of the system of the status of the system.
An article by Jack (2020) from technology news world talks of how open source codes increases security risks for commercial software. From the article the finding obtained will be used to analyze the status of network management and how the process can be used to ensure the safety of the of the open source sites and safe guard the data and addresses of the sources. Questionnaires were issued to two server admins, two network managers and two system admins whose findings were recorded. It is important to not that the questions were not open ended, this was ensuring that the responds obtained were not limiting but allowed the responders to give as much information as can be obtained based on their experience.
The choice of who should be selected to participate in the questionnaires was based on experience and exposure to ensure that the information is as valuable and dated and relevant as it can be. Obtaining data form non-experienced would have had an impact since reliability of such data is important in obtaining findings. The choice of article used was based on the date of the article and how vulnerable the data was and how it would have been different if the right network management system were incorporated. Giddens structuration theory was used to valid just how strategic a network and network management system should be or how it should be implemented. It will also aid in identifying the key players in the development and success of a network management system and from these all the values will be sued to give a future speculation on the fate or the expectations of a future network management system.
Findings and Importance
From the Giddens structuration theory, the functions of a network are knowledge sharing, partner selection, coordination, interest mediation, integration, and implementation. The theory suggests that when a network is unable to deliver any of the stated functions it fails. The theory accounts governance processed of networks. According to Giddens, structuration is defined as the duality of individuals and institutions or systems that draw a structure by defining the space and possible action that lead to formalization and materialization of the drawn structures (Canary, 2017). From the theory, network integration fails when closed markets and monopolies design management system that only work for them and alienates the rest. Prohibitive costs were also identified as key factors that limit implementation of networks and network systems from the theory. Misallocation or lack of sustainable network system were identified as the major limitation that makes a network or network management system fail to serve a common goal or set goal and purpose. The main key players in a network the theory identifies are an agency, structure, and processes. When the agencies are informal it creates a whole lot of problems in the structuration and procession of a network and its management. To prevent all these the theory notes that global policies of networking would be the way out to streamline the agents, structures and processes of networking and its management.
The questionnaires issued to the network managers opened network management to a broader form where the manager identified that network management involves address management, security management, traffic management and load balancing. The managers identified some of the hardware and software used are not always reliable as some are just branded and commercialized but when it comes to functionality they fail to meet the threshold which increased the cost of acquiring and sustaining a system that protects all its users. They also noted that due to cost implications the system is not always maximized since some of the interfaces are locked out due to licensing issues. One of the managers commended the state of network management systems in place and noted that it was the systems that were the problems but is the threats that come with evolution and innovation of knowledge and technology that makes the systems in place vulnerable to malfunctioning, corruption and cyber crimes like hacking and fraud.
The server admins noted that it takes a lot of type to load some of network systems like SNMP MIB’s and to top it up to select usable variable in setting up a sever. They prefer is the software’s would have been very direct and precise rather than taking people through the whole process of loading and identifying and picking. One of the serves however noted that the encryption was necessary and that at the moment though the process is tedious it is necessary. Network admins had a major challenge of not being in a position to report broadcasting in percentages since the software’s in place only allow them to report in term of numbers which makes it hard for them to have a clear estimate of the situation. They are forced to manually use an excel sheet to approportionate and get the percentages they need in the management and configuration of networks form their end.
From the findings, there are gaps and form the gaps it is possible to give speculations of the next face or wave on network management. From Giddens structuration theory that mostly talks about global policies that are necessary to improve networking and networking management. It would be accurate to predicate a network management system (NMS) that would be sett in a manner that opens us to more collaboration and inclusion to meet global agendas. In the wake of globalization which continues to evolve every day, the NMS in future due to elimination of monopolies or closed markets by globalization the system will be designed in a much broader and complex manner if not the case it will be the shortfall of globalization. When it comes to licensing and authorization cost that limits full implementation of the NMS, shows that there is still a software opportunity that is yet to be implemented, similar to platforms like western union that were in the past expensive due to the fact that they were the major money transfer platform. With time this has changed.
Similarly, in future there is need for more software developers to come on made, this will make the software less costly and so their licensing. Software are not the only appliances used in NMS there is also needed to develop hardware equipment that are stable or whose incorporation would make the operations less complex. From the findings, it proves that the IT market is still evolving and developing which, like science more funding is needed in the research and development of networking programs, hardware, and software. This would also help reduce the cost of licensing and affordability of all the software and interfaces required in NMS.
As more research and development is carried out, it will ease the works of server admins in the sense that data encrypted will be made in a manner that is easy to access. Availability of advanced equipment and software will also improve the visibility of data and variables used in the various interface settings of an NMS. Monitoring of interface and tools will be less brainer and automatic which will not only be instrumental to they systems in place but will also make the work of system admins easier and more effective. Close monitoring and evaluation of data will also be eased which will improve the performance of key applications like probes and UX data. Building up of probes like UX and other interfaces will also improve how data is processed and reported unlike in the case where numbers are issued living the managers and servers with the task of calculating and analyzing it
As more research and development is evolving, so will be the network system evolve heightening security threats through networks. This means more security system will evolve to counter the threats associated with cyber crimes and management. As more data is defined and developed so will work be made a lot easier. In the case of denoting of alerts and warnings in the interface, cases of malfunction and overloading will be long gone since data available will be used to respond to such anomalies in a manner that alerts the users before an error occurs. There will be much more information in the public domain concerning networking and NMS which will software users know what to analyze before selecting a hardware and software system. The cases of spending much on counterfeit products and service related to NMS will be long gone.
Limitations
The speculation made are only based on the findings made from literature review, interviews, theories, and articles implied. The speculations will become practical if research and development is done to build up on the failures or shortcomings of the NMS. If research and development of information technology is prioritized, then more findings and incites will help in building up of the future of NMS is nothing is done then the predicted advancement may be taking longer. Collaborations between entities, software and hardware providers will also aid at implementation and integration of networks which in return makes them more manageable and cheaper. If a collaboration does not happen, then this limits the future face of NMS. More funding should also done, to attract more developers of software and interface so that the networking process becomes cheaper and accessible to more people. If the field, it saturated it will prompt more inventions and accessibility.
Conclusion
Network management is overly complex process whose effort is broader than anything. To see any progress will not only call for man effort but global effort. It is like science where every successful step bring perfection in the process. When it comes to governance of networking or network management, a common theory would help create a concept that would help beat non-integration and collaboration among available networks. In this paper we have identified three major malfunctions based on the theory of Gibbens Structuration, from questionnaires respondents and articles.
One of the malfunctions of the network management system is lack of complete implementation due to cost implications of various interface, poor integration of systems and insufficient data which makes the servers and managers have to go an extra mile in trying to decode the data or even utilize the data in place. In future is time and resources allow for more search and developing backed by funding and collaboration, it is possible that the network system will be characterized by more data which will make it easier for users or managers to use the data to decode and to even improve on arear o overloading of system and warnings. The field of IT will also evolve if more funding and research is done bring more investors on board who will push the advancement of the industry making licensing cheaper and provided network users more licensing options, software and hardware. In conclusion network management will be easier, faster, cheaper, understandable but under threat of more cyber crimes since as more data and information is put out there some of it may fall on wrong hands.