“A network diagram to us was more like a painting hanging on the wall. Nice to look at, but not that useful,” explains Frank Hannaford, Project Manager at CoreTech in Omaha, Nebraska. And that’s assuming that they are nice to look at. “Not everybody is very good at using Visio,” Frank points out, “and even when they are, network diagrams take forever to produce.”

As a result of these challenges, CoreTech faced a challenge familiar to most MSPs. “By the time the network diagram is created, it’s already out-of-date. Most of the time, complicated clients are never fully documented.”

Enter Network Glue. By providing CoreTech with the ability to automate network discovery, documentation and diagramming, updated every day, Network Glue has yielded immediate benefits. “Within a day of deploying Network Glue, we have complete network diagrams that are a living representation of their system. This has already helped us identify issues and anomalies. With one client, we identified through the network diagram that there were still a few machines with Windows 7 installed. It was in an old conference room that we didn’t know about or probably forgot about.”

Network Glue adds value to CoreTech’s daily processes, as Frank describes. “We often get cryptic ticket information, like “it’s acting funny” or “this machine has a problem”. One of the first thing that we do is to diagnose by understanding which device, the location, and the problem. With Network Glue, I can quickly jump right into it. I can see where the device sits and the connections. This really provides us with the context to troubleshoot quickly.”

This same context is provided to on-call technicians, who not only work remotely but also rotate, and so may not be familiar with everything about a given client. At least, that was the situation before CoreTech deployed Network Glue. “Network Glue gives us the context so the on-call techs can easily zone in on devices and the information they need to very quickly know what’s going on.”

For CoreTech, the value of Network Glue extends beyond service, too. “Our account management team really likes it. We meet with clients every couple of months to present them with what’s going on with the network and present them with options on how to improve. ” The visibility provided by Network Glue makes the account management team’s job that much easier. Like, say, recommending turfing those Windows 7 machines.

Every MSP wants to deliver the best service possible, but anybody who has been in IT knows that providing the best service is not just a matter of wanting to do so. Excellent service depends on having the right information at your fingertips, and the right tools to get that information to you in a format your team can use.

Network Glue has helped CoreTech deliver an exceptional service experience to its clients. The benefits of Network Glue were evident immediately.

To learn how Network Glue can deliver these benefits to your MSP, give us a call, or sign up to express your interest in Network Glue today.