What Is Network Management? The 5 Functions of Managing Networks

In our hyper-connected world, the backbone of any successful organization is its network. Yet, managing a network involves far more than simply keeping the lights on. It requires a strategic approach that touches on every aspect of your IT infrastructure.

That’s where the five functional areas of network management come in. They provide a comprehensive framework to ensure your network runs smoothly and is resilient against the unexpected.

Here’s what you need to know about the five functional areas of network management. But first, let’s recap what network management is and why it’s critical to your business.

What is network management?

Network management encompasses all applications, tools, and processes needed to:

• Operate
• Administer
• Provision
• Secure
• Maintain network infrastructure

The overall goal of network management is to make network resources available as effectively and efficiently as possible.

At one time, network management was mainly comprised of computers. However, as technology evolves and organizations use more tools, network management has grown to include these devices: laptops, printers, tablets, and mobile devices — along with the hardware that enables their connectivity.

Network management now encompasses a wide range of tasks and activities. including:

• Design and implementation
• Access control
• Troubleshooting
• Equipment replacement
• Overseeing the end-user experience

The staff that oversees these roles and responsibilities ultimately ensures the smooth operation, security, and accessibility of a network.

Why network management matters

Network management is crucial to ensuring network infrastructures are as efficient and smooth as possible.

Organizational networks leverage thousands of interacting components. These components can be misconfigured, malfunction, become over-utilized, and fail. The right network management software and process will help enterprises respond to the challenges of interacting components by managing, monitoring, and controlling the network.

While network disruptions may be common for enterprises managing thousands of components, they are costly. Downtime costs Global 2000 companies an estimated $400 billion annually, averaging about $9,000 per minute. These losses are often more than financial — businesses experience reputational damage that impacts critical long-term relationships. Slow and unresponsive networks are frustrating for employees and customers alike as staff struggle to respond promptly to customer concerns and requests.

Network management helps businesses avoid these costly disruptions and delays to improve the customer and employee experience with an efficient, secure network. They detect and prevent issues before they become a big problem. Since they catch the issues early, organizations have less downtime and fewer disruptions for everyone involved.

The 5 types of network management solutions

The International Standards Organization (ISO) defined the five main types of network management that encompass the total spectrum of network-related processes known as FCAPS:

• Fault
• Configuration
• Accounting
• Performances
• Security management

Here is a breakdown of each of these:

Fault management

Fault management identifies, isolates, and resolves any abnormal network conditions. Some of the top solutions also keep track of network errors. This enables organizations to pinpoint where errors occur so they can quickly find the root cause and address them. IT administrators can immediately handle router hardware problems such as host and link failures.

Organizations use fault management to repair, find, and document the faults that disrupt network operations. From minor errors that only impact a few systems or employees to catastrophic ones that shut down entire operations, the right fault management solution protects organizations from problems of all sizes.

There are many options when it comes to fault management because it is crucial for network management. Leaders should find one that is compatible with their current hardware and software so that it will integrate with all the crucial systems and applications.

Configuration management

Configuration management oversees network configuration consistency, manages change control, and produces documentation to establish redundancies and backup systems. This level of network management extends beyond merely configuring routers, switches, firewalls, servers, or installing system software. It also involves ongoing tracking, analysis, maintenance, and repair of these systems and devices, ensuring that potential threats can’t exploit the vulnerabilities in your security and data.

These tools help prevent possible incompatibilities between systems or devices, ensuring uninterrupted operation of systems, software, services, and applications.

Typically, manual configuration is ineffective and cumbersome because it requires frequent software updates. Configuration management bypasses this issue to make businesses of all sizes run seamlessly and safely.

Accounting management

Accounting management solutions manage network resources and allocate costs by monitoring user-specific activities. It gives organizations regular tracking and clear documentation of who can access what, which helps find bottlenecks and workarounds. Plus, these solutions make it easier to fix them.

In addition to tracking, accounting management solutions allow businesses to find ways to improve processes. As companies grow, waste often becomes more common. Organizations frequently spend time and money on applications that no one uses or end up in the wrong hands when unauthorized people access them. The software can find these avenues of wasteful spending for leadership.

Also, effective account management plays a crucial role in preventing security threats and data breaches by monitoring user activity, time, and location. This data empowers security admins to proactively address potential cybersecurity threats before they disrupt operations.

Performance management

Performance management assesses and monitors the various network components influencing your network’s overall performance. It allows companies to resolve issues quickly and prevent future ones. The solution analyzes and controls the output and utilization of various network components — from devices to their pathways.

Performance management also gives organizations insights into the health of their networks because they can assess and examine outputs. The solutions help ensure that all aspects of a network function safely and optimize business operations. They analyze critical metrics like packet loss rates, network response times, and link utilizations and regulate servicers, routers, SNMPs, LANs, and other network devices.

Security management

Security management helps stop data breaches and security issues by reviewing security policies, tracking security events, and managing access to network resources. Considering that cybercriminals can breach a network perimeter and access local network resources in 93% of businesses, most organizations are not as safe from cybersecurity threats as they may think.

A network management system isn’t complete without a strong security management solution, which is why ISO considers it a vital part of its framework. A solid security system is essential to protecting your network from:

• Viruses
• Data shutdowns
• Data breaches
• SQL injections
• Password attacks
• Other common cybersecurity threats

Choosing network management tools & solutions

There's a whole range of network monitoring solutions available today, including our industry-leading Splunk monitoring and observability solutions. So how do you know what to look for? 

Active vs. passive monitoring

 First things first is to understand that active and passive monitoring are both available to you. In fact, smart organizations harness both active and passive monitoring.

• Active monitoring, also known as synthetic monitoring, is the proactive monitoring of the performance of networks, applications, and infrastructure. It offers a proactive approach to identifying issues. Active monitoring uses less data, and that data is synthetic (not real), making the activity less resource-intensive. Primary use cases include QoS testing, issue identification, evaluating new hardware,  and benchmarking performance. Think of it as your benchmark so you can better identify future performance anomalies. 
• Passive monitoring, also known as real user monitoring (RUM), uses real data to measure and analyze the performance of networks, applications, and infrastructure. It's monitoring normal, daily business operations. Here, issue identification is reactive — a response to what is happening in real life. The activity requires more resources. Top use cases for passive monitoring include infrastructure health and status monitoring, usage pattern identification, providing personalized user experiences, and intrusion detection systems (IDS).

(Splunk Observability Cloud offers synthetic monitoring, real user monitoring, and much more. It's observability for your full stack.)

Reasons and benefits for network management tools

With greater visibility into what’s affecting the customer experience and what could impact the bottom line, network monitoring software and tools offer many benefits to your organization, including:

• Faster problem-solving (and reduced finger-pointing). Network monitoring software and tools help align the various IT, incident, and support teams around shared goals and common language, making it easier to diagnose root causes. The effect? Lowered mean time to isolation (MTTI) and mean time to resolution (MTTR).
• Performance and security at scale. New devices, ISPs, SaaS and external networks that support business operations mean new dependencies. With monitoring tools that can see all of is, you have reliable and broad oversight of critical components as you innovate and grow.
• Visibility across the entire internet. Keep a virtual eye on all incoming and outgoing traffic. Why? To fully understand what your customers are experiencing and how external servers and services interact with locations important to your operations.
• SaaS monitoring for problem-solving. As SaaS has become the norm for many business applications (think Cisco WebEx, Google Drive, Slack, and plenty others), SaaS monitoring helpd you understand the application level alongside hop-by-hop network performance metrics from user devices, data centers and branch offices for fast, efficient problem-solving.

Functionality and security: Network management for the future of business

Managing networks is critical for business performance and security as networks increasingly serve as the backbone for nearly every operation across organizations. The five functional areas of network management offer a comprehensive approach to ensure your network is not only efficient but also protects your company from threats. By understating and implementing each area, you can minimize downtime, maximize productivity, and safeguard your data.

Because, in the end, it’s not just about keeping your network running — it’s about future-proofing your entire business.