When tasked with keeping track of the network devices in an organization, many IT pros instinctively open a fresh Excel sheet, punch in their assets, and build from there. Others will search for “IT inventory Excel template” or “Managing hardware in Excel” to give them a head start. Spreadsheets are familiar, easy to whip up and scalable… right? Hold on. IT professionals who swapped their spreadsheets for a dedicated Network Inventory solution rarely look back.
Is the official version of your network inventory doc named Asset_List v2_(copy)(copy)(3).xlsx? Do you ever find yourself copying those Cisco switch OIDs manually? If all this sounds familiar, you have been doing machine work. An Automated Network Discovery solution can gather a wealth of knowledge in minutes, while you focus on actual work. Inventory won’t take hours, and there’s no chance of typo’s when entering that OID or serial number.
People make mistakes, and their time is valuable. Your server can collect detailed information for you, without human errors. Focus on managing your IT, rather than your spreadsheets filled with inaccurate network info. Wasting time on “cleaning up” data so it synchronizes properly is a mindless task that is always prone to error. Spreadsheets equal limitations, and at best, help you to list your devices.
It’s fine if you have a hundred laptops on a spreadsheet, you could just about keep track of that. But when all of a sudden it’s decided that you are going to hand out a thousand laptops in the space of three months, it gets a bit tricky.
It’s very hard to keep spreadsheets standardized. Everyone has their own ideas, tastes and methods for them. Even with shared workbooks, you can’t be sure that the info stored in these documents is accessible to other staff and is maintained properly. A centralized Network Inventory solution lets different users access the information they need, in one central system. The database is always consistent, and users with different skill levels and permissions can access that data in the way that suits them.
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