Research Paper: Devising a Network Management Plan and Security Plan for HandMade Furniture Ltd

Introduction

A network management and security plan is an important element for any organization information system (Andres, 2004). In the case of HandMade Furniture the organization lacks a formal network management and security plan which makes the organization IT systems highly vulnerable to external and internal cyber-attacks which could lead in the loss of data or a compromise of the organization communication channels. New technological developments poses new risks to organizations such as HandMade Furniture LTD which necessitates the creation of a new network management plan that will increase accountability by the network users within the organization. This paper will establish a network management plan and security plan for HandMade Furniture Ltd which will take note of the new organization IT components and features changes which poses new threats to the organization as well as mitigating the risks previously established in the organization network and information technology platform.

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New Changes and Potential Risks Posed to HandMade Furniture LTD

HandMade Furniture LTD seeks to introduce key changes in its information technology platform by upgrading its internet connection and the PC operating system and Microsoft Office suit (Liang & Bi, 2012). The team leaders will be issued with wireless enabled personal computers and the staff will be allowed to bring and use their devices to access the work wireless network. All the new changes poses new threats to the organization existing information network and it is necessary to carry out a risk assessment and create a management and security plan that mitigates the new established challenges (Andres, 2004).

Wireless Network Risks

HandMade Furniture LTD is faced by new network security and management challenges for introducing a wireless network in the organization. Despite the convenience and the advantages of using a wireless network due to the wide range and the high number of devices that can access the organization network at a time there are a number of vulnerabilities that the organization should guard against (Liang & Bi, 2012). There is a high probability for the unauthorized individuals to access the network which puts the organization information in jeopardy. In the wireless network data interception is easy because all it is needed is inserting a wireless broadband in any of the system ports which will automatically allow information broadcasting (Liang & Bi, 2012). This significantly affect the organization employees and leaders privacy in their conversations and puts the organization confidential information at risk. Besides, malicious individuals can externally jam the organization wireless transmission which can interfere with the organization decision making.

When the network is jammed internal organization communication is unusable which means that by default the wireless network in unsecure and there is need to initiate a network management and security approach to mitigate all the potential security challenges and promote the wireless network efficiency within the organization (Andres, 2004). Network intrusion in a wireless network can significantly compromise the organization decisions when the hackers create an access point which lets any station access the network and the internet. Due to this nature of the unsecured wireless networks the hackers have an advantage into accessing the organization network.

Network Management Issues within the new HandMade Furniture Wireless Network

In the new organization network there is need for new data management systems to manage cloud based information system and the new organization leader's communication to promote accountability and security within the organization. There is need to create new organization channels of communication and responsibilities which will be key towards securing the organization information security (Andres, 2004). The new network management plan will help establish the different roles and responsibilities towards the organization information systems. This will be key in preventing confusion and information channel within the organization which is key towards achieving a good organization network system.

Network Management Plan for Handmade Furniture LTD

It is imperative for an organization to possess a good network management plan to promote sustainability and information safety within the organization network and access points such as personal computers designated to the organization leaders (Andres, 2004). Lack of proper procedures and policies makes an organization vulnerable to potential risks which are hard to manage in the absence of a proper functioning management plan (Longman, 2002). The fact that HandMade Furniture LTD is upgrading the organization systems and creating a new internet connection system increases the vulnerabilities and the need for management plan (Liang & Bi, 2012). A network refers to a collection of components such as hardware, software, links, bridges, hosts, routers, and devices that are used within an organization to share and access information. The different components creating an organization network require proper management to ensure that they provide the organization with a seamless information flow (Longman, 2002). According to the International Organization for Standards there are five major areas of network management which include; performance management, fault management, configuration management, security management and accounting management (Cohrs & Miller, 1990).

Figure: Network Components (Longman, 2002).

Aims and Objectives of the Management Plan

The primary aim of creating a network management plan for HandMade Furniture LTD is tor provide a comprehensive network management system for the organization to promote positive organization outcomes for the organization and its stakeholders who are using its network. The network management plan should ensure maximum information gathering and dissemination of information while facilitating proper use of information within the organization. The network management plan will ensure that the organization is prepared to deal with security incidents and ensure uninterrupted access and collection of information by all of the organization partners and stakeholders (Andres, 2004).

Organizational Fault Management

Network management requires the ability of the organization to continuously detect problems in the organization programs and initiate corrective measures to keep the network in running of the system. The fault management elements involves the trouble shooting components, notification system, and the management platform. The network management teams are responsible for managing organization teams and can be able to create a topology map which can be used in the organization operations (Longman, 2002). Establishing the faults on the network helps to enhance the network operations through the use of components such as trivial file transfer protocol and also helps to create a system log that continuously aid the server in trouble shooting the server components which is key in identifying and isolating the systems that are faulty. Fault management and the performance management are almost similar but the difference is that whereas the performance management is longterm the fault management is short term and involves immediate response to the network problems such as the failure of a router, link or host within the network and seeks to restore normalcy and continuous use of the network (Longman, 2002).

Network Configuration Management

In an organization network like the HandMade Furniture configuration of different devices and components within the network is necessary to ensure that the network remains operational (Cohrs & Miller, 1990). Configurations management of the network involves constant monitoring with the aim of establishing the configuration information which is key towards proper network operations and security (Andres, 2004). The hardware and the software elements are properly assessed to ensure that the operation standards, management of files and the inventory within the systems are carried out properly. The increasing number of devices that will be able to access HandMade Furniture LTD network increases the need for proper management protocol due to the new wireless network components. The configuration management ensures that the devices such as the printers and the personal computers being in use different departments continues to function optimally and does not cause a data breakdown (Longman, 2002). Therefore, configuration management ensures proper and continuous communication between different organization systems which is key towards team work and information sharing by different organization employees (Jansen, Brinkkemper, & Finkelstein, 2013). As such, configuration is necessary and the role of the administrator to ensure that there is constant monitoring and review of all configurations which can also help to discern any intrusion within the system (Cohrs & Miller, 1990).

Security Protocol Management within the Organization Systems

In a large organization such as HandMade Furniture LTD with many employees with access to the organization network it is important to create access denials based on the level of the employee which promotes security and helps the organization to guard against both internal and external stakeholders (Longman, 2002). Offering controlled access to the organization data base helps to keep track of the different people within the organization who are accessing the organization systems as well as the organization continuous need for security and data protection. In HandMade Furniture LTD, the organization should create access codes which should be distributed to the employees with access authorization to monitor the access on the organization network which excludes internal and external access that has not been authorized (Longman, 2002). The IT team should continuously offer support to the employees to ensure that they are able to access information and also to collect and store information in relevant formats and locations based on the information priority. Security management plan should be accompanied by a security policy that regulates relationships and interactions with the network and the employees to prevent potential malpractices which can create a security vulnerability (Jansen et al., 2013). The administrator should ensure that firewalls are active within the network to control all the external access points to the network especially now that the organization has decided to start using wireless connectivity.

Accounting Management

HandMade Furniture should create an accounting management systems which will help the organization to account for all the systems information which creates a reporting framework that helps to track the different resources within the organization systems and how they are being utilized (Longman, 2002). Network management within an organization is a long term process that ensure performance analysis, management of access, software inventory and its management. The network management platform is facilitated by the log information collection, hardware and software management and also connect the users to the servers (Nadeau, 2003). Accountability within the network is in the hands of the administrator who ensures that all the log and control of the user devices within the network are properly managed and allocation of resources within the network is also fully accounted for by the administrator which is key in monitoring the network security sustainably (Jansen et al., 2013).