What is Network Documentation?
Network documentation is an online record of a company’s network system that helps IT professionals troubleshoot problems and ensure a smooth-running network. The document has the entire network system clearly explained with a powerful combination of written text, diagrams, and flowcharts. This allows for quick reference and enables the IT staff to spot and fix bottlenecks well in time, without interrupting employees’ work.
What Can a Network Document Do for You?
There are various benefits network documentation can bring to your business. Let’s look at the top ones here.
With online network documentation, your team of IT experts can quickly identify potential issues and the root cause behind them. The document has the most up-to-date details of the company network that allows your IT staff to spot problems, decode them to the core, learn about their impact, and come up with a practical solution on time.
A well-written network document makes work easier for new members of your IT team, who have little to no idea of how your company’s network works. It acts like a centralized information resource that helps them get familiar with the functioning of your network system and other related details.
When network specialists from your IT team leave, they take away the knowledge and insights they have gained during their tenure. Network documentation allows your team to make meaningful contributions from time to time, so the information always stays with you. It also allows you to set privacy controls to safeguard the information from any misuse.
What Should You Include in Your Network Documentation?
About Network Documentation Templates
Network documentation templates are designed to help you put together a robust network document that covers all necessary information your IT team may need for a smooth-working network. With the right template in place, you can kick-start the writing process quickly without worrying about how the document would look or read. This free network documentation template by ProProfs comes with a beautiful structure that includes a table of contents, network-related topic categories, and sub-categories, so you can get started right away.
How to Create Online Network Documentation
Network documentation is a critical company document, so it demands a careful approach from the very start. These five steps will set you in the right direction.
If you want the network documentation to be easy to navigate, this is the first step you need to follow. Decide what all and how many topics you want to add. Accordingly, set up a structure that doesn’t feel too complicated. An online network documentation template can be of huge help here. You can simply tweak the already existing structure to your requirements, and you are good.
As a detailed resource, network documentation demands the collective effort of your IT team. This not only quickens the process but also makes the document a melting pot of the diverse knowledge and insights held by your IT experts. Each member can contribute meaningfully to the document in their own ways and get the content ready faster.
A network document can feel overwhelming with loads of information explained in black and white. Add a hint of color to the document using visuals and turn it into an engaging information resource. Explain your network system, the connected devices, wifi layout, cable plan, cloud services, and other important concepts with relevant diagrams and flowcharts.
While creating network documentation, ensure that every article is reviewed by the key members of your IT and other technical teams before they are taken live. Set up a systematic review process where writers ask for assistance from the right people. When each article is checked for factual accuracy, errors can be fixed on time before the document goes for publishing.
Once the document is published, it’s essential to keep analyzing its performance and updating it with new information. As your network system undergoes changes, they should be clearly recorded in the document from time to time. Use analytics to identify obsolete content and replace that with the latest information. Regular analysis ensures that your IT staff always has the most up-to-date information at their disposal.
How to Use Network Documentation Templates
Network documentation templates are a breeze to use. For example, this template built by ProProfs has everything you need to kickstart the process of creating online network documentation. Just put up your logo, company name, and tweak the template structure to your requirements. It is a fully customizable template that allows you to change its color, alignment, and much more. Next, delete the dummy content and start adding useful information - one topic at a time. With an online network documentation template like this one, creating and publishing a document is just a matter of minutes.
Best Practices for Creating Network Documentation
How smoothly your company operates and employees work depends largely on your network system. Creating a network document of excellent quality is a prerequisite for your company’s network system to work without hitches.
Here are a few actionable best practices that you can follow during the document creation process:
It might seem obvious, but simplicity in language, concepts, and structure is fundamental to creating a comprehensible document. With an appropriate table of contents, clear structure, and to-the-point language, understanding the information provided and putting it to use gets easier for your IT team.
Another important point in this network documentation checklist is to regularly analyze your document for its relevance. It should have sufficient and the most recent information so that anyone accessing your document can easily set up, manage, and work with the network with little to no hassles.
A network document is an important internal company resource. That’s precisely why it should reflect your branding. Modern network documentation software, such as ProProfs Knowledge Base, offers a range of customization options that help you change the color, font, design, and the complete look and feel of the document.
Your IT team should be able to resolve network-related problems from wherever they are. That’s when you will have a smooth-running network 24x7x365 days. Adopt network infrastructure documentation software that helps you publish your network document across the web and mobile for any time, anywhere accessibility.
