Importance of Network Documentation

• Network Documentation
  Documentation is important from the standpoint of helping you to remember what was done.

  I've completed projects that I thought were going to be a one time job. A year or two later, the customer has called me back to do something else. There's no way I'm going to be able to remember exactly how the customer's network was set up or what I did for them a couple of years ago. Having good documentation has allowed me to review the customer's network (as it existed of the time of my last visit) so that I don't embarrass myself at the customer's site.
  Good documentation also serves to protect you. It's been my experience that once you touch a customer's network, the customer naturally assumes that anything that goes wrong from that point on is related to something you did (whether it is true or not). The problem with this is that if your customer has a major system crash, they may attempt to pursue litigation against you, even if the crash was not your fault. This sounds a little far-fetched, but remember that you know more about the customer's network then they do. If that wasn't the case, then they wouldn't have called you in the first place. As such, the customer may lack the skills to tell the difference between a crash that is related to something that you've done and a crash related to something else.
  If the customer does attempt to take legal action, then your documentation will likely be your best defense. Thorough and well-written documentation will not only show which parts of a customer's network you modified, it also provides evidence that you adhere to industry best practices.

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  What to document
  Actual documentation contents will vary greatly depending on the type of job, but here are a few things that might be appropriate to include:

  1. A network diagram (network topology, Active Directory layout, etc.)
  2. A list of the computer names and IP addresses
  3. Supporting documentation for software licenses purchased, along with documentation showing who the installation disks were given to at the end of the project
  4. Receipts for hardware purchases
  5. A detailed description of any configuration procedures used (group policy settings, user account configurations, VPN configurations, etc.)
  6. The names and contact information of any one that you worked with on the project, as well as notes about the roles they played in the project (who approved what, etc.)
  7. If your client has invested a significant amount of money in new hardware, you might even take some photographs that you can use as proof that the hardware was given to the client.

  The items on this list can also be used to refamiliarize yourself with the customer's network should they eventually want you to perform more work. You may find though that you have to do additional types of documentation not so much for your own benefit, but for the benefit of your client.
  Anytime you perform work for a customer, it's important to document what you've done. The level of documentation required will vary greatly depending on the type of work and your customer's skill level. In any case, your documentation should be comprehensive enough that you could use it to defend yourself should your customer take legal action against you.

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Kazeem Adegboyega provides consulting services to companies. He also regularly instructs in workshops on courses such as CCNA, MCSE, Oracle and other technical courses. Feel free to drop him a line at kazman@theikons.com.