As an up and coming IT professional, you are going to have to become familiar with the tools and brands that will take you toward success. Technology is advancing at a rapid pace and you need to keep up! Your knowledge may take you so far but going to the next level requires you to know what is available at your disposal. What should you be using? When should you be using it/them? Who are the brands and companies that you can trust to get the job done? These and many other questions need to be answered if you are going to survive in the 21st century as an IT professional.
Here are some of the tools that you need to know about. The specific software does not matter too much as long as you have a reliable program available. Short of a few applications that might not be cut out for you, most of them will do what you need and provide niche features for specific purposes. 1) A Data Recovery Tool Data management is one of the most important issues that faces IT professionals to this day. With more confidential and sensitive information being placed on newer technology platforms, it is imperative that the information is backed and protected in the event of a security breach and/or a system shutdown. You need a tool like this before you worry about anything else. Most of the programs out there will do what you need, so don’t be too concerned about having to choose between two 5-star rated software programs. 2) A Tool for Managing Information Transfer and Storage Information is going to be distributed at breakneck speeds and it will be your responsibility to keep track of it. There are many file transfer protocol (FTP) programs that can help you build a database from scratch and maintain it over time. Filezilla is an example of a reliable FTP program that is trusted by IT professionals. 3) A Tool for Monitoring and Analyzing Performance As an IT professional, you need to keep a sharp eye on your server at all times. You need to have a tool that will allow you to analyze key metrics and make adjustments where necessary. If you can also analyze the performance of the overall server and individual devices by looking at key metrics and seeing if everything is operating optimally, all the better. 4) A Tool for Maintaining Network Security IT security has been a hot and emerging field in the past decade. Companies will pay good money to consultants and businesses that can protect their network from any outside threats or server malfunction. McAfee and TrendMicro are just examples of major brands that will offer security tools for your server. Once you have chosen a reliable tool (or two) for each of the categories above, you are ready to go! Make sure that you get to know the tools inside and out so that you can be ready to act when a situation arises. A knowledge IT professional that has the right tools at their disposal is virtually unstoppable! There are also a couple of brands that you should know about. You should have some general knowledge of the brands that exist, and a deeper knowledge of the few that consistently produce the highest quality products on the market. Here are two of them as an example: Vertical Cable Vertical Cable is a leading brand when it comes to providing cables with a high degree of performance at an affordable cost to its consumers. Since 2006, they have been cable management products, HDMI cables, home theater accessories, and much more. Middle Atlantic Products Middle Atlantic Products is another great brand that directs its focus toward equipment that helps you organize your home theater and IT network set-ups. They have several mounts and power devices to choose from, all in different sizes and materials. Being an IT professional is not easy – you have to keep up with all of the new developments regarding existing tools and upcoming innovations. The same goes for brands that are rising up in popularity and those that have been around for decades.