Caregroup Case Study Summary
1. The underlying cause of the collapse of the CareGroup system was a hidden problem with the network architecture that started with the merger in 1996. Over time individual smaller networks had been added by connecting them together with bridges and switches. Little did CareGroup’s IT department know, this flat configuration becomes problematic when there are more than seven connected segments. After seven connections of bridges or switches, communication between networks can drop causing components to have trouble distinguishing their role as a primary or backup. If two components take on the primary role, messages get relayed multiple times in endless loops and the overall network becomes overwhelmed. The CareGroup network had several occurrences
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Bringing in experts. This is a vital lesson and I would add to bring the experts in early especially with merging networks. Having on-site engineers will help CareGroup tremendously.
#2. Do not let any one individual be the sole point of failure. This is important in any organization. All IT employees should be cross trained and current on network maintenance. Also, all users should be given some basic knowledge about how IT works.
#3. Keep your working knowledge current. This is one of the most important lessons in this case. CareGroup was not out-of-date with technology so they could not foresee what would happened. The IT department should set aside funds for trainings on the latest network technology.
#4. Beware of users armed with just enough knowledge to be dangerous. This is not one of the most important lessons because if the network was current (#3) this incident may not have happened. The researcher was not dangerous, but he did make a pretty significant mistake in leaving the program running. It is better to say that all IT experiments should be pre-approved and closely monitored.
#5. Institute rigorous network change control. This could be combined with #4. Proper procedures for any IT adjustment should be clearly outlined and supervised. The research experiment and user changes exacerbated the network …show more content…
There are limits to customer-centric responsiveness. This lesson, while important, seems like it should be part of change control procedures in #5. Change control procedures would include accessing the overall network and a response time when a technology request is made.
#8. Have backup procedures in which you can have confidence. Another very important lesson and it should include ensuring that procedures are communicated to every staff member and that procedures are updated often.
#9. Component redundancy is not enough. This lesson is an extension of #8 because having alternative access methods is part of good backup procedures. CareGroup should have an extensive backup policy that includes alternate networks that could be used with specific actions that are taken in an outage. It would also be a good idea to have outage drills to practice.
#10. Life-cycle-manage your network components. Again, this goes along with the #3 of keeping current. It should be the IT department’s responsibility to perform checks on equipment to verify they are up-to-date and that the components can handle any changes.
To summarize there are basic vital lessons: 1) Have network experts for support. 2) Keep IT knowledge and equipment up to date. 3) Institute proper IT change control and 4) Have an extensive backup
Bringing in experts. This is a vital lesson and I would add to bring the experts in early especially with merging networks. Having on-site engineers will help CareGroup tremendously.
#2. Do not let any one individual be the sole point of failure. This is important in any organization. All IT employees should be cross trained and current on network maintenance. Also, all users should be given some basic knowledge about how IT works.
#3. Keep your working knowledge current. This is one of the most important lessons in this case. CareGroup was not out-of-date with technology so they could not foresee what would happened. The IT department should set aside funds for trainings on the latest network technology.
#4. Beware of users armed with just enough knowledge to be dangerous. This is not one of the most important lessons because if the network was current (#3) this incident may not have happened. The researcher was not dangerous, but he did make a pretty significant mistake in leaving the program running. It is better to say that all IT experiments should be pre-approved and closely monitored.
#5. Institute rigorous network change control. This could be combined with #4. Proper procedures for any IT adjustment should be clearly outlined and supervised. The research experiment and user changes exacerbated the network …show more content…
There are limits to customer-centric responsiveness. This lesson, while important, seems like it should be part of change control procedures in #5. Change control procedures would include accessing the overall network and a response time when a technology request is made.
#8. Have backup procedures in which you can have confidence. Another very important lesson and it should include ensuring that procedures are communicated to every staff member and that procedures are updated often.
#9. Component redundancy is not enough. This lesson is an extension of #8 because having alternative access methods is part of good backup procedures. CareGroup should have an extensive backup policy that includes alternate networks that could be used with specific actions that are taken in an outage. It would also be a good idea to have outage drills to practice.
#10. Life-cycle-manage your network components. Again, this goes along with the #3 of keeping current. It should be the IT department’s responsibility to perform checks on equipment to verify they are up-to-date and that the components can handle any changes.
To summarize there are basic vital lessons: 1) Have network experts for support. 2) Keep IT knowledge and equipment up to date. 3) Institute proper IT change control and 4) Have an extensive backup