While often overlooked, strong IT documentation can be the difference between hours, potentially days, of downtime and a smooth operation. To avoid these costly missteps, IT leaderships and MSPs are turning to IT documentation software to record data and process contextual information that can be used to improve IT infrastructures and compliance.
In this blog post, we’ll go into detail about how IT documentation can be leveraged to imporve organizational efficiency and accelerate the deployment of updates and fixes to end-users. But first, let’s understand the difference between IT documentation and IT documentation software.
What is IT Documentation?
IT documentation is a centralized accounting of all of the devices, software, directory structures, user profiles, data, and frameworks used to manage and organize an IT environment. This documentation can be distilled into many forms but should tell you what something is, how something is done, why it’s done that way, and when something is supposed to happen.
What is IT Documentation Software?
IT documentation software refers to the actual tools used to conduct the documentation or automate some steps. Tools range in complexity from relatively simple and free solutions like Google Docs or OneNote to more specialized solutions like NinjaOne IT Documentation or IT Glue. Open-source solutions like Bookstack are also options.
Getting an IT documentation software is a no-brainer
Across every industry, we’re seeing a rapid increase in new devices coming online, new software being used, and new security concerns demanding modern solutions. With such complex environments to manage, poor documentation can translate to poor IT, which also stumps growth and reduces efficiency.
With that said, modern problems require enhanced tools and strategies, and many IT documentation software today are easy to use, accessible for stakeholders, and much more actionable.
Some of the key benefits of IT documentation software include:
- Cost Savings: Whether it’s savings from time spent on new employee onboarding or efficiencies due to a standard operating procedure, IT documentation has a direct impact on an organization’s bottom line. The cost of IT documentation software is worth it for the positive benefits it offers.
- Improved Support Operations: When a technician can access a record of past actions taken on a device or view what a normal state should look like, their job is made easier and the end-user experience is improved. Many IT documentation software providers offer an API to extract data which can then be used by support teams and other platforms. Others have natively integrated IT documentation into support operations, such as Ninja Ticketing.
- Integrated Security: Proper IT documentation can be a valuable tool for improving an organization’s security hygiene by documenting patching schedules and instructions, storing passwords and admin credentials, and setting up security checks throughout a process, among other things. Bringing your IT infrastructure up to standard not only contributes to achieving operational benchmarks and meeting ICT goals, it also helps maximize resources and bring new growth opportunities.
IT documentation software is necessary for industry compliance
Many industries are already subject to stringent standards when it comes to documentation and reporting. Let’s look at some scenarios where IT documentation can help bridge the gap between you and these regulatory requirements.
Internal audits
Industries such as pharmaceuticals, hospitality, finance, and IT services are subject to strict international standards. A high-quality documentation and reporting structure will will help expedite auditing and reduce the risk of oversight among your ranks. It will also keep quality control at a high level, which is the subject of various ISO compliance requirements.
Data security
New standards (e.g., GDPR, DORA) are being introduced to continue to reinforce data security, especially in industries that handle sensitive customer information. It’s impossible to meet these international guidelines without strong IT documentation protocols. More so if you lack the IT documentation software to keep up.
Project management
Industries that frequently work with numerous stakeholders and third-party services will greatly benefit from a modern IT documentation software. Apart from being able to organize assets and automate certain tasks, advanced documentation will improve collaboration and transparency between stakeholders.
Common IT Documentation Challenges
The benefits of IT documentation can’t be understated. The time and efficiency savings of good documentation can easily pay for itself but getting it right requires overcoming some common challenges.
Incomplete documentation
There’s nothing more frustrating than referencing a piece of documentation and then finding out that only half of the steps were documented.
Even worse, not having any documentation in the first place. In either case, technicians end up spending their time and resources creating new documentation and recreating the wheel to find a workable solution.
A new IT documentation software can standardize processes and automate certains steps in documentation, which can help free up IT specialists to take on more urgent tasks.
Outdated or low-quality documentation
In a similar vein, another documentation challenge that IT pros will run into is out-of-date documentation.
This usually occurs when teams fail to periodically review and edit documentation to reflect new standards such as patching schedules, approved software, or configurations for setting up a new user.
Both of these challenges can contribute to a negative feedback loop of low trust in the reporting and validation process, and therefore less active management and collaboration in creating high-quality documentation.
Popular IT Documentation Software
There are multiple IT documentation software vendors in the market today, each with its own strengths that will appeal to different organizations. However, some of the qualities that rise among top vendors are ease of use, customizability, and accessibility. Here are some popular IT documentation software vendors to consider:
NinjaOne Documentation
Built into NinjaOne’s core platform, NinjaOne Documentation is a full-fledged IT documentation solution that provides a seamless documentation experience. NinjaOne allows users to document everything within their IT environment in a standardized, structured form to easily collect and use data. To make it easier for users to start documenting critical information, NinjaOne provides out-of-the-box documentation templates for active directory, security, and vendor management. Documentation data is accessible via scripts and the NinjaOne API.
IT Glue
IT Glue is a dedicated IT documentation software solution that integrates into many popular RMM and PSA platforms*. IT Glue helps users find, track, and manage all knowledge within an IT environment. The company is owned by Kaseya.
IT Boost
Another IT documentation tool commonly used by IT pros and MSPs, IT Boost is owned by ConnectWise and integrates into the leading RMM and PSA platforms*. IT Boost also offers multiple avenues for documenting and tracking the IT environment and offers additional features like asset discovery and VoIP integrations to help document support operations.
*NinjaOne has integrations with both IT Glue and IT Boost.
Free & Open Source Documentation Software Alternatives
For those just starting their IT documentation journey or looking for a lower-cost alternative, there are many options. While free and open-source documentation software may not have the specialized templates and features of IT documentation software, they can still offer immense value for creating a repository of company knowledge. Here are two popular alternatives:
DocuWiki
DokuWiki is a simple-to-use and highly versatile Open Source wiki software that doesn’t require a database. The ease of maintenance, backup, and integration makes it an administrator’s favorite. Built-in access controls and authentication connectors make DokuWiki especially useful in the enterprise context and the large number of plugins contributed by its vibrant community allow for a broad range of use cases beyond a traditional wiki.
Bookstack
BookStack is a simple, self-hosted, easy-to-use platform for organizing and storing information. The platform divides documentation into three categories: Books, Chapters, and Pages. All documentation is fully searchable and easily interconnected.
Conclusion
IT documentation can’t be ignored if your goal is to increase IT efficiency and productivity. Without documentation, patching schedules could be missed, important server configurations could be lost, and it can take new hires more time to get up and running.
In today’s modern IT environment, good documentation is the backbone of any organization and a key requisite for growth. To continue meeting the needs of today’s businesses, specialized IT documentation software has emerged to streamline and automate important parts of the documentation process while making the data more usable.
Ready to start documenting your IT environment? Watch a demo or sign up for a free trial of NinjaOne and start using NinjaOne Documentation today.
