IT Documentation Means Anyone Can Control the Matrix

Don’t worry about the vase,” the Oracle says in a key scene from The Matrix. She’s all-knowing and all-seeing, an omnipotent program with seemingly endless ability to understand how the Matrix functions.

And in this moment she’s standing in a kitchen, looking like someone’s grandmother, baking cookies.

“What vase?” Neo, dubbed The Chosen One, asks. He turns to look for the vase and, just like that, knocks it to the floor, where it shatters.

“That vase,” the Oracle says, a smile breaking across her face.

“How did you know?” Neo asks, clearly astonished.

“What’s really going to bake your noodle later on,” she replies, “is would you still have broken it if I hadn’t said anything?”

Watching The Matrix, you always get the feeling that the Oracle knows how everything works and what’s going to happen. But she isn’t exactly telling.

Many businesses run into this same problem as a result of poor IT documentation. They become reliant on a single technical individual or IT services team’s specialized knowledge of their network in order to remain operational.

Wouldn’t it be nice if anyone you charged with the care and management of your network had access to Oracle-level insight?

With properly maintained IT documentation and a well-detailed knowledge base to consult, they can.

Good Information Can Turn Your Techs Into Network Ninjas

Your business’s success depends on your ability to document the knowledge that makes it function. Specifically, documentation of every solution, configuration and process involved in operating your IT network and a knowledge base.

A knowledge base is different from network documentation. It’s a catalog of every IT issue ever encountered, and how it was resolved. It provides a searchable method for addressing IT issues that may have previously occurred so that they can be taken care of faster.

This may include answers to problems with servers, switches, routers, firewalls, desktops, laptops, mobile devices, printers, software… EVERYTHING involved in your IT.

In The Matrix, Neo learns by downloading information that makes him an instant expert. Kung Fu skills, weapons skills, even the ability to fly a helicopter.

Think of your IT documentation and knowledge base as an entire set of programs that can be used to become a master of your IT.

It won’t teach your employees to fight or fly, but it will help them to keep your IT functioning should you lose or do away with your resident IT expert.

The Risks of Failing to Create IT Documentation

Throughout the Matrix, dark forces pursuing Neo want to imprison him because of his ability to access and engage with the matrix on deep levels.

We see businesses held hostage in a similar way all the time. When they lose their IT professional, they often discover they have no documentation of their IT network.

This puts the entire company in the dark and at risk should even seemingly minor aspects of their IT start to malfunction.

Often, even when they bring in a new IT professional to take over, that person is stuck working backward trying to determine the multi-layered aspects of the network’s configuration.

The best way for businesses to avoid this trap is to make sure their IT technicians are documenting every aspect of the network and its maintenance.

Many companies even find that hiring on a Managed Services Provider (MSP) is a simpler and more cost-effective way to document their network while maximizing every aspect of functionality.

In IT, Don’t Just SEE the Oracle, BE the Oracle

Let’s take it back to that infamous kitchen scene…

“You know what that means?” the Oracle asks Neo, gesturing to a sign hung above the doorway behind him.

Neo turns to look.

“It’s Latin,” she continues, “It means ‘know thyself.’”

Neo nods, but it’s clear he doesn’t understand. He’s not ready to assume his role as The Chosen One just yet.

A good business knows itself and is able to act on that knowledge thanks to its IT documentation. Operating without a working, expanding, accessible knowledge base is the opposite of knowing yourself as a company.

It amounts to failing to capitalize on your own successes.

That’s why creating and maintaining your IT documentation and knowledge database is crucial.

So does your company have access to these two crucial tools? With AnchorSix you would!