{"id":11301,"date":"2025-06-24T17:56:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T17:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/colemandev.directivesites.com\/improve-your-business-with-these-documentation-practices\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T20:07:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T20:07:59","slug":"improve-your-business-with-these-documentation-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/?p=11301","title":{"rendered":"Improve Your Business With These Documentation Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

What Should My Documentation Include?<\/h2>\n

Basically, your documentation should be a complete inventory of all the technology you have, first divided between your hardware and software solutions.<\/p>\n

Hardware<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a lot of information regarding your hardware solutions that you will want to keep a record of, as it will make a lot of processes a lot simpler moving forward.<\/p>\n

Serial\/Model Numbers<\/strong> \u2013 These will help you to ensure that the device you are working on is the one you think it is, in addition to simplifying things for your support team.<\/p>\n

Purchase Dates<\/strong> \u2013 If any of your decisions are going to be based on the age of the device (i.e. whether to repair or replace), knowing how long you have had it will help you to evaluate if you got the value from your investment.<\/p>\n

Warranty Information<\/strong> \u2013 On a related note, knowing the terms of an item\u2019s warranty can help you make the best decision for your business while taking this into consideration.<\/p>\n

Installation Dates<\/strong> \u2013 Let\u2019s say that one of your workstations is acting up. If you knew that it was installed the day before an extended brownout hit your office, this information could help you narrow down the issue.<\/p>\n

Physical Locations<\/strong> \u2013 It is important to know where a device is supposed to be. This makes it easier for the service team to keep it maintained, as well as boosts your security somewhat.<\/p>\n

Device Names<\/strong> \u2013 Having a name for a specific device, aside from the one the manufacturer assigned, adds another level of differentiation.<\/p>\n

IP Addresses<\/strong> \u2013 If you need to find something on your network, knowing the IP address will help immensely.<\/p>\n

Software<\/h3>\n

Just as is the case with your hardware, there\u2019s a lot of information about your software<\/a> to carefully record and track. Make sure you\u2019re establishing the following in your documentation:<\/p>\n

Product Licenses<\/strong> \u2013 Similarly to the serial number, keeping track of your product licenses ensures you are aware of how many copies of a given title you have available to use.<\/p>\n

Purchase Dates<\/strong> \u2013 Again, as with your hardware, knowing when you acquired something helps you find out of your purchase is still under warranty, along with other pertinent details.<\/p>\n

Install Dates<\/strong> \u2013 Once again, if you know when a given software was installed on a system, you\u2019ll know a lot more about it through inference and deduction.<\/p>\n

Subscription Details<\/strong> \u2013 If you maintain a subscription to a software suite or similar tool, keeping track of your subscription details can ensure your ability to use that title.<\/p>\n

Usernames or Registration Emails<\/strong> – Knowing who in your organization is associated with your various software titles can help you log in to a vendor\u2019s website or otherwise receive support later.<\/p>\n

Version History<\/strong> \u2013 Finally, keeping up with your software\u2019s current version in your documentation can help you keep track of where updates are needed, and where you may be susceptible otherwise. Of course, your documentation should outline the proper update procedures as well.<\/p>\n

Why Bother with All This Documentation?<\/h2>\n

Simplicity. Security. Peace of mind.<\/h3>\n

Maintaining your technology will be so much easier with these details recorded for future reference, allowing you to get the maximum value for your investments into IT. For assistance in establishing these processes, or for insights about what we track, give us a call! Our professionals can be reached at (604) 513-9428.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Should My Documentation Include? Basically, your documentation should be a complete inventory of all the technology you have, first divided between your hardware and software solutions. Hardware There\u2019s a lot of information regarding your hardware solutions that you will want to keep a record of, as it will make a lot of processes a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,50,130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-practices","category-managed-service","category-network"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12508,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11301\/revisions\/12508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}