How Do I Start Documenting?#
Are you facing the question of how to start your IT documentation? You are not alone. The most important insight upfront: You don't have to document everything at once. Start with what brings you the greatest benefit and build from there.
Clarify Your Goals#
Before you create the first object in i-doit, answer these questions:
- Why are you documenting? Compliance requirement, better overview, preparation for an audit?
- For whom is the documentation? Admins in day-to-day operations, management for decision-making, external auditors?
- What has the highest priority? Servers and networks? Locations and rooms? Licenses and contracts?
The answers determine where you start and how detailed you go.
Choose Your Approach#
Most i-doit users start with one of these approaches:
Locations first (top-down)#
Start with the physical infrastructure: buildings, rooms, racks. Then fill the racks with servers and network components. This quickly creates a clear location structure.
- Create locations: Building > Floors > Rooms > Racks
- Active components: Place servers, switches, firewalls in racks
- Network: Document IP networks, VLANs, and port connections
Automatic inventory (bottom-up)#
Let JDisc Discovery or a CSV import do the work. Import existing data from network scans or Excel lists and then enrich them in i-doit.
- Scan the network with JDisc or prepare data via CSV
- Perform the import into i-doit
- Manually add locations and relationships
Our Tip
Start with 80% coverage in good quality instead of aiming for 100%. A well-maintained documentation with the most important systems is more valuable than a complete one that nobody keeps up to date.
Adopting Existing Data#
Do you already have data in Excel, another tool, or a network scanner? i-doit offers several ways to adopt this data:
| Source | Import method | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|
| Excel/CSV | CSV data import | Locations, contacts, clients, any lists |
| Network scan | JDisc Discovery | Servers, switches, printers, software |
| LDAP/AD | LDAP directory | Users and groups |
| Other CMDB | API (JSON-RPC) | Programmatic migration |
Plan Ongoing Maintenance#
Documentation is only as good as its currency. Think about the following from the start:
- Who maintains what? — Define responsibilities. The network team maintains switches, the server team maintains VMs.
- When is it updated? — With every change? Weekly? With every change process?
- Automatically or manually? — Regular JDisc scans and cronjobs keep many things automatically up to date.
i-doit as the leading system
When i-doit covers the complete lifecycle of an IT component — from planning through commissioning to decommissioning — it becomes the central system that all other tools align with.
Next Steps#
- IT documentation checklist — All important points at a glance
- installation — Install i-doit
- First login — Your first login
- Basics — Understand objects, categories, and attributes
Need support getting started? Our partners offer workshops and consulting packages for the onboarding phase. Or contact us directly at help@i-doit.com.