Modernizing Endpoint Collection for Improved Security and Operational Efficiency

Endpoints are one of the most common points of vulnerability in any enterprise network. The problem? They’re constantly changing—connecting, disconnecting, or moving—which makes it nearly impossible to keep an accurate inventory or assess exposure using legacy tools. While plenty of endpoint discovery solutions exist, most don’t provide a complete picture of connectivity or risk, and the data they collect often lives in silos, separate from the rest of your network tooling.

This leads to a lot of manual work—and still, gaps remain. Engineers are often forced to pull data from multiple systems just to try and understand what’s connected and whether it poses a threat. It’s a time-consuming, error-prone process.

What teams really need is a single-source-of-truth—one that captures both network devices and all connected endpoints like laptops, printers, cameras, and IoT devices. To support compliance and risk assessments, that data should be discovered and analyzed with minimal manual effort and eventually automatically pushed into platforms like ServiceNow for inventory reconciliation, if needed.

ENDPOINTS:
Any device that connects to and exchanges information with a network, i.e.,laptops, servers, or IoT devices.

It’s not just about efficiency—it’s about maintaining an accurate inventory and strong security posture, staying compliant, and being audit-ready without fire drills or weeks of intensive effort.

Endpoint Collection Today – Tool Sprawl in Action

Right now, most enterprise IT teams rely on a patchwork of legacy tools to manage endpoint data. This includes monitoring platforms and inventory systems through manual processes. While this setup gives some visibility, it leaves a lot of room for error, especially in complex, hybrid, or multi-cloud environments.

This kind of fragmented approach drives up both cost and effort. You end up paying for overlapping tools, storing more data than necessary, and asking engineers to spend time manually reconciling systems. On top of that, endpoints often run multiple agents that can slow down performance.

More and more organizations are realizing that tool consolidation and accurate visibility aren’t just nice to have—they’re essential. And achieving that means moving to a more unified, automated approach powered by a network digital twin.

Forward Enterprise Endpoint Collection Reduces Costs, Saves Time, and Consolidates Tools

Forward Enterprise has long been known for its best-in-class ability to discover network devices and build a highly accurate inventory. Now, that same capability extends to endpoint discovery and collection—capturing everything connected to the network, from IoT devices and controllers to end-user laptops and printers (See Figure 1). Although the platform won’t replace all of the endpoint analysis tools available, it will streamline data analysis and eliminate much of the manual work now taking place.

After discovery and collection, endpoint data is added to the Network Query Engine (NQE) application, thus allowing engineers to quickly check for vulnerabilities and understand connectivity.

This information can be automatically synced with your CMDB, giving you an always-accurate view of the network. That means easier audits, stronger compliance, and less guesswork. Engineers can also tag critical endpoints to simplify monitoring and troubleshooting—no more digging through outdated spreadsheets or jumping between tools.

What You Get with Forward Enterprise Endpoint Collection

Everything is presented in an intuitive, exportable format and designed to plug into your existing workflows:

HOST DISCOVERY

• Identify what’s connected and its role
• Automatically feed data into inventory systems

PROACTIVE DELTA ALERTING

• Tag critical workloads
• Get alerts on changes in the network topology

IN-SYSTEM INVENTORY VERIFICATION

• Compare what Forward sees with DNS, IPAM, CMDB, and other scanners
• Spot discrepancies automatically

AUTOMATED VERIFICATIONS

• Identify critical infrastructure endpoints

Why Forward Networks?

The Forward Enterprise Network Digital Twin delivers customers an average of $14.2 Million in annual benefits by enhancing staff productivity, preventing unplanned downtime, and improving operational efficiency.

Forward Enterprise gathers configuration and L2-L7 state data from network devices and public cloud platforms to create a digital twin of the entire hybrid, multi-cloud network. This digital twin allows you to view the network globally or drill down into individual devices or instances. Acting as a single source of truth, it provides NOC, Cloud, and SOC engineers with the data and insights needed to ensure that security policies are enforced and the network remains reliable. By collecting and analyzing information across all devices and their behavior, Forward Enterprise simplifies critical but tedious tasks, ensuring security posture and compliance are maintained as intended.

Forward Networks’ digital twin supports devices from all major networking vendors and cloud providers, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. This enables network operators to ensure their networks are secure, reliable, and flexible. The data collected and analyzed by the Forward Networks digital twin supports various use cases that keep the network agile and secure, ensuring it behaves as expected.

To see Forward Enterprise in action, request a demo.