The importance of implementing new technology is highly topical. However, this only works when it aligns with your business needs. Adopting for the sake of it without considering how it aligns with your requirements can actually end up wasting your investment and leave you trailing behind the competition.
Your enterprise network and connectivity are the building blocks of your entire technology infrastructure, so it is especially important to get this right. This enables you to replace ineffective technology with scalable systems that increase productivity and enhance user experiences for you, your staff, and your customers.
What is an enterprise network?
An enterprise network refers to the IT infrastructure that organisations use to connect users, devices, and applications. They are typically composed of local area networks (LANs) that connect to wide area networks (WANs), and the cloud.
The primary purpose of your enterprise network is to provide a reliable connection that supports your objectives and operations, delivering reliable and secure digital services to staff, customers, and partners. Unlike the internet and smaller-scale networks, enterprise networks are only open to those within the organisation, limiting connectivity to specific users and devices.
Important functions like data exchanges, business processes, critical applications, and more all depend on your enterprise network. That’s why it needs to be configured appropriately to support the way you work.
The importance of a well-performing enterprise network
So, what happens when you don’t have a business network that supports your operations? There are several ways your organisation may be affected, including:
Decreased productivity
An overloaded enterprise network is a slow enterprise network. If its speeds and capacities aren’t built to keep up with your devices and applications, it can create lags that slow down workflows, decreasing employee productivity. Everything from slow file transfers to video buffering during virtual meetings can result in wasted time and ultimately frustrate your team.
Increased security risk
Enterprise network security is important. When this isn’t accounted for, your organisation’s internet will be the source of security vulnerabilities that expose your business to data breaches, malware infections, or ransomware attacks. This can result in sensitive information being compromised, financial losses, and even legal consequences if the attack breaches data and privacy regulations.
Customer service impacts
Service delivery and customer experience is one of the most critical aspects of running a business. A sluggish network can impact this. It may take too long to respond to queries, information can be lost, and it’s harder to uncover ways to improve experiences. This can lead to dissatisfaction and even drive customers to competitors who provide better service and reliability.
Higher costs
An unreliable business network is prone to outages and downtime. This results in revenue loss and can even impact your business’ reputation. Additionally, the cost to maintain a poor-performing enterprise network adds up. If you are constantly investing in patches, upgrades, and additional IT support to keep things running smoothly, you are forced to divert your budget away from future planning and growth.
Failure to keep up
These days, your business must be built for the future. That means your network must be able to scale with you and accommodate your growing needs. If your enterprise is unable to do this, it can hinder your expansion efforts, limit opportunities for growth, and ultimately leave your trialling behind the competition.
What to consider when optimising your enterprise network
With these impacts in mind, here are the things to think about when making sure your business network is set up to support you.
Security
Security must always be at the top of your list. Firewalls, intrusion detection, VPNs, and encryption are all tools that can help protect your enterprise network from cyber threats. You should also implement policies around regular firmware and software updates to patch vulnerabilities as soon as possible.
Number of users
How many users do you expect to be operating on your enterprise network? When things are set up to support the number of users who will actually be operating on your enterprise network, it creates better user experiences that ultimately increase your business performance.
Speed and bandwidth
Your speed and bandwidth requirements generally depend on what you are primarily using your network to do. For example, if your business is often transferring large files, you will need fast upload and download speeds.
It also helps to understand the bandwidth requirements of the applications you’re using. With cloud platforms, AI, and IoT applications, you will need bigger bandwidths to support their functions.
Future proofing
Make sure your enterprise network can account for growth. It needs to expand with your business, technology, devices, and users. Be sure to partner with a tech services provider who can easily upgrade your enterprise connectivity and network configurations to suit the nature of your operations.
SD WAN
SD WAN is a great tool for network management, helping enhance efficiencies and reduce costs, while offering zero-touch provisioning, and tightened security. It can also help prevent congestion, latency, and dropouts that impact the performance of business applications. Plus, it can ensure seamless integration of cloud services with your network.
Mobile devices
With the rising use of mobile devices in business, your enterprise network needs to be set up to support them. It helps to enlist the services of mobility experts who can put together solutions that help you make the most of your cellular enterprise network.
Get your enterprise network working smarter with Rubicon 8
Rubicon 8 are the experts when it comes to supporting business’ digital adoption. We offer a range of services and solutions that help ensure your enterprise network is operating at its peak and supporting your operations so you are positioned for growth. Find out more, and reach out today.
