Understanding the importance of having a reliable and efficient network can be invaluable to the modern day enterprise. It is the backbone of your organization, connecting employees, clients, and partners, and facilitating efficient communication and collaboration. However, to keep up with the ever-evolving technological landscape, you need to ensure that your network is not only optimized for performance, security, and scalability but also regularly upgraded.
Performance & Revenue
One of the primary advantages of upgrading your network is improved performance and productivity. As your business grows your network traffic increases, not just from an increased number of users but from the ever increasing size of applications we use and information we share. This is something we tend to forget about. Interestingly enough Microsofts very first rendition of Windows was just under 1mb in size. Yes you read that correctly, 1 megabyte. Their latest rendition, Windows 11, requires a space of 26gb. That means that the most recent version is 26,000x times bigger than it’s original, which is an astounding level of growth when you stop to think about it. With operating systems, applications and file sizes increasing exponentially and the average annual increase in network traffic being around 30%, it is an absolute necessity to procure the latest in networking hardware to ensure that you can handle the load required and deliver fast, reliable connectivity. With the latest switches, routers, access points, you can greatly increase your bandwidth, reduce latency, and optimize your network traffic.
Moreover, new software applications can enhance your employees’ productivity and efficiency by providing advanced features and tools that are not available on older/legacy hardware. By upgrading your network, you can leverage the power of modern software to streamline your workflows, eliminate redundancies reduce overheads and improve your bottom line.
Upgrading your network can also improve your customer experience. By providing faster and more reliable connectivity, you can ensure that your clients can access your services and products without any delays or downtime. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.
Enhanced Security and Compliance
In today’s digital landscape, cybersecurity threats are becoming more and more sophisticated. Cybercriminals can exploit the most minute of vulnerabilities on your network to gain access and steal sensitive data, disrupt your operations, damage your reputation and cost you a pretty penny. Lat year the total global cost of cybercrime was 8.4 trillion U.S. dollars. Therefore, it is crucial to have a robust and up-to-date security infrastructure that can protect your network from these threats.
By upgrading your network you can implement advanced security technologies that can detect and prevent cyber attacks. You can deploy next-generation firewalls that can inspect network traffic and block malicious packets. You can also use intrusion detection and prevention systems that can monitor your network for suspicious activity and alert your security team.
In addition to cybersecurity, upgrading your network can also help you comply with regulatory requirements and industry standards. For example, if you operate in the healthcare industry, you need to adhere to HIPAA regulations that require you to protect patient data. By upgrading your network, you can implement encryption, access controls, and other security measures that can help you comply with these standards.
Future-Proofing and Scalability
Another crucial element to upgrading is future-proofing and scalability. Technology is evolving at a rapid pace, and what is cutting-edge today may be obsolete tomorrow. Therefore, you need to ensure that your network is flexible and adaptable to meet your future needs.
By upgrading your network you can ensure that your infrastructure is scalable and can accommodate your growth. For example, you can deploy virtualization technologies that can enable you to run multiple operating systems and applications on a single server, reducing your hardware costs and increasing your agility. You can also implement software-defined networking (SDN) that can enable you to manage your network centrally and dynamically allocate resources based on your needs.
Future-proof your infrastructure with the latest networking advancements, enabling you to leverage emerging technologies, such as automated IoT device security, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and cloud computing. These technologies can provide new opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and competitiveness, and you need a network that can support them.
To summarise, by keeping your network up to date you can reduce overheads, increase revenue, improve customer engagement, enhance security, improve employee performance and increase scalability. Upgrading your network is not just an option but a necessity for your business to stay on top in the ever evolving technological landscape of today.
By David Brown
JT Tech