Your network, simplified. Three of the key areas for network maturity

As technologies continue to emerge in the marketplace, businesses are faced with the challenge of figuring out how to get the most value out of new tech investments. One of the biggest challenges in today’s data and cloud-driven environment is to ensure that the network infrastructure can support the load of these new technologies.

A business or enterprise network is a complex beast that really requires the input of a professional (at the very least) in order to be as effective as possible. If you’re a business leader trying to figure out which areas of your network you need to invest in, read on for our top 3.

Your network, simplified. Three of the key areas for network maturity:

Bandwidth

Jakob Nielsen’s Law of Internet Bandwidth states that a user’s bandwidth usage increases by 50% every year. His hypothesis is based on 36 years of personal research & data analysis. This is supported by the fact that in 2015 the FCC re-defined the term “Broadband” to consist of minimum download speeds of 25 Mbps, up from 4 Mbps in the 2010 definition – an average annual increase of about 45% over 5 years.

Many businesses don’t bother to increase their bandwidth until it simply can’t be avoided anymore. Productivity is down, employee frustrations are skyrocketing, and your margins are actually suffering – because of slow internet. This is not an exaggeration. If a user’s bandwidth truly increases at a rate of 50% per year, then a business must be continually re-evaluating its connectivity solution and its ability to support the business for the long term.

Many providers have already identified this trend and now offer scalable bandwidth solutions for businesses, which are easily upgraded when the time is right.

Security

As a business, you want to protect your data and assets from accidental or malicious loss or damage (obviously). A mature network is one that is protected against physical and cyber attacks, accidents, corruption, etc. Network security is the way in which your company protects its network from such forces – through the combined implementation of hardware and software.

The effective adoption of network security is simple in theory – develop a policy, enforce it, and audit regularly. Of course, the initial development and enactment of that policy is where things get dicey. We recommend consulting or hiring a security expert to develop your network security policy, to ensure that your valuable data is always protected.

Agility

In addition to more robust bandwidth solutions, many organizations are looking for agility from their networks. The ability to access additional bandwidth during periods of mass data transfers – or other activities that increase the load on a network – is highly sought after by technical teams across the world. Software-defined solutions (SD-WAN) and network virtualization are carving a new path in the networking world, allowing for custom solutions that are quick, secure, and even smart.