NetworkTigers discusses the importance of network management for business continuity.
Effective network management is essential to the smooth running of your business. Nowadays, enterprises require high-speed networks to support cloud technologies and a growing number of connected devices. Unfortunately, network components can fail due to software misconfigurations, hardware issues, and cyber attacks, making network management critical to businesses.
What is network management?
Network management involves troubleshooting and monitoring your network to implement necessary upgrades and changes. It includes the software that runs on your network like networking services and protocols, as well as your network’s physical components like cables, switches, and routers.
The most crucial task of network management is monitoring your network for potential threats and taking measures to prevent and solve them. Network management is centered around the administration, oversight, and setting up of all the components, services, and users that keep your company operational. It also involves network provisioning to support specialized requirements, bandwidth allocation, rolling out updates, and server installations.
A managed IT services provider or an in-house IT administrator can facilitate all these processes to ensure your network performs efficiently. Administrators should ensure all information on the network is protected from modification or unauthorized access.
Why network management is crucial for your business
The productivity levels of your workforce can be impacted if they use outdated network management systems. Fortunately, you can monitor your network capabilities through regular network maintenance. You can avoid issues that may affect productivity levels, stay ahead of potential threats and achieve better results through the maintenance administered by network specialists. Effective network management can help you:
Manage and optimize network performance
A network management plan involves continuously analyzing your infrastructure’s performance to ensure all components are working efficiently. Performance monitoring also allows IT personnel to use automation or manual tools to resolve problems that affect the network negatively and take the necessary steps to troubleshoot them.
Managing and optimizing your network performance in this manner frees administrators, allowing them to focus on projects and tasks that are more essential to your business.
Identify disruptions in your network
Disruptions on your network can cost your business thousands of dollars depending on the applications and services involved due to downtime. Additionally, loss of network availability can ruin your reputation if it affects customers. Comprehensive network management can help identify issues that could impact availability on the network and performance.
Disruption monitoring is important as it can help administrators implement measures to prevent such disruptions from causing issues in the future.
Enhance security
Performance monitoring and network management activity logging provides IT staff with real-time and advanced warnings of malicious activities that do not align with business security protocols and policies. Servers with remedial tools and powerful security software can prevent cyberattacks by blocking suspicious activities.
Maintain anticipated service levels
Tools with real-time reporting capabilities allow IT staff to track performance fluctuations in different network components’ performance levels for a certain duration. This data can be used with tools and alerts for disruption remediation to maintain proper or agreed service levels for network applications and assets.
Allocate network resources properly
Network management involves calculating the resource demands of several network components and offering mechanisms to ensure the resources are available when needed. The management plan should also ensure the resources are enough to meet future demands.
Benefits of network management
Network management can benefit your organization if you have an MSP on board or highly skilled system administrators. Below are some advantages of network management:
Minimizes cyber security risk
Your company can minimize its exposure to attacks if you have a strong network security framework. Anti-malware software, email filtering, and next-generation firewalls, such as Palo Alto Networks Firewalls build a robust perimeter that blocks criminals from infiltrating your network and accessing sensitive information.
Comprehensive network security helps you avoid downtime events and security breaches that can lead to reputational damage and data loss. It also mitigates threats on employee devices and protects user privacy.
Gives you complete oversight over your network
Full oversight of your network infrastructure enhances your network performance, making your organization more efficient. For example, you can assess standard system performance to help you discover problems that may cause downtime. You can also track your network health assets to know when to replace outdated network equipment and update software.
Full visibility over your network also enables you to properly allocate network resources to the devices and applications that require them, like communication platforms and data analytics.
Boosts network uptime
Connectivity issues arising from misconfigured software, security breaches, faulty network hardware, or even power outages can cripple your business. For instance, your workforce may not access business resources and applications, which can impact your organization’s bottom line and productivity.
Network downtime can also result in service disruptions and data loss that lead to unhappy customers. Network management helps your enterprise prevent these risks with responsive maintenance service and powerful monitoring tools that enable administrators to identify problems like abnormal network traffic and solve them before causing downtime.
How NetworkTigers can help your business
Managing your network is crucial as it ensures your company runs smoothly. If you are looking for a managed IT services provider that offers a wide range of network management services, get in touch. NetworkTigers has a team of experienced professionals who can analyze your network and make it run efficiently. From security to network administration, we can assist you in implementing an optimized network that suits your business needs. Call us now for a consultation.
