How to Improve Your Business’ Network Infrastructure
In today’s hyper-connected world, it has never been more important to maximise your business’ connectivity. Fast and reliable network solutions help keep businesses online and operating efficiently. Unfortunately, networks can be slowed or impeded by a variety of factors. These include slow network speeds, bottlenecks and connectivity. No business wants to find its network lagging behind, as slow networks can make for reduced productivity, missed deadlines and reduced customer satisfaction. But what can be done to improve a business’ network infrastructure?
In this blog from CAB IT Services, we outline key ways to improve your business’ network infrastructure – making sure your business continues to run at its best! For more articles related to IT support and services, take a look at our blog. Articles include Internal vs Outsourced IT Department – What’s Better?, What is Secure Data Destruction and How Does it Work? and How Should your Business Back Up its Data?
Map and Verity Existing Infrastructure
In order to improve your business’ network infrastructure, it is important to first gain a clear and detailed understanding of any existing infrastructure. This might mean reviewing existing inventory, where devices are located and how these devices are interconnected with one another. It is impossible to make changes to a network infrastructure without re-assessing the one currently in place. By conducting a thorough review and gaining an up-to-date view of a network, required changes will become visible more easily than without.
Address Bottlenecks
One slow device can create a ripple effect across the entirety of a business’ network infrastructure. Bottlenecks can be detected by monitoring network traffic – there are a wide variety of tools available to help businesses do this. These include network analysers, bandwidth testers or performance monitors. By comparing the optimal or expected traffic to the actual traffic being seen on your network, sources of congestion can be pinpointed.
In addition to monitoring the network, it may be helpful to check your network configuration for issues such as incorrect routing processes, outdated firmware or even misconfigured firewalls. All of these can result in your network infrastructure not performing as effectively as possible.
Set Expectations for Usage
Without set rules and expectations, it can be easy for employees to impede the smooth running of your network without realising it. For example, if your users are downloading large files, the performance of your network structure could be impacted. For this reason, it is important that a business or organisation has clear policies in place that inform users what the network should and shouldn’t be used for. By doing this, the network is freed up for carrying out business-related tasks.
Reconfigure New Hardware
Often, upgrading your network might include adding new hardware. However, it is important to ensure that any new hardware is effectively connected to all existing devices. Failing to reconfigure new hardware could result in slower speeds or routing issues. In addition to impacting the efficiency of network infrastructure, reconfiguring new hardware can extend the lifespan of your system, which in turn reduces lifetime costs.
For support with reconfiguring hardware, you may wish to reach out to a specialist IT service provider such as CAB IT Services.
Create a Guest Network
From time to time, visitors to your business may require access to your network. Proving a secure, easy-to-access network especially for guests both maximises their experience and reduces the impact of guest usage on wider business proceedings. If guests are able to join a business’ main network, it is possible that the main workforce may experience delays that reduce their productivity. Providing a designated guest network allows user’s network access to remain unimpeded during guest visits.
Compress Your Data
All businesses deal with large amounts of data on a daily basis – the more data you have, the harder your network works to store and retrieve it. Data compression allows businesses to reduce the size of their data, ensuring it is fully transmitted as well as easier to store and retrieve. Compressing data not only makes data quicker to retrieve and transmit, it also reduces the amount of communication bandwidth being taken up by performing such tasks – maximising user experience for the network infrastructure as a whole.
Enable Monitoring
Using 24/7 monitoring methods also helps improve and maintain network infrastructure. Consistent monitoring is key to sustaining a healthy network infrastructure. Monitoring systems allow businesses to keep their mapping up to date – allowing them to more easily identify errors or areas of reduced efficiency.
Managed IT Solutions with CAB IT Services
Without expert advice, maintaining an efficient and effective network infrastructure can be complicated and time-consuming. Here at CAB IT Services, we work to offer our customers support and access to the best IT services. Our range of services include, IT Support, Business Continuity and Office 365/Cloud. Our Business Connectivity Services also include network infrastructure data cabling installation that seeks to provide a network infrastructure that meets the needs and design preferences of your business. We are on hand to offer a range of support to businesses in Bristol and throughout the South West. For more information about how we could help your business, get in touch for bespoke advice.
Telephones / VoIP
CAB IT Connect is a VoIP telephone system hosted within your own private cloud and designed to integrated.
Business Continuity
Recover critical data quickly Should you experience a server failure. Yhe SIRIS can have your Windows or Linux environment and data recreated in minutes from the local device or the Datto Cloud.
Office 365 / Cloud
Office 365 is a cloud-based service hosted by Microsoft that brings together familiar Microsoft Office desktop applications with business-class email, shared calendars, instant messaging (IM), video conferencing and file sharing.
Cyber Security
According to over 1,700 IT service providers, the lack of cybersecurity awareness amongst employees is a leading cause of a successful ransomware attack against an SMB.
Secure Destruction
Most businesses think GDPR only refers to personal data used for marketing and sales purposes, but…
The GDPR definition of data processing is wide, and a major part of the GDPR includes the erasure and destruction of personal data.
Procurement
Expert IT procurement plays an important role within the provision of IT services, especially as IT budgets are constantly under scrutiny and purchase decisions need to be justified.
Managed Networks
Modern offices seek a network infrastructure solution that intelligently combines voice and data networks. In order to optimize the performance of their converged network, it requires visibility, control and manageability…maximizing the productivity of users across the network.
Asset Management
As a key requirement of GDPR compliance for every business, it is important that the management of your IT Assets isn’t an admin task that is overlooked.
Web Design
We work with you to design and build a professional website that will truly represent your brand.
IT Support
We provide very flexible IT Support working effectively through one of our completely customised IT Support Packages.
Internet
Through a variety of connectivity partners CAB IT Services can offer a huge range of business connectivity services.
Wifi
Our Wi-Fi System is a scalable enterprise grade access point solution designed to be deployed and managed within any environment.
Network Infrastructure
In partnership with carefully selected third parties we provide network infrastructure data cabling installations in Bristol and throughout the South West.
