An increasing demand on corporate resources has seen company networks under perform, Internet run slow, applications not as accessible as they used to be and remote employees and contractors struggling to connect to company IT systems. This has been amplified in 2011 with the rapid adoption of mobile devices and an increasing shift on websites to incorporate video, audio and rich interactive content.
Of course, most business owners aren’t complaining when web sites such as Facebook and YouTube are slow and inaccessible – but it’s this social media phenomenon coupled with more intuitive ways to use technologies especially mobile devices that is changing networking so much so that many IT departments and IT support providers struggle to keep up with the demand on resources. The cost of upgrading networking equipment can also be prohibitive leading to band-aid approaches such as blocking or “throttling” internet access rather than addressing (or embracing) the future technology needs of the company.
It’s called convergence and it’s seeing businesses with traditional networks begin to wonder why their once well performing network is now suffering dropouts, running slowly or open to security breaches. Convergence is the combination of telephony (voice), video and data on a single network and while these formats have existed for some time they are now more readily available via the Internet and more employees are using them on a continuous basis throughout their working day. Older network equipment such as routers, servers and traditional Internet connections were not designed for this phenomenon.
In perspective, fewer than 5 years ago the typical network of an organisation was designed and used for connecting company desktops such as Mac’s and PC’s to company server systems. The network would provide for printing, file sharing amongst other employees and Internet access. For larger or spread out organisations the network would also have a “VPN” (a virtual private network designed to connect external users to company resources). Whilst these fundamentals have not changed – the rapid adoption of additional technologies particularly mobile devices like laptops, the iPhone, the iPad and Google’s Android means that there is an increasing demand on network resources. For example, an organisation of 50 who offers its employees an iPad as a Christmas bonus, or allow personal iPad’s to be connected to the company’s wireless network have now effectively increased the amount of traffic on the company network by up to 2x. Without realising this, many organisations adopt either a “BYO device” policy meaning staff can bring their own technology to work, or hand out these low cost devices because they’re cheaper than a desktop or notebook and offer many of the same features but this can dramatically increase the load on older company networks.
This isn’t the only challenge. With employees becoming savvier there is now an increase in downloading or uploading rich content like audio, video and the occasional TV series or movie from illegal piracy websites that place critical IT resources at risk or completely unavailable. Whilst this isn’t a new problem, the employee of 5 or more years ago may not have had the technical knowledge nor the desire to conduct these types of activities on the company network, if at all. But with information spreading far more fluidly through social media and email, these activities are a threat to company’s of all sizes.
Those same employees who work remotely are placing additional demand on VPN services. Branch offices which generally didn’t require the same firepower as the company head office are now complaining of slow performance, network failures and consequently an inability to perform work effectively which may inevitably increase the cost of running a branch office.
All of this and we haven’t yet discussed the adoption of voice over IP systems, video conferencing systems and the free call service Skype. These technologies which will inevitably replace traditional phone systems but also place substantial load on networks. For example, an organisation who adopts a video conferencing system now needs to consider the impact if an employee is utilising the Internet to download a large file or watch an online video – in many cases, even if these are legitimate activities they can still dramatically depreciate company network resources.
Like any emergence of new technology, there are solutions to the problem but business owners and IT decision makers who are suffering from network performance issues must evaluate what is causing the impact (more often than not this becomes who is causing the impact). Some IT service providers offer a networking monitoring service or network discovery that can pinpoint where the peaks and troughs occur within the company network. Evaluating the entire network can ensure appropriate equipment is replaced and that adequate Internet services are adopted. In many cases, Internet services are not delivering at the level at which the organisation has paid for – and without a true monitoring tool in place these services continue to under deliver because there is no accountability. The typical silver bullet approach is to upgrade equipment and purchase a higher speed Internet package but this often doesn’t solve the problem particularly when the issue may run deeper such as the need to adopt a certain type of device that supports voice or the need to adopt wireless technologies to support the additional mobile devices in the network.
Once the needs are established the adoption of new networking technologies can bring enhanced benefit – many businesses want to know who are the heavy users of the network so they can plan around them (or block certain websites if they aren’t deemed company appropriate). Other capabilities include being able to track down usage in real time – say an infected notebook PC is wreaking havoc – these systems can be simply disconnected before inflicting further harm on the network. There are also some enormous innovations in office wireless networks with the latest round of devices now capable of the same speeds as traditional cabled networks which is worth considering if organisations continue to adopt mobile devices which are 100% wireless. Segregating heavy users or high bandwidth applications such as VoiP onto a separate Internet connection can also be made simpler through modern networking equipment.
Whether a company is experiencing intermittent network issues or there are more serious concerns for productivity, security and overall performance, unless the business can simplify and refrain from providing access to converged technologies like voice, video and data on the company network then these problems will inevitably get worse. As these technologies are already widely available it will be difficult if not near impossible for company’s to roll back to an earlier time where these types of content were not readily available and may even result in a competitive disadvantage thus any diagnosis of network related problems should provide decision makers with a comprehensive view of the current network environment and what strategies can be employed to keep employees productive and company data securely, readily available at all times.
