In today’s fast-paced, highly technological
world, every company needs a solid, efficient network to conduct business and connect with customers. But, maintaining a
network environment can be a daunting
task — especially if you don’t have a full-fledged or fully staffed IT department.
Besides the issues of staffing and
resources, some companies just don’t put a
lot of thought into their network. Quite
often, a network is built over time, piecemealed together as needs arise and change.
But, just about everything a company does
technology-wise is dependent on the effectiveness of its network.
“The network is the backbone of IT,” says
John Bristol, senior director of the Cisco
and Networking Infrastructure Practice at
Technology Integration Group (TIG). “It is
critical that the network is structured,
streamlined and well-architected.”
Smart Business spoke with Bristol about
why having a well-thought-out network
architecture is essential to your company’s
growth, efficiency and productivity.
Why is a good network architecture so important?
A good network architecture helps ensure
that business strategies and IT investment
are properly aligned. So many companies
just throw money at IT over time, growing
the infrastructure organically. There’s no
thought process on how the network
should be architectured. Much attention is
paid to systems and applications, but all of
that rides on the performance of the network. It’s like a highway system. People
don’t give a lot of thought to it, but it’s critical to how they get around. Your network
may not appear to be dynamic or interesting, but without it, your business isn’t going
anywhere.
Besides keeping the company’s systems up
and running, how does a network affect business?
The collaboration between customers and
companies is changing. The business world
is becoming a much more dynamic environment because of mobility. With various technologies such as laptops, PDAs and iPhones, there are many ways to reach your customers. You need to be open and accessible
at all times, providing customers and your
employees with real-time info — anyway
and anywhere they want it. You need a network architecture that can handle all of this.
Your network must be able to maintain business continuity and provide resiliency from
both an uptime and a security perspective.
Again, your network is critical to your business, your employees and your customers.
If a company’s network isn’t up to par, what
challenges could it face?
There are several issues that can arise from
a subpar network, including scalability, reliability, compliance, security and exposure.
There’s also the risk of downtime. Many
business networks are mission critical —
every minute or even seconds that the network is down costs the company revenue
and risks losing customers. Your network
must be resilient and robust, or you could
quickly lose money and customers. Also, if
you try to implement new applications or a
virtualization plan, you need a strong network or your best-laid plans will fail. A poorly designed network can also lead to
decreased efficiency, productivity and wasted energy and resources.
Should a company seek outside assistance,
or can it maintain the network architecture on
its own?
Most organizations have some form of IT
resources, but no matter what size of the
organization, network maintenance can
become status quo. If you’re not keeping up
with what’s going on with the latest networking trends, your network could suffer.
A qualified network engineering firm will
know how to assess your company’s current network infrastructure and apply the
latest architectural principles appropriate to
your businesses needs — it has the latest
experiences that will help you avoid the pitfalls of choosing bleeding-edge technology
over leading-edge technology. A good technology firm has seen it all, and it has seen it
in various industries and environments.
Outside assistance will help you leverage
and scale technologies, looking at the long-term big picture, not a quick fix. Depending
on your staff and/or resources, you may be
able to create a solid network architecture,
but an outside firm will definitely get your
network where it needs to be — now and in
the future.
What other benefits does a strong network
architecture offer?
Besides keeping your business running on
all cylinders, an architectured network gives
your IT the justification it needs to validate
IT expenditures within the business budget.
You have a road map that shows how IT will
align with the business. This is a huge benefit for your chief information officer. A solid
network architecture gives you a foundation
to capture your IT budget and expenditure
needs. It gives you a vision of where IT is
going and why, instead of just throwing
money at IT blindly and ending up with
things you don’t need. Your IT is streamlined,
productive, efficient and, most importantly,
cost-effective.
JOHN BRISTOL is the senior director of the Cisco and Networking Infrastructure Practice at Technology Integration Group (TIG). Reach
him at (949) 753-1933 or [email protected].
