Automation and digitalization have become vital to business success. It’s a rather simple choice for organizations – change leverage technology to increase efficiency or risk falling behind those that do.
However, many organizations are struggling to develop and implement a plan to guide the evolution of their IT environments. Several of the primary obstacles include inflexible IT systems, organizational silos and security concerns, all pointing to the need for network upgrades.
Many of the networks in place in small to midsize enterprises (SMEs) were designed and implemented before smartphones and tablets had become common in the workplace. At that time, most employees worked in the office, and few if any business applications and services were cloud-based.
Today, remote and hybrid work, mobility and the cloud have changed the game. SMBs rely heavily on cloud services and applications accessed on mobile devices. Users consume tons of bandwidth for video conferencing and other real-time applications. These technologies can provide tremendous business value — but only if the IT infrastructure is up to the task. Unfortunately, many organizations are still relying on legacy networks that were built for wired, PC-based environments.
Legacy Networks Create Business and IT Challenges
Legacy networks are costly to maintain. According to Daisy’s State of Networking Report 2024, organizations spend 30 percent of their IT budgets, on average, maintaining legacy network hardware. Additionally, many older networks evolved over time, creating a patchwork environment that’s difficult to manage. In the Daisy survey, 64 percent of organizations said their network is a patchwork of different vendor technologies, and 87 percent have experienced network management issues as a result. Almost two-thirds (64 percent) said they have multiple networks serving different functions.
The top networking challenges cited by survey respondents include:
- Cybersecurity threats (71 percent)
- Resilience and reliability (40 percent)
- Ensuring cloud application performance (37 percent)
- Maintaining and managing legacy technology (34 percent)
- Network scalability (30 percent)
Recognizing the need for a network upgrade is an important first step. However, it’s not like upgrading an application or server. Planning for and executing a network upgrade can be tricky because virtually all users and all areas of the organization are likely to be affected. The goal should be to perform the network upgrade with minimal downtime and disruption while implementing technology and processes that support current and future business operations.
Key Considerations for a Network Upgrade
Several factors must be considered when planning a network upgrade.
- Current network usage data, which is used to forecast future network usage and requirements
- Number of users and anticipated growth
- The current state of network connectivity
- Types of tools, applications and services used by various groups
- Application traffic and bandwidth requirements
- Accessibility of network resources
- Security and regulatory compliance requirements
All too often, security is left out of the planning process for the sake of expediency. This is a dangerous shortcut to take. Security best practices must be baked into the planning and upgrade process. Otherwise, you’re likely to discover holes in protection that are more difficult and expensive to plug after the fact.
Due to the wide-ranging impact of a network upgrade across the organization, it’s critical to keep employees informed. Explain why the upgrade is happening, the short-term and long-term business value and what is expected to happen during the upgrade. Let employees know how their duties may change because of the upgrade and best practices for interacting with the network.
How Verteks Can Help
The complexity of a network upgrade can be overwhelming, particularly for smaller organizations with limited in-house expertise. Let Verteks help you assess your current infrastructure, develop a plan and execute your network upgrade according to best practices.
