The COVID-19 pandemic caused a drastic shift in classroom approaches and educational instruction, with many institutions choosing to maintain their online course offerings after the lockdowns ceased. From managing inter-classroom connectivity to facilitating operations across multiple locations, network monitoring within the educational space was already challenging. With the increased demand for network resources, a three-pronged approach that entails being proactive, optimizing traffic, and improving capacity are necessary to meet the demand of today’s educational environment.

1. Being Proactive

As educational institutions increase their online catalog and shift to more classroom activities and workspaces in the cloud, the demand for stability reflects an increased reliance on the network and its equipment. Network monitoring improves visibility and ensures issues or threats are identified and addressed promptly. Being proactive helps to contain any issues that arise before they can become catastrophic.

2. Optimizing Traffic

Ensuring connectivity for the educational environment requires the optimization of network traffic across multiple locations. SD-WAN simplifies this management by helping locate the optimal delivery path. Not only does this prevent dropped data packets and jitter during media transmission, but it also improves the overall experience for educators who rely on the network as part of their instruction and for students who use it to complete their classroom assignments.

3. Improving Capacity

Sometimes knowing where to steer future technical efforts means evaluating where an institution has been. Historical metrics offer insight into the network’s performance and its existing hardware. Network monitoring efforts that rely on this data as part of the evaluation process help forecast issues before they occur, ensuring the network and its equipment are equipped to handle increased demand.

Enhancing the Educational Experience

While network monitoring has long been a concern for businesses, educational institutions must now adapt their technology to account for the increased reliance on online learning and the need to optimize traffic across multiple locations. Networks that are poorly optimized or do not account for the increased demands of multi-classroom environments, both onsite and off, risk negatively affecting teacher performance and student retention. By integrating tools like SD-WAN and proper planning and optimization techniques, educational institutions can shift their attention from network monitoring concerns to the overall educational experience.

For more information about how to build a modern network that can support evolving needs of educational institutions, read our white paper, “Business Internet + SD-WAN: The Network of the Future.” Ready to learn how network monitoring through a trusted provider can help your school or university? Contact a TPx expert today