Networking Solutions Requirements in 2022
These are the five must-have requirements of a solid networking solution for businesses to have in 2022.
Uptime
Uptime Whether LAN or WAN, the most critical attribute is uptime. If your business is like most, you rely on endpoint devices connecting to your network and/or the Internet to access a range of critical applications, such as:
- Email applications
- Phone systems
- Unified communications and collaboration applications
- Websites
- E-commerce applications
- Customer and partner admin portals
- Contact center software
- Office productivity applications (e.g., Microsoft Office or G-Suite)
- File sharing applications
- Accounting software
- Customer relationship management (CRM) applications
- Human resources (HR) files and employee records
- Accounting and billing systems
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
- Supply chain management (SCM)
- Payroll systems
Network downtime renders all these applications and systems inoperable, costing your organization in many ways, such as:
- Lost productivity
- Lost sales
- Lost customers
- Damaged reputation
Security
Security goes hand in hand with uptime as cyberattacks often cause network issues and business disruptions. Cybersecurity is a priority for businesses of all sizes, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic expanded network vulnerabilities to remote workers and increased cybercrime reports by 400 percent to 4,000 complaints per day, according to the FBI2 . Securing your network is no small task, as bad actors can attack your network at any point, not just in one place. The best defense is a layered approach, including:
- Next-Generation Firewalls
- Backup and Data Recovery
- Password Management
- Multi-Factor Authentication
- Patch Management
- Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
- DNS Protection
- Security Awareness Training
- Email Security
High Speed
Speed refers to the maximum rate of transmitting data, typically measured as megabits per second (Mbps). Network speed is essential to both employee and customer experience. For example, storefront retail organizations need credit cards processed at an acceptable rate to complete the transaction so that customers aren’t upset at the hassle of trying to pay for their products.
High Bandwidth
Bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data your connection can handle at any moment, also measured as Mbps (and increasingly Gbps, for gigabyte connections). Adequate bandwidth is required to ensure that all of your applications can function simultaneously.
High Availability
Technically speaking, a “high availability” network has built-in failover at the hardware level. You might have multiple circuits connected to an SD-WAN edge device so that if one circuit goes down, another circuit will be up. However, if the SD-WAN device fails, it no longer matters there are two circuits; the entire network will go down. A network that has “high availability” addresses this by incorporating redundant hardware.
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