How good network health can help you scale your business
Today, no business operates without the Internet. And the way your enterprise’s global Internet network is designed, how it performs, and how it’s maintained has a direct correlation with your ability to grow your business. It all depends on your Internet network health.
Think of your global network like the nervous system of your organization. It relays information, connects your people, places, devices and sites to facilitate:
- Employee productivity, collaboration and communication
- Great user experiences of your sites and services
- Revenue opportunities and increased market share
As your business expands operations into different regions, you’ll rely on more and more digital platforms and applications. And just like a living body, you need to think about your network’s health so it can scale to support growth.
What is Internet network health?
When we talk about "Internet network health," we're referring to the overall condition and performance of your company's network infrastructure. This encompasses various factors like the consistency of performance, agility of global connectivity, and reliability of the systems in place.
Essentially, it’s a holistic view of how well your network is functioning on a day-to-day basis. And how effectively it supports the technology needs of your business. Whether you're a small business or a multinational company with global operations, maintaining good network health is essential for seamless business operations.
Good Internet network health means your network is able to handle the demands of your applications, users, and connected devices. We're looking to ensure that key metrics remain optimized such as application performance, bandwidth usage, packet loss, and security. A healthy network should be able to:
- Support high traffic loads.
- Minimize downtime.
- Offer secure and reliable access to applications and data from various geographic locations.
For IT teams, maintaining a healthy network is not just about monitoring performance but also about responding to issues quickly. When network health is robust, your teams can efficiently resolve problems and allocate resources effectively. Essentially you can ensure that the company remains connected across all its sites, whether local or global. Strong network health ultimately leads to improved productivity and a better experience for both employees and customers.
How can your network’s health impact your ability to grow and scale?
The health of your global Internet network directly impacts your enterprise's competitiveness, productivity, and ability to seize new opportunities. With a healthy network, you can easily scale operations into new locations and sites.
Conversely, network downtime, high bandwidth usage, latency issues, or security breaches can disrupt operations, erode customer trust, and negatively impact expansion efforts. A Statista survey revealed that 25% of companies reported that the average hourly downtime of their services cost between $301,000 and $400,000. Aside from the direct costs, there are the hidden costs from the impact of lost opportunities in that time too.
6 Signs of a healthy Global Internet network
Based on our extensive experience building Global Internet solutions for enterprises across multiple countries, industries, and digital transformation objectives, here are six key indicators of a healthy Global Internet network:
- Your applications perform consistently: One of the clearest signs of a healthy network is when your applications respond swiftly and perform well, no matter the location. Whether employees are working from a central office or remotely, their productivity remains uninterrupted. Slow or unresponsive applications can significantly hamper business processes, so consistency is key to ensuring smooth operations globally.
- You see low packet loss: Packet loss refers to data that fails to reach its destination. Excessive packet loss can lead to corrupted files, incomplete transfers, or dropped calls. A healthy network effectively minimizes packet loss. It maintains data integrity and ensures communications, file transfers, and streaming services run smoothly, with minimal disruptions.
- You have low/no network congestion: Network congestion occurs when there’s too much traffic, causing delays or a drop in performance. A healthy network manages traffic efficiently, ensuring that data flows smoothly. Even during peak times, with minimal packet loss and faster response times.
- You have high bandwidth availability: Having ample bandwidth is crucial for supporting multiple users and applications. Especially those that are data-intensive, such as video conferencing or cloud-based platforms. A healthy network provides sufficient bandwidth to ensure uninterrupted access to large files and media. This promotes business continuity and seamless day-to-day operations.
- You have robust security measures: A key aspect of network health is ensuring that security is never compromised. This includes implementing firewalls, encryption, and other cybersecurity protocols that protect against cyber threats. When these measures are strong, sensitive data remains secure, compliance is maintained, and any security breaches are swiftly addressed.
- Device connectivity is good: Another sign of a healthy global Internet network is the ability to monitor and manage device connectivity. It’s crucial to track all connected devices, ensuring they are authorized and secure. This prevents unauthorized access, protects sensitive information, and keeps employees productive by maintaining strong connectivity across the board.
A network that demonstrates all of these indicators not only supports current business needs but also scales to meet future demands. IT provides a solid foundation for long-term growth and success.
Our tips to monitor your global Internet network health:
Ensuring your Internet network health revolves around continuously monitoring your network accurately. You need to understand traffic patterns, the different types of network that make up your infrastructure, any security threats you’re facing, how many network administrators you have… the list goes on!
There are a few ways to do this:
Option 1: Use Internet network monitoring tools
Firstly, implementing a dedicated network monitoring solution will enable real-time tracking and analysis of network performance metrics.
These tools provide visibility into the collected data on your network traffic, latency, bandwidth utilization, and security events, empowering IT teams to proactively identify and address potential issues before they impact business operations.
At Expereo, we really believe in the power of visibility and control, that’s why we provide all of our customers with access to our monitoring health monitor platform, expereoOne, so they can see their network health in real-time.
Option 2: Work with an MSP
Partnering with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) specializing in IP network infrastructure management, like Expereo, can alleviate the burden of monitoring and maintaining a Global Internet network.
Additionally, MSPs offer expertise in designing, optimizing, and managing network environments. Leveraging advanced technologies and best practices to ensure optimal performance, security, and scalability.
Ready to improve your network health and your ability to scale and grow?
It’s clear that prioritizing your global Internet network health is essential for unlocking growth and competitiveness for your enterprise in today's hyper-connected economy.
From ensuring collaboration, communication, productivity, freeing up your IT teams from support tickets, and much more, good network health is a solid foundation for expansion, innovation, and long-term success.
Interested in understanding more about the current health of your network? Use this Network Health Checklist or get in touch with the Expereo team and we’ll find a solution that suits your needs.