There are many things that are beyond our control. It seems we are constantly dealing with natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics, and economic crisis. These are things that can have a very real and very serious effect on an individual’s personal life and on the operation and finances of an organization. While these are situations that are, quite simply, beyond anyone’s control one can and should be prepared for a variety of circumstances to the best of their ability.
This is true for all enterprises, service providers, and other organizations as well. It is for these reasons that we implement risk management strategies such as disaster recovery plans and try to build as much resiliency and redundancy into networks as possible. We may maintain hot or cold standby systems in the event of a hardware failure and even redundant sites for the eventuality of a complete disaster. Important data is likewise maintained with multiple backup copies across multiple locations.
Even though much preparation goes into planning for potentially catastrophic disasters, these events remain rare. It just so happens that if they do occur, the repercussions are severe and dramatic. What about the far more frequent and seemingly innocuous events that we encounter daily though? Perhaps a network route isn’t using the most efficient path or excessive retransmissions are costing a few seconds of delay here and there. These tend to garner less attention as they pose a little risk; cumulatively though, they can add up to staggering amounts of lost productivity and revenue over time.
The good news is we almost always have far more control to correct these issues than we can ever hope to have over a hurricane or an earthquake. With regards to day to day operation, the right tools can assist you in accelerating troubleshooting, improving security, and optimizing efficiency. Businesses are also undergoing a state of transformation with virtualizing infrastructure and integrating cloud services. Scalable network visibility tools maximize the potential of monitoring systems which reduces overall costs and prepares businesses for future growth.
The network of any successful organization is, in effect, its circulatory system, the lifeblood of which is data being moved from the core to the edge and back and sustaining every part of the operation in a unified whole. Network outages can cause multiple issues, from lost revenue to legal action and a damaged reputation. Just as cutting off the flow of blood to a vital organ prevents it from functioning and, in turn, places the whole body at risk, separating a business unit from the resources and communications it requires cripples its ability to function and harms the entire organization. It doesn’t take a cataclysmic event to bring down a network segment and proactive network monitoring tools can identify a small problem before it turns into a catastrophe.
Empower yourself with the right tools; take control of your network