Why All IT Environments Need Network Monitoring Solutions
Updated On August 17, 2022 | by Louise Simon
Today’s networks are complex. Things are likely to go wrong with the rising number of devices, applications, and users.
The network infrastructure consists of more than just routers and switches. Other components such as appliances, security systems, load-balancers, etc., form an essential part of today’s IT environment.
No matter what you’re running or where you’ve deployed it, the chances are high that there will be devices that need continuous network monitoring in your organization.
The challenge is to know what and how well these systems are performing.
Here are the top reasons to consider regular network monitoring, including Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) and Network Performance Management (NPM).
A Fast and Stable Network is the Backbone of Business Efficiency
The global network security market size was $22.74 billion in 2019.
It’s not uncommon to discover that a slow or unreliable network is hampering critical business processes.
Network problems can have many causes, but the result is always negative for employees and customers alike. Delayed or lost emails, slow downloads, and lack of access to business-critical applications are all inconvenient for customers and cost time and money besides.
Network downtime can even result in loss of revenue or damage to your company’s reputation.
Today’s network performance tools allow businesses to track everything from connection speed to the interval with which packets are dropped by the server they communicate with.
It lets you determine whether the problems are on your end or the other end. It also enables you to monitor the latency and packet loss from different locations worldwide, which aids insight into where issues may lie – throughout your infrastructure or at a particular endpoint.
NPM Can Help Identify Issues Before They Impact Your Business
Network performance tools allow you to monitor and analyze your network connections, servers, and applications 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
You can generate alerts and monitor SLAs to identify issues as soon as they arise and be given priority for immediate attention by an IT team member.
If the issue is more widespread, NPM can help you identify the exact number of systems impacted, enabling quick decision-making during serious incidents.
As an added benefit, network monitoring software is also helpful for project management and documentation purposes:
Tracking issues and status changes over time provides a clear history that can be used to reference future projects.
NPM Can Help You Make Informed Decisions About Your IT Infrastructure
With over-utilized, under-performing, or inefficient systems costing your company money and time, you must have the critical data you need to make decisions about your network.
Capacity planning is an essential part of any business strategy for this reason. NPM can help you track information such as bandwidth utilization and traffic trends, ensuring that your network is operating within the parameters of your company’s business goals.
It can help you avoid paying more than what is required for network use or spending time optimizing systems that are running at their maximum capacity already.
Network Monitoring Allows You to Plan for and Respond to Outages and Failures
Network monitoring allows you to get ahead of issues before they become costly problems.
Suppose you’re currently understaffed, such as during transition or restructuring. In that case, this is important since it takes your IT team days or even weeks to perform routine maintenance on servers and systems.
Planning your maintenance and repairs around “business hours” can result in loss of productivity.
Network monitoring software tracks network performance and the status of devices, servers, and applications that comprise your IT infrastructure. It sends alerts for server downtime or poor connection speeds on a given device.
It enables you to resolve problems before they affect your customers.
Network Monitoring Can Increase Your Visibility Into Third-Party Networks
In today’s business environment, companies are more reliant on third-party elements to ensure the success of their roles and objectives. With an NPM solution in place, you have a single point of control for all aspects of your IT infrastructure.
It allows you to have a perfect view of the various applications and services hosted by third parties that are integral to its operations, such as essential business systems, software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, cloud services, and customer relationship management (CRM).
Network monitoring software can also help you identify the root cause of problems across multiple networks.
It is essential when you are trying to resolve performance issues that affect your network availability or the speed at which customers can use critical applications and services.
With an NPM solution, you have a single point of control for all aspects of your IT infrastructure – giving both customers and employees a better experience. Network monitoring software can also help you identify the root cause of problems across multiple networks, enabling proactive monitoring and mitigation before they become costly problems.
