Your network and IT infrastructure will also grow with your organization. Companies have access to very large and complex networks now. Thus, it is impossible to understand your network. Most companies don’t know how their network is working. If you are running a network without doing a network assessment, then you will eventually face many problems. In this article, we are going to talk about the importance of IT network assessment.

Definition of a network assessment:

It will help you in reviewing your existing IT network infrastructure. You can assess the productivity of your organization. This will help you in finding better network solutions. Thus, it will help you in improving the efficiency of your network.

A network assessment will help you in catching both overused and underused resources. You can redistribute these resources for improving the efficiency of your network. Also, you can review the actual configuration of your network. Thus, it will help you in maximizing the efficiency of your network.

You can fix the bottlenecks that are slowing down your network. Balancing resources will help you in improving the efficiency of your network.

Benefits of a network assessment:

Security

It is important to properly assess your network for vulnerabilities and threats. If you want to fix a problem, then you should first find it. A network assessment will provide a security strategy for your business.

Sometimes hackers just want to steal your data. Due to this, data breaches are increasing with time which can actually cause more damage to your business.

Cost savings

You can save a lot of money if your network is running efficiently. If your network is running without any hiccups, then you can do your work quickly. However, if you are not monitoring your network regularly, then it will result in multiple system vulnerabilities. Your employee’s productivity will also decrease if they are using outdated systems.

Proactive IT solutions will help you in increasing the uptime and productivity of your business. Thus, it will help you in increasing the ROI of your network. Virtualization and cloud computing will help you in reducing your operating costs.

Most companies think that it is expensive to upgrade their infrastructure. However, it is actually cheaper to upgrade your infrastructure when compared to using old systems. The prevention costs are cheaper when compared to the replacement or maintenance costs. Thus, businesses should regularly do network assessments for saving money.

Future footprint

If you want your business to succeed, then you should work on creating a plan for the future. However, you can’t create this plan until you have analyzed your network. You should also know about future network needs. IT companies can actually reduce their carbon footprint by working with a good MSP. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you remotely monitor your systems. Thus, they can help you in saving a lot of money. If you are using cloud platforms, then you can easily scale up your network. Virtualization will provide disaster recovery and business continuity to your business. Thus, network assessments have become a necessity with time.

Identify bottlenecks

A network assessment will help you in evaluating the performance of your network. This data will actually help you in identifying areas where you are overusing or underusing your resources. It can also help you in finding areas of high traffic. These areas can result in bottlenecks due to which your network performance can suffer.

You can use this data to efficiently allocate your resources. Network assessments can help you in identifying outdated or failing technology before it results in an issue.

Ensure Security compliance

Most companies need to follow various strict security compliances. If you are working in the healthcare sector, then you need to follow HIPAA compliance. Similarly, financial companies need to follow the PCI DSS compliance. Thus, it is important to ensure that your technology is compliant with the latest security regulations.

Network assessments will help you in finding areas with compliance issues. Thus, you can work on fixing these network issues. This will help you in proactively addressing these issues before you face fines.

Identify protocol enhancements

Network assessments will help you in finding vulnerabilities in your network. For example, maybe your entire network is interconnected. Thus, all hackers need to do is infect one of your devices. This device will spread the malware in your network. You can avoid this by using network segmentation. Network segmentation will help you in reducing the attack surface. It will also help you in simplifying your compliance reporting.

Thus, network assessment will help you in improving your network performance. If you are still stuck with an old network, then it will lead to many problems. Hence, it is important to regularly monitor and update your network.

Streamline implementation

A network assessment is the most important thing that you need to do before any big IT project. If you are migrating your data to the cloud, then you need to do a network assessment first. This will help you in understanding the issues and advantages of moving to the new network.

For example, if you are moving to a new cloud-based server, then you should know about the current network traffic. This will help you in implementing the new system properly. If you don’t know about your current network needs, then you can’t implement new systems properly. Thus, you should work on learning about your network first.

Conclusion

You should regularly assess your network. It will help you in learning about your current network infrastructure. Your network is regularly changing with time. Thus, regular network assessments will ensure that your network is safe. The frequency of these network assessments will depend upon your industry. However, you should at least perform a network assessment once a year. You should also consider working with a good MSP. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in creating an IT timeline. Thus, you can perform network assessments at the best time. Also, they can help you in improving and optimizing your network. If you are worried about your network security, then Bleuwire can help you in protecting your network from attackers. Bleuwire has access to the best IT professionals and they can help you in improving your IT infrastructure. If you need more tips regarding network assessment, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.