If you answered “no,” then maybe you haven’t really thought about it.
Why would I make such a bold statement? After all, I’m telling you that you are tightly restricted by the very infrastructure that is supposed to support your business and help you succeed. It’s supposed to make your life simpler, not harder. Let’s take a look at three trends in local area network and Wi-Fi infrastructure that are keeping your business from performing at the level it should.
Technology changes faster than you can depreciate your assets
The lifecycle of technology has become shorter and shorter. You no sooner deploy the latest in Wi-Fi technology only to find out the next 802.11 standard has been released that allows for better coverage, more users and better bandwidth and throughput. Did you know that the average life expectancy of hardware is five to seven years, but technology advances every two to three years?
You can’t replace the technology every time a new standard or switch is released nor constantly train your IT team on the latest standards, but your business is growing and you need to keep your users – both your employees and customers - happy. What can you do?
Employees are demanding support for mobility and flexibility
It’s no secret that employees have a very different set of demands and expectations than even a few years ago. Your network has to be able to keep up with their need for a network that can support their devices with access from anywhere, whether at your headquarters, in a branch office or remote location.
In fact, according to Strategy Analytics, 1.7 billion workers in 2020 will require hot desks and will be constantly on the move. How will you keep up with the exponential growth and demand for support of your mobile users?
Building an infrastructure for 100%+ of peak demand is expensive
Your IT department has to plan such that your network is more than adequate to service your every day needs. What happens when a hotelier’s happiest day – when there’s 100% occupancy – becomes his/her worst nightmare because the network isn’t capable of supporting every device the guests have brought with them as well as the hotel phones and business systems?
Or, how about a waste of resources? A school’s network only needs to be able to support 100% of the students, staff and faculty for three quarters of the year. For part of the year you’ve over supplied your network and the remaining time you’re constantly worried about 20 teachers all wanting to do video presentations at the same time, taking your network down to a crawl.
So what does your IT department do? They must plan for 100%+ peak demand. That’s a lot of equipment sitting around doing nothing for a lot of the time, yet the other half of the time, your network is performing poorly!
What’s the answer?
Maybe, it is a simple as changing from buying a network infrastructure and having to keep updating it, to using someone else’s that is expandable upon demand, but costs you little while not in use. Changing your budget from capital expenses to one of operational expenses means your network can be running the latest technology, it can provide the mobility your employees and users demand, and it can perform when demand exceeds what you thought were your highest requirements.
By aligning your costs with your business demands, your business will thrive without the headaches. The hotelier will not be afraid of 100% occupancy and the school district’s CIO will no longer worry about bandwidth hungry media and devices.
Simplified IT will make your life easier and help you succeed.
Now is the time to look into the flexibility and simplicity that an on-demand network can provide you while preserving your capital.
See what a Network on Demand can deliver to your business. And, check out our infographic.