Ethernet network access services offer enhanced flexibility and quantifiable savings for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). IT decision makers should understand the benefits of Ethernet for broadband network connectivity and plan to leverage emerging services.

Every company must refresh its LAN infrastructure at some point – the trick is doing it at the right time. Businesses grow in both size and IT sophistication, and with growth comes new business requirements. Consider business and technology drivers for a LAN refresh, and understand when the time is right to invest in updated LAN technology.

Real-time network monitoring helps enterprises ensure that core infrastructure resources are available and performing at optimal levels. It is also a task that is a prime candidate for outsourcing. Understand the drivers and potential pitfalls for outsourcing network monitoring.

There are several business and technology drivers that can incite a LAN refresh. In order to meet these growing demands, small enterprises must refresh their LAN infrastructure at some point. This tool will help assess when the enterprise will need to consider a LAN refresh.

Growing enterprises often face the challenge of supporting multiple locations, and providing adequate WAN connectivity between sites can be costly. WAN optimization technology can significantly improve WAN performance between sites and save the enterprise money.

Organizations often perform a financial analysis prior to committing to spending on IT infrastructure. In the case of the corporate LAN, business value should be the key driver. Meeting the current and future business needs should be the primary concern when planning for a LAN refresh. Plan carefully to ensure maximum value is derived from the LAN infrastructure.

IT organizations are continually challenged by users and senior management to prove they can – and do – deliver a strong value proposition. However, without a clear definition of the services that IT provides, this is a difficult task. Therefore, IT should utilize the Business Application Profile (BAP) executive summary to effectively communicate its key services and value to senior executives.

Some business applications require stringent service levels on a 24x7 basis. Regrettably, the network management infrastructure required to support them exceeds the capabilities of many network service providers. Consequently, a growing number of companies are forced to develop an internal network management core competency.

Some small enterprises are becoming increasingly dependent on the performance of wide-area data networks or the capacity or quality of their Internet connection. The management of data networks is generally an unfamiliar process for these organizations. IT must understand which network performance measures are relevant to ensure proper service and to determine the levels of performance that are...

Determining the actual costs and benefits of a WAN optimization implementation requires several quantitative and qualitative factors to be considered. Use this tool to determine the TCO and ROI of a WAN optimization deployment.

WAN optimization technology has rapidly matured in the past two years, and current solutions will have an enormous positive impact on WAN performance and bandwidth utilization. Businesses connecting multiple locations together over a WAN that are facing capacity and performance issues should evaluate WAN optimization.

Info-Tech is seeing a wave of corporate server centralization as companies gain greater control over IT infrastructure and simplify management. While there are compelling reasons to consider centralization, many companies overlook the increased demands on network infrastructure. Understand the network implications of server centralization, and prepare the network for the evolving demands put on...

While IP Telephony (IPT) offers a range of operational and strategic advantages, converging voice with the existing data network requires due care to ensure voice quality. To achieve optimal voice performance, enterprises must be diligent in assessing the readiness of their existing networks for IPT and making the necessary improvements prior to implementation.

Network capacity planning is critical to maintaining a high quality of network service for the business, as well as controlling costs. Understanding network usage, trends, and capacity are critical to maintaining service and keeping costs at a minimum. Monitor network traffic and know when to pull the trigger on adding capacity.

Benchmarking network performance and establishing standards for the organization is essential. The enterprise network is increasingly relied upon to carry mission-critical and time-sensitive application traffic and it must perform reliably and predictably. Take the time to benchmark network performance, establish performance standards, and communicate them to the organization.

New business requirements and greater dependencies on network services are driving enterprises towards more effective IP address management practices. Enterprises must reassess existing procedures and be prepared to pursue more advanced IP address management solutions.

As organizations grow and networks expand and become more complex, rudimentary network performance management and troubleshooting are no longer sufficient. Network managers must evaluate cost-effective options for monitoring, managing, maintaining, and optimizing the networks upon which small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) rely.

As small enterprise LAN environments grow, the effectiveness of conventional “flat” switched network topologies deteriorates. Virtual LANs (VLANs) allow small enterprises to logically segment the LAN using their existing switches without physical changes or capital costs, bringing immediate performance improvements and simplified network administration.

Having hard statistics on IP network traffic helps enterprise network managers make informed and cost effective infrastructure decisions. Leverage the traffic flow collection capabilities of the existing infrastructure to gain greater visibility into network utilization.