As the tech industry continues to expand and evolve throughout the Middle East, it is all-too easy for IT teams to be so focused on the next big trend – be it generative AI, or the metaverse – that they overlook the health of their networks. However, it is precisely in times of major growth and transition that the consequences of failing to prioritise the network are especially pronounced.
With a large growth in both users and devices, in the cloud and on-premise, it’s much harder to keep up with crucial factors such as compliance and visibility. In turn, this means networks are far less robust, leading to problems such as cyber-attacks, compliance issues, outages and unhappy customers.
It’s vital therefore not to ignore this as your business scales and puts more pressure on your network. Allowing your network to become stressed will result in a poor digital experience for both customers and employees, and risk causing an impact to not only your bottom line, but also your reputation.
Fortunately, NetOps teams can entirely mitigate these risks by adopting a more proactive approach and negating the threats caused by a fragile network.
Recognising a stressed network
Many IT teams have begun to notice the tell-tale symptoms of larger issues that are preventing their hybrid networks from operating properly. Sometimes it shows through an increase in IT tickets, other times it’s a slowing down of their network’s speed, or it’s a major incident requiring large, cross-functional bridge calls.
Taking note of these signs of network fragility can be key to identifying areas that require an increased level of business resilience. Here are some of the most common signs that a network is stressed and the underlying problems they represent:
Network performance issues
Many hybrid networks combine older, on-prem devices with newer elements, endpoints, and cloud applications and services. However, when bandwidth demands increase – due to factors like user traffic and application requirements – the system can become overwhelmed leading to poor network performance and expensive downtime.
It’s true that network performance will always face some challenges, but if they become frequent or significant, this is a key indicator that a hybrid network is being stretched too thin. To avoid issues escalating into large outages, NetOps teams should have access to quick and clear insights into their networks to troubleshoot issues promptly.
Non-compliance challenges
Organisations in highly regulated industries, like healthcare or financial services, often have to abide by rigid internal compliance regulations, government regulations, or even both. Regardless, a sure sign that a network is being unduly stressed is that it fails to comply with these regulations.
It’s not uncommon for third-party vendors to struggle with compliance, with the additional complexity third-party vendors can bring to networks’ applications and services. For example, the work around compliance – such as creating audit trails, executing timeline updates, and establishing clear data governance rules – can cause a lack of visibility and trouble gathering reliable data for third parties.
Security struggles
Network breaches and a large number of unsecured endpoints in a hybrid network can cause issues for IT teams. But while the location, device, and data need to be monitored and protected, it can prove difficult to impose the on- and off-premises security measures that are required. The combination of cloud and on-premises elements can also make it hard to gain a holistic view of an organisation’s infrastructure, so security issues can go unnoticed for long periods.
Network breaches, or even the fear that one might occur, are often an indication that a hybrid network lacks the requisite level of resilience.
Building a more resilient network
Incorporating a higher level of business resilience into a network means preparing it to be able to deal with a variety of internal and external challenges, while also putting it in a position to grow and evolve. Let’s look at some of our top tips for how to build a more resilient network:
Tip 1: Create an accurate network map
Many businesses find it useful to use diagrams and flowcharts to visualise dependencies and categorise their complex, hybrid network. This kind of mapping helps teams find and fix issues faster, scale more accurately, and track the performance of different network elements.
Tip 2: Identify infrastructure weaknesses
Network mapping helps teams identify weaknesses in their hybrid network. By gathering the infrastructure’s elements, they can understand which parts need to be optimised or replaced.
The same kind of considerations should be made for security. By identifying insecure elements within a hybrid network, organisations can decide when and how to take action – installing patches, replacing equipment, or deploying independent security solutions.
Tip 3: Invest in open and extensible network performance management solutions
Implementing some of these processes manually is possible, but automation can save a lot of time and money. By leveraging the right network performance management (NPM) tools to collect full-fidelity data from their hybrid network, teams can:
- Find and fix issues quickly with automated workflows.
- Optimise network traffic by automating data collection around users, flow, and prioritisation.
- Create audit trails and reports required for regulatory compliance.
- Break out of siloed working and cut down on software bloat.
- Power up-stream runbook automation by providing full-fidelity data.
- Power up-stream AIOps workloads by synthesising all operational data into a common format.
A resilient and thriving business
It’s important to provide a positive digital experience for customers that remains compliant and secure as networks come under increasing pressure. To do this, businesses in the Middle East need to identify when a network is under strain, determine which areas are problematic, and focus efforts on strengthening those areas. This will lead to a resilient network that helps your business expand and prosper, even during times of transition and change.
