A refreshing approach to planning an upgrade to your LAN
Reliable, secure and good performance, all key attributes of a Local Area Network (LAN), which is after all the backbone of any organisation’s communication and employee productivity.
COVID necessitated a change to budget priorities for many businesses, with home working set up becoming pivotal to ensure employees remained operational. These changes in priorities saw a number of businesses push the upgrade of their LAN infrastructure lower down the list. While pre COVID LAN infrastructure was usually replaced / upgraded every 5 years, many businesses have kicked the can down the road longer than usual and are now feeling the effects, with slower less reliable performances causing a reduction in employee productivity.
If your LAN is feeling tired and not performing as it once did look no further, here is a step by step approach to successfully undertaking a LAN refresh.
Assessment: First step, conduct a comprehensive assessment of your current LAN infrastructure. Be sure to include: A complete inventory of existing hardware and software, list all network devices, servers, switches, routers, and software applications currently in use, include details of their age and their current performance / and issues.
Performance: Review the current performance of your network, look at the speed, reliability, and bandwidth utilisation. Note any areas where the business could benefit from improvements or where bottlenecks are occurring.
Security: Review the measures in place to protect your network. Identify and note any vulnerabilities or outdated security protocols that must be addressed.
Future: Consider the future plans and the associated needs of your organisation, are you likely to see demand for increased bandwidth for example, are their plans to move some services to the cloud; do you have a plan for the adoption of AI technologies?
Having assessed your current infrastructure and understood your business’ future plans it is time to use that information to create a LAN refresh plan. Your plan should detail the goals, scope, timeline, and budget for the project, consider involving a variety of key stakeholders from IT, management, and end-users to ensure it aligns with the business plans and goals.
Technologies:
It is essential to choose the right solutions that meet your business’ current and future needs. Some things to consider include:
Networking equipment: Review the market for hardware and software solutions, look at switches, routers, firewalls, and wireless access points, look at the features such as high-speed connectivity, scalability, centralised management, and security capabilities.
Cloud integration: Have you considered migrating some services to the cloud? Assess your business goals and see how they align to cloud-based networking solutions, they can be a winner when it comes to flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. With features including centralized management, real-time visibility, and automatic updates, they can deliver significant time savings and modernise your LAN infrastructure.
Security: Make sure security is a priority, investigate encryption, access controls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, and regular security audits and consider the deployment of next-generation firewalls.
Just planning a LAN refresh takes a great deal of research and time, staying abreast of technological advancements is really hard to do , working with an MSP like us however with Technical experts, Solution Architects, with expertise across the technology stack can ensure you get the right solution for your business without the headache.