How to Know When it's Time to Upgrade Your Network Infrastructure

It is understood why upgrading a network infrastructure is painstakingly considered by top level managers several times before jumping into it. The first reason is that upgrading is costly; and the second would be that several business processes and important transactions might be disturbed or interrupted during the process of upgrading.

As an IT expert or someone of understanding in your company, it is within your convincing prowess to lead a network infrastructure upgrade. It is important to know the so-called signs and symptoms that would require a big time upgrading within the company.

The initial sign you will notice are LOG-IN LAGS to your system. If normally, it takes just a few seconds to load your entire screen, chances are it would take about a minute for you to completely stage-manage and load your programs. This is one sign of jamming and indicates that there are more users engaged in the same process leading to a significant lag in the system. Definitely, a network infrastructure upgrade will add more capacity to handle numerous users.

Another general sign of a need to upgrade your network infrastructure are FREQUENT HANGS in your system. It might happen at any point—whether you’re in the middle of doing a very crucial report or in the process of saving an important presentation. Employees will certainly loathe the idea of losing their jobs or missing an important opportunity just because of network infrastructure glitch.

Last among the list - and probably the most concerning of all is the presence of bots, worms and viruses in your system. These not only pose system and data related threats but more so, they can potentially render your network unsecure, i.e. people external to your company can possibly infiltrate your system and gather confidential information. This can be resolved by a network infrastructure upgrade.

It is always superlative to look into the bigger picture and not only focus on a certain facet of the business. Definitely, a network infrastructure upgrade will be able to prevent a lot of issues, both internal and external, to the company.

Photo Credit: Hans Põldoja