How Do You Improve Network Performance With a Limited Budget?

Business owners everywhere are interested in streamlining network performance. If you had an unlimited budget, this would hypothetically be easy. But if your IT budget is shrinking and you're looking for ways to cut costs in addition to streamlining performance, you'll have a more complicated equation to calculate.

How do you walk this tightrope?

Use the Right Tools

First, you need to use the right tools for the job. Investing in a diagnostic or monitoring tool is going to cost some money, but it's usually worth more than what you spend – as long as you spend wisely. There are also tools and upgrades that can help you improve your network’s performance.

For example, enterprise tools for network traffic analysis can help you better analyze network traffic patterns, giving you the opportunity to identify bottlenecks so you can correct them and helping you resolve other issues.

Without these insights, you won't be able to move forward with streamlining your network performance because you won't have the data necessary to analyze your network performance. At the same time, if you spend too much money on these tools or use them improperly, you won't be able to capitalize on the benefits.

When shopping for network performance tools, pay especially close attention to:

·       Functionality. What is this tool designed to do? What are the capabilities and limitations of this tool as they apply to your network planning? Depending on the size and scope of your business and your current objectives, it may make more sense to buy a network performance analysis and monitoring tool that has everything you need, or it may make more sense to buy a series of different network performance tools and use them closely together.

·       Usability. You'll also need to think about usability. Your network monitoring tools and performance tools are only as effective as the people using them, which means if those tools are confusing or prohibitively complex, you're not going to get much value out of them. Sure, you could persuade some of your team members to deeply educate themselves on how to use these tools properly, but that's also going to cost you time and money. You're better off selectively filtering out tools with poor user experience.

·       Automation potential. As we'll see, one of the best ways to streamline your network performance is to automate as much as possible. For now, all you need to know is that you should prioritize tools that grant you more automation capabilities.

·       Reviews/feedback. As with any software purchase, you should pay close attention to reviews, readings, and any feedback provided by existing users. How are other people using these tools to streamline their network performance? What do they think of their experience overall? How do these tools compare to similar rivals?

·       Pricing. And of course, you'll also need to think about pricing. A network performance tool may offer you every capability you need, but if it's going to kill your IT budget, you may not be able to afford it. That said, make sure you evaluate pricing based on your projected return on investment (ROI), rather than only what you're spending. Many enterprise network analysis tools are worth far more than what you pay for them.

Investigate for Viruses and Similar Issues

If you're trying to improve network performance on a slim budget, it's important to scout for low hanging fruit – glaring, relatively easy-to-resolve issues that can be addressed without much time or money. To start, investigate for viruses and other types of malware; sometimes, innocuous infections can drag your network performance down unnecessarily.

Revisit Your Network Configurations

Network configuration is a complex topic, and there are many steps you'll need to go through to configure your network properly. Don't just assume that all your network configurations are currently correct and operational; conduct an audit to see if you can uncover any hidden issues that can be corrected with a simple reconfiguration.

Get Outside Help

Purchasing new network performance analytics tools, eliminating viruses, and reconfiguring your network can be challenging tasks, and those strategies are only at the beginning of your journey to full network performance optimization. If you want to make progress faster, or if you simply want to address issues with greater efficiency, consider working with an external IT consultant. It's true that hiring a consultant can be expensive, but it's often worth the investment, as it can save you time, greatly improve your network performance, and help you anticipate other issues in the future.

Automate Everything You Can

The more you can automate, the better. Automating IT processes and implementing automated rules can naturally streamline your network performance, minimizing the risk of problems that arise due to human error while helping your network become faster.

Educate Your Team

Next, go out of your way to educate your team about how network performance works and the individual steps they can take to facilitate better network performance. For example, you may have employees within your organization who see no problem with streaming multiple videos on break simultaneously, allowing them to hog resources and create network issues for people working on more productive items. Proper education and attention to the issue can prevent this.

Stay Adaptable

Finally, remain adaptable so that your network performance continues to improve.

·       Hardware and software. Be ready to make new hardware and software purchases, and keep your network agile and adaptable enough that you can easily incorporate them.

·       Manpower. Make sure every member of your IT team is up to date on the latest standards, and don't be afraid to bring more people in when you need them.

·       Processes and strategies. Are you following the latest schools of thought on proper network performance processes and strategies?

Streamlining your network performance is always challenging. It's even more challenging when you're dealing with budget limitations. But if you're sufficiently motivated to improve your network performance, and you're willing to incorporate some of these budget-friendly strategies, you’ll be much more likely to succeed.