Why transparency in the network is important

Network failures or power losses create enormous costs! And the risk of failure increases as companies try to lower their costs with a multi-vendor strategy and source individual services from the lowest-priced provider. The reason: the more suppliers or service providers are involved in an infrastructure, the more complex the network management becomes

If a company wants to implement new applications in a complex multi-vendor infrastructure, such as an app for mobile users, IT specialists find it difficult to pinpoint and allocate the network resources they need. Lack of planning security means that agility is lost, IT loses its speed and the specialist departments are dissatisfied. Ultimately, this also slows down the growth of the company.

But a fragmented network infrastructure can also threaten IT security if there is no suitable cross-vendor monitoring. We live in a time when the spectrum of cyber threats is constantly increasing: Hackers are targeting targets with more and more ransomware attacks and DDoS attacks. Companies and authorities need to upgrade in return to prevent data breaches. Poor network visibility is an enormous handicap here: if a company can not identify network vulnerabilities, the risk of serious cyberattacks increases due to security vulnerabilities.

Those who have achieved high transparency in their network can monitor performance, resources, services and applications more efficiently. In a multivendor environment, however, end-to-end network monitoring is virtually impossible, which makes a consistent customer experience difficult.

The risk of downtime can be reduced. To do this, companies should work with a vendor that offers a software-defined network (SDN) in conjunction with hybrid connectivity platforms. Important attributes here are for example MPLS-based protocols, public IP network, broadband or 4G LTE. This provides secure end-to-end visibility from mobile capabilities to the cloud.

Minimise Failures

Ponemon Institute is responsible for 25 percent of data center network interruptions in the uninterruptible power supply (UPS), followed by cyber-crime and human error at 22 percent each. Although failures can not be completely ruled out, many of the causes can be identified with meaningful management practices and comprehensive network visibility in advance. As mentioned above, these tasks are much more difficult to implement when companies use different service providers in the network. In the event of a network failure, it can take hours or even days to find the cause, as more than one provider may need to be contacted.

On the other hand, if only one global provider is mandated, there is more visibility - even when working with several local providers. However, if a company relies on an important application in its dealings with its customers, such as a retailer's e-commerce application, a brokerage trading system or an electronic medical records (EMR) platform in healthcare, there are several Possibilities. Should performance fall below reasonable levels or the network fails completely, there may be serious disruptions affecting either the company's performance or, in the case of a healthcare provider, medical benefits.

If the source of the problem can not be located quickly, this is a serious problem. Continuous monitoring of the entire environment not only quickly locates the cause, but also alerts IT administrators before a problem has any noticeable impact and enables them to take timely action.

All services from a single source

New technologies like SDN fundamentally change network management. Bandwidths can be ramped up or down as needed, and network changes and data traffic priorities can be implemented in near real time. A global network provider with SDN technology and hybrid connectivity platforms delivers the visibility, both at the network and application levels, that organizations need to get the most out of their networks.

Key benefits of working with a single global provider are the constant access of staff to resources, a reduced risk of failure and full control over the costs of network management. Even if low-cost network solutions in a multi-vendor setup are tempting, companies typically do not have the agility needed to compete with competitors in this constellation, as would be possible with a global vendor

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