With 2015 almost at an end many business owners’ thoughts turn to making a fresh start in the New Year. Like all those unfulfilled promises of 2015 like losing weight, getting fit and clearing down the list of jobs around the garden and the house, business managers start to spend time reflecting upon the plans they have failed to implement over the last twelve months; plans to increase revenue and returns through streamlining resources, increasing efficiency of in-house services such as logistics and finance controls and improving customer services through effective use of IT hardware and software advances.

During the next few weeks whilst customer activity levels are low due to the fact that most people are thinking about a few weeks off work, what to get their partner or what to wear at the works’ Christmas party, many businesses put aside time for a review of what they have achieved and begin to set out their targets for the coming year, most of which are the same as last year.

When trying to determine why they didn’t attain the goals intended for 2015 the common response from employees and department heads is that too much time is spent resolving IT issues, such as lost or slow connectivity, waiting for software to load, databases to be updated and information retrieved due to a failure to back-up effectively.
The cable infrastructure across which a business network is run is of primary importance if it is to run consistently well. Many businesses are today operating on cables that were neither designed for today’s operating demands or indeed to last as long. Manufacturer guarantees provided in the 90’s were for a duration of just 15 years and whilst the cabling in most cases still provides connectivity between the user and internet hosts, there is no doubting that significant improvements can be achieved through the implementation of a more reliable, robust and future proofed infrastructure. Today’s cable life expectancy is 25 years or more although capacity demands will most likely render even the high speed copper and fibre networks currently being introduced redundant within 10 to 15 years. The exponential growth in demand for bandwidth by smart devices and cloud based services will undoubtedly bring those businesses that hide their heads in the sand to a virtual standstill, desperately trying to catch up as their competitors steal a march on their customer base.

One of the most important factors in the management and administration of any system is the production and maintenance of full network design documentation. Accurately maintained records allow for reduced troubleshooting timescales, allow for more simplified and controlled network upgrades, user expansion and disaster recovery.

A network audit should capture all critical information relating to the efficient running of any LAN system. This information should be held securely and access restricted to authorised persons only. Many companies find that budget restraints will not allow for the employment of a full time engineer to control and maintain network cabling, equipment and patching enclosures and over time, cabinets become both untidy and unmanageable, making fault finding difficult and very time consuming.
In almost all instances it is not necessary for small to medium size business owners to employ a permanent technician at site for the maintenance of their network, instead the periodic use of professional outside services is sufficient to ensure that they are able to have the confidence that their network will continue to operate effectively.
So now is the ideal opportunity to review your IT infrastructure and put in place the changes and additions that you have talked about during the last twelve months. What could be better than to start 2016 with the confidence that your network will operate efficiently and reliably.
Give Allied Telecoms a call to get your business in shape right now; you can always start your diet tomorrow.