Many companies experience mistakes when monitoring their network. Often these errors end up being very annoying, even though the cause is only due to a relatively simple calculation error. Mistakes in network monitoring are easy to make, but generally difficult and time-consuming to correct.
In order to avoid these mistakes that can be detrimental to a company’s operations, we will discuss what common mistakes are often made in network monitoring, along with how to avoid them.
1. Poor Network Design
One of the most costly mistakes that IT operations managers often make is neglecting the planning and design of the company’s network architecture. A poorly designed network can lead to congestion, latency, downtime, security breaches, and compliance issues.
To prevent this, IT teams must adhere to best practices for network design, such as assessing current and future needs and goals, selecting the right network topology, protocols, and devices. In addition, it is also important to implement redundancy, load balancing, and failover mechanisms, categorize the network into secure zones, and document and update the company’s network configuration and policies.
Implement some robust security measures such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and strong access controls to protect against unauthorized access and potential attacks. In addition, proactively monitor the network using the right tools to identify and address issues immediately, prevent potential problems, and ensure optimal performance.
Another important thing to consider is to prioritize ongoing training for the new IT team. That way, new team members can still understand how to design a strong and secure network that minimizes errors and remains robust.
2. Inadequate Network Monitoring
As an IT operations manager, it’s important not to overlook the importance of network monitoring. Network monitoring is the process of collecting, analyzing, and reporting on the status and performance of corporate network components and services. Without proper network monitoring, critical issues may go undetected. Examples include outages, slowdowns, unauthorized access, resource usage issues, or user feedback.
To avoid these problems from occurring, companies need to invest in the right network monitoring tools and processes. This includes selecting relevant metrics and indicators, setting up alerts and notifications, establishing baselines and thresholds, performing root cause analysis and troubleshooting, and creating and reviewing network reports and dashboards.
How can you know where problems are occurring? How do you know what upgrades are needed? How do you know when something is broken? By monitoring it, of course. To choose the right monitoring tool, be sure to compare several tools with the features that the company needs.
3. Inadequate Network Security
It is important not to underestimate the risks and threats to corporate network security. Network security is the practice of protecting networks from unauthorized access, misuse, or damage. Weak network security can be disastrous, because the consequences can be very fatal. From important data loss, malware infections, fines for regulatory violations, frustrated customers, and more.
To avoid these issues, make sure to implement the necessary network security measures and controls such as encrypting data in transit and at rest, applying patches and updates regularly, configuring proper firewalls and VPNs, implementing strong passwords and authentication, and educating employees in the IT team on network security best practices.
As technology evolves, so too do cybersecurity threats, mutating faster than ever before. Cybersecurity teams that take a reactive approach to the latest digital threats will constantly fall behind, unable to address network vulnerabilities and jeopardizing the entire company’s operations.
We recommend using a network monitoring tool that offers more than just traditional monitoring. That way, security measures are not just reactive, but proactive, before problems on the network become major. If anomalies are discovered early, the IT team can address them quickly without impacting network uptime.
4. Lagging Behind as Technology Evolves
Networks also need innovation. The technology used by the network is constantly evolving, so the network monitoring technology used also needs to evolve with it, so that it can offer better visibility. By not utilizing newly released network monitoring technology, it means that companies leave themselves vulnerable to network problems.
One of the reasons is that company employees feel more comfortable with the tools and solutions used, therefore often feel reluctant to change or upgrade them. If they do not do so, the company’s network will be very risky to various problems that may threaten. To overcome this, you should choose a network monitoring tool that provides regular updates to the system and technology.
Network innovation is the application of new technologies, methods, or practices that can improve performance, security, or reliability. Not implementing network innovations can result in missing out on the latest trends, falling behind competitors or industry standards, wasted resources, time, and money, decreased quality, and scalability limitations.
To stay up-to-date with the latest technologies, it is also important for corporate IT teams to research potential solutions and alternatives, test, and implement the best tools. In addition, measure and optimize results and impact, learn from successes and failures, and encourage creativity and experimentation.
5. Not Planning for Network Growth
Focusing on the company’s current network performance is very important, but not enough. IT teams also need to prepare the network for what might happen on the network in the future. Any planned changes need to be considered when planning a network monitoring strategy.
This means projecting what the condition of the network will be like and considering how additions to the network can affect the company’s overall operational activities. Almost all companies want to grow, whether gradually or massively. Therefore, it is important to choose a network monitoring tool that has scalability capabilities.
A scalable network monitoring tool can be used to monitor a small network, such as a smart home, to a huge global business environment. When it comes time to expand the network, the company will get an extra layer of scalability. IT teams can then collect millions of metrics from hundreds of thousands of devices, services, and applications. It is important to avoid the 5 common network monitoring mistakes above in order to continue to grow as a competitive company. Use a reliable monitoring solution like Netmonk, which has been trusted by more than 1000 companies in Indonesia. Find out more services on the Netmonk website right now!
