4 Reasons Your Business Needs a Network Assessment
A network assessment is a thorough review of your network, including your infrastructure, management, security procedures, processes, and network performance.
Basically, it gives you a comprehensive look at the state of your technology.
Regular assessments should be a key part of a proper cybersecurity strategy. In addition to proactively identifying issues, network assessments can also help you make strategic business decisions.
Here are 4 ways a network assessment can benefit your business.
1. Find vulnerabilities before the bad guys do
Most cybersecurity attacks work by exploiting vulnerabilities in your network.
A network assessment can identify these vulnerabilities before the bad guys do. It can help you find and fix holes in your security, as well as analyze your current processes and procedures.
Network assessments are also a great way to identify areas that need improvements, such as better security policies or additional cybersecurity training for your employees.
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2. Identify Bottlenecks and Improve Resource Management
A key part of a network assessment is to evaluate how your network is performing.
This information can help you identify areas where you are under or overusing resources. It can pinpoint areas of high user traffic that could be causing bottlenecks and slowing down network performance.
This information will allow you to allocate your resources in the most efficient way possible and improve the productivity of your business.
Assessments can also help you identify failing or outdated technology before it causes major issues.
You’ll have the information and the time to make an informed decision about whether hardware needs to be replaced, upgraded, or updated.
3. Ensure Compliance and Avoid Fines
If you work in an industry governed by stringent regulations, you know how important it is to keep your technology compliant.
Network assessments can uncover areas with compliance issues that you didn’t know existed. This allows you to proactively address them before facing censure or fines.
4. Streamline Implementation of New Technologies
A network assessment should be one of the first things you do during the planning phase for any big IT project, like migrating to the cloud or replacing major pieces of hardware.
You need to understand the potential advantages and issues that could arise before you make any changes.
For example, if you’re migrating to cloud-based servers or software, you need to know what your current network traffic looks like before you implement the new system, so you’ll know whether or not you need to make any changes to your bandwidth.
In Conclusion
Network assessments are not something you do once and never again. Your network is constantly changing and regular assessments are one of the best ways to ensure your network remains safe.
The frequency with which you need an assessment varies by industry, but a good rule of thumb is at least once a year.
Contact your managed IT services provider for help in finding the most optimal timeline for your network assessment.
