Why Small and Medium Businesses Need to Monitor Their Networks

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Most small and medium businesses only have one person working in IT. This person is solely responsible for responding to IT emergencies and checking server logs. As a business owner, you should deploy diagnostic network tools such as network monitoring to enable faster troubleshooting and prevent network outages. Here are the top reasons that your business needs to monitor its network:

 

Do More with Less

 

IT professionals for SMBs do it all, which leaves little time for extra activities. However, you should not consider network monitoring an extra because without it your business is prone to security breaches and outages. This feature does not need a full time employee to implement it.

 

Modern software for network monitoring makes it possible to ping gadgets in real time and update their statuses on the map. Because people do not have to watch the screen for hours on end, this frees up time for more productivity. If you have a small IT department, network-monitoring software will act like an addition to your team, giving you time to focus on what matters.

 

Visually Document a Growing Network

 

Because getting a business up and running is hard, most SMBs do not document all their gadgets on their network infrastructures. This makes it easier to lose track of all devices as your business grows. An Excel spreadsheet or manual diagram is tedious to follow because it is outdated.

 

Using outdated technology will make it harder for new IT hires to understand your business network. However, when you use a network monitoring tool, it eliminates the need for manual methods because it performs device inventory automatically. This means that you can have an accurate view of your network at any time.

 

When you can show new employees where the devices are, training them becomes much easier. Moreover, implementing a best practice network is much easier when you have a network map. It would be impossible to improve a network without knowing how it is set up.

 

Troubleshoot Easily

 

If your network is slow, figuring out what is wrong with it could be an uphill task. As time passes, you will start getting calls from users who are annoyed by the slow network. With network monitoring, the detection and solving of issues becomes much easier.

 

A map will give you the performance statuses of various devices, making it easy to notice when something goes wrong. It will also take less time to understand the impact that a specific issue has. Moreover, most software solutions will show you performance data such as traffic, packet loss, response time, and availability, helping you to find the problem easily.

 

Improve Network Security

 

 

Securing vital business data from insiders and outsiders is essential. Hackers are more likely to target SMBs because they are usually ill equipped for security breaches. If an intrusion detection system (IDS) is not practical for your business, you should opt for the more affordable alternative: network monitoring. It provides insight into the nature and source of all the traffic in your network.

 

When you monitor traffic on critical devices regularly, you will be able to notice suspicious changes in your inbound and outbound traffic. Moreover, the in-depth visibility into the activity of the network allows you to identify malicious acts and find holes that could cause problems in future. This means that if you cannot afford expensive IDS, tools for network monitoring are the next best thing.

 

Conclusion

 

To ensure smooth operations and maintain a healthy network, your small to medium business needs network-monitoring software. Depending on an easy-to-use and affordable solution, you will set your business up for continued growth.