10 Tips to Ensure Smooth Enterprise IT Network Upgrade

Enterprise computer networks are under the increased demand for IT and data communications services. This demand is expected to further increase in near future due to connectivity required by IoT (Internet of things) based devices. In addition to that continuously changing technology and security, landscape requires the organization to upgrade their enterprise computer networks to meet current and future challenges. With UAE government taking its steps towards a digital economy, enterprises and institutions in Dubai will have to prepare themselves for digital transformation and network upgrades will be a critical part of it.  

At Whitehats, our IT network solutions dubai are designed to meet your business goal through the effective use of technology infrastructure.  As IT Solutions services, we see many businesses executives are not much aware of core benefits that related use of technology to achieve business goals. This also includes organizations who approach network upgrades in wrong way and make this process complex that also results in longer than anticipated disruption of network services.

Upgrading a network can be tricky because it touches almost every aspect of organization`s overall IT infrastructure. If as IT solutions service we advise one thing to companies is that plan your network upgrades carefully. The days of building enterprise computer networks in one go without planning are pretty much over. Since IT infrastructure is becoming more and more critical for organization`s day to day operations, we cannot afford even a minor unplanned disruption that may sometimes take many days to get back to normal business operations. Although it is primarily a responsibility of IT network solutions in Dubai, it is important that organizations are aware of why planning for network upgrade is important and how it can benefit them.

Consider your needs Today, Tomorrow and Five years from Now.

You must not forget that you should plan ahead for future. You cannot go for upgrades, again and again, every few months or year, consider your current and future needs. You can assess it by collecting network usage metrics to predict how it will go in future. It should meet the needs of future growth and expansion plans.

Plan and Document.

You must never approach network upgrades without planning and document each and every detail related to the whole process.  Either you have small, medium or large scale networks planning or documenting it will save you from a lot of problems that may arise during this process. Your documentation should involve

1. First and most important tips are to create a network map; a good network map with a list of hardware inventory is one of the most important requirements for future planning for the network. If you don’t have detailed network plan how your current network looks like and how the upgrade will be done then, you must be ready for loads of trouble during up-gradation process.so before taking any step ahead get your documentation ready with the help of IT solutions services.

2. Due to increased traffic through networks, bottlenecks are one of the big problems that may create a lot of trouble for your network. Therefore it is important that you with the help of your IT Network solutions in Dubai identify potential high usage areas where you can expect bottlenecks. You can go through server logs to identify how traffic load is distributed through various access points.

3. You must remember while making upgrades; you don’t need to need to create one giant network rather create small segments, using subnets and virtualized wireless local area networks that will help you to create multiple access groups making it easier for you to manage your network

4. Technology changes too fast, making your current network infrastructure outdated; therefore you must assume that you will need another upgrade in next five years. Or in case your organization is growing you may need additional infrastructure to cope with future demands. You must make sure your IT solutions services leave room for future network growth needs.

Determine Use Impact.

Either you have customers that are connecting to the network to use services or you have employees who need connectivity in order to access organization`s resource. This should also include informing all internal and external stakeholders. You must also inform them how the upgrade will affect them.

Security should be integrated into the entire process.

During planning and implementation of the upgrade, it is very important to ensure that security is integrated into the entire process. Many IT network solution providers ignore this perspective to get the network up and running again. As a result, there may be major security holes that are difficult to find and fix at the later stage.

Determine Roll out and Back out Strategy.

A rollout strategy that idntify the risk of making mistake with speed of network upgrades should also be determined. The goal should be to achieve minimum disruption to the entire network during the process and minimize the risk of getting all services down at the same time. it will help keeping the process under control and will avoid getting you into the point of no return in case anything goes wrong. You must also work on back out strategy plan, although it is not always needed. With understanding this how to close the entire process and back out will make things lot easier and smooth for you.

Looking for IT network upgrade? Contact Whitehats Dubai, UAE our IT network solutions are designed to provide you reliable connectivity through the network. From initial assessments and consultation to network planning, implementation and support, our engineers help your business throughout the entire process.