The How, Why, and When of Network Assessment

What Is a Network Assessment?
A network assessment is a review of your organization’s existing IT infrastructure, management, security, processes, and performance to identify opportunities for improvement and get a comprehensive view of the state of your IT. This helps you make more informed and strategic business decisions. It often starts with the realization that your organization’s IT systems have grown to the point where you’re not sure just what is occurring everywhere on the network. You have a gut feeling about what may be causing the problems, but cannot verify it without a thorough analysis of all network components. Additionally, you may not want undertake a major new network implementation without first understanding the current situation of your infrastructure, systems and processes.What Does a Network Assessment Help Identify?
There are many issues that a network assessment can help identify, but at a high level it provides insight into four main areas:- Underused or overused resourcesas some departments in your organization may require more network resources than others. A network assessment will help identify real needs and allocate resources accordingly.
- Bandwidth bottleneckscaused by streaming videos, running programs that require more bandwidth, or downloading large files and may slow down your network significantly. A network assessment will identify and rectify such bottlenecks. Simply adding more bandwidth may not always be the answer.Read our blogon this topic to find out why.
- Glaring security holesthat need to be addressed immediately in order to avoid adverse impact to your network system and departmental operations
- Potential advantages and pitfallswhen rolling out new technologies – how would the new technology platform fit into your current network configuration? What integration points do you need to consider and prepare for? This provides a strategic approach and recommendations for short-term (30-60), medium-term (60-90 days), and long-term (strategy) technology planning.
What Tools Are Available?
There is a wide range of tools that can help save time and make the assessment process more efficient. For instance,Microsoft Software Inventory Analyzer(MSIA) works to identify all the software deployed while packet capturing software analyzes the traffic flow and bottlenecks within your network. If you are working with a third-party technology partner, make sure they work with your IT team through the entire process to examine whether ongoing issues are known or unknown to your staff. Your IT staff is crucial to explaining the circumstances that might have led to the current state of the network and the possible improvements for the future.Is There a Best Time for a Network Assessment?
An ideal time for an assessment of your network may be before a large roll-out that is expected to change the nature of your network structure. For instance, a decision to move to the cloud or a change to VoIP phones may be the perfect time to make sure you understand where you need to make improvements. Complete your network assessment far in advance of that planned roll-out to give you enough time to do a thorough analysis and implement needed resolutions. You may also want to look at doing a network assessment if you have aging technology infrastructure that may be nearing its end-of-support or end-of-life. Realistically, though, any time you are unsure of what is going on in your network is a good time to have an assessment performed.How to Prepare for a Network Assessment?
Assessing every single element of your complex network might sound intimidating, but in reality it is not overly tedious. Ensure that whoever is conducting the assessment has required system access to appropriate network devices, servers, and their physical locations on your network. A small device can be placed on your network in order to monitor all the traffic and gauge your network speed. Access to the whole IT staff is nice to have, but not always necessary. Often, access to one staff person who is in charge of all your network access passwords is enough.Network Assessment Scenarios
Large firms often have enough resources to conduct the network assessment using in-house staff. However, small and mid-sized firms with limited IT staff and expertise may require an experienced technology partner’s assistance to ensure the assessment is accurate and thorough. Below are two of small to mid-sized clients’ network scenarios:- Case 1: a 250-user non-profit association wanted to identify network problems and ongoing issues of network latency that it was experiencing. The network assessment report found that besides inadequate bandwidth at their office locations, antivirus software, and Windows Updates were configured in such a way as to exacerbate the situation rather than account for it. Completing the network assessment helped the IT Director to focus on changing the network traffic and reduce the added stress on the network while looking for increased bandwidth solutions.
- Case 2:a 100-user organization worked with ATS to carry out a network assessment and found that their large building with thick walls needed better enterprise-class wireless access points to reach all the users. Also, years of neglected network equipment meant some network communication was occurring at sub-optimal half-duplex speeds. These were two simple issues that were identified, and as a result, the fixes vastly improved the organization’s network.
Post Assessment – A Step Closer to Improving Your Network Performance
After the data has been gathered and the report prepared, expect to spend some time reviewing the results with your staff and your technology partner. Ask questions about what can be done to improve network performance, such as:- Can we put our server in a different configuration (i.e. the cloud)?
- Do we need to acquire larger bandwidth capacity?
- What can our IT team do internally?
Working with ATS is a breath of fresh air. ATS takes our information security concerns seriously and advises us how to avoid potential pitfalls with both hardware and software. We are beyond thrilled with ATS and only wish we had selected them a year earlier.
Joseph A. AppelbaumPresident & CEO, Potomac Companies, Inc.
ATS has been our trusted partner in recent upgrades we have made to our IT infrastructure and cyber security. Their account management, project management, and technical teams have all provided top-notch service, guiding us to make informed decisions, managing timelines for multiple projects, and most of all, listening to our needs and making recommendations based on our unique work environment. During the transitions, they have kept us operating smoothly and provided quick and helpful support through their Help Desk.
Amy GavinNutrition.org
I just wanted to take a moment to reach out and thank you for the excellent service you and your team have provided with the hosted SEIM solution. AlienVault is great, but the real value comes from your partnership. The appliance would not do nearly as much for us without your monitoring and consulting services. You have always been on top of things and there for us whenever there is an incident. I feel confident in that our network is secure and I am able to report that our board and clients with full assurance.
Chris HansfordEducationWeek.org
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