Network uptime has never been more important for business than it is today. Employees, customers, and business partners expect fast and continuous access to applications and information at all times. It is critical that IT managed services providers prioritize network uptime. Developing an IT strategy that works to eliminate network downtime is becoming vital as companies’ relationships with both staff and clients become more dependent on reliable network support and IT services.

In today’s climate of real time access to and streaming of data, any period of network downtime can quickly escalate into a serious issue. The cost of downtime really can’t be overstated. Downtime can cause revenue losses that seriously eat into your bottom line, and can have a long-term negative impact on customer satisfaction and brand perception. Tracking the root cause of network latency, however, is often easier said than done. There are multiple potential issues that can cause network degradations and diagnosing the origin of a network problem can be tricky. Tech professionals and IT consultants must first confirm network latency, then locate the area from which the issue is occurring before finalizing the process of identifying and eliminating the cause of your network degradation.

Signs Your Network is Slowing Down

• Problems with slow LAN (Local Area Connection) and WAN (Wide Area Connection) are telltale signs of network degradation. Either monitoring tools or users will report an increase in network latency. When a bottleneck occurs in your LAN connection, application performance is inevitably affected, which will become noticeable to users. These problems often stem from network congestion. Network congestion is also the common culprit of WAN issues and can sometimes lead to lost networks for a full day.

• Slow internet as a result of congestion is one of the most commonly experienced issues on any network. Slow responses and web pages failing to render or open are telltale signs that internet congestion is a problem for you.

• Pixelated or freezing video and/or unreliable voice quality are further signals your network is slowing down. Video pixelation or even freezing will occur when transferring video over a slow or faulty network. Similarly, voice over IP requires a stable network connection. If there are any issues with the system, it can lead to excessive noise or unusual sound quality. Poor voice sound quality usually signals the lack of a strong network connection.

• Outages and disconnections, often resulting in end user complaints, will also signal that your network is slowing down and performance is degraded. Users will either get temporarily disconnected from network services/applications, or certain applications and services will become unavailable at a specific moment in time.

• Hardware failures, such as a failing network interface card (NIC) can often be signaled by intermittent network errors isolated to a specific server or workstation. A problematic NIC can be detected by examining the card’s LED link lights. A solid green LED generally indicates solid connection with another network device. If you do not observe a solid green light, you can bet your network will experience issues.

Minimize the Negative Effects of Network Downtime on Your Company

Companies need to have comprehensive plans that ensure both network continuity and downtime recovery. The damaging effects of network downtime can be minimized via thorough and strategic IT planning. Having a fallback plan, which can include alternate, reduced-function websites and alternate providers, allows businesses to properly respond to network failures.

Since 2002, Affinity has been a go-to for IT solutions – including maximizing network uptime – for business of all sizes in Nashville, Tennessee and beyond. Give us a call or schedule an IT consulting service online to find out how a partnership with Affinity can help your business today.