An enterprise often has a collection of a large number of networks. These networks are often designed to have optimum performance. However, users may face bandwidth issues or network downtime that can disrupt business continuity. Metrics that measure the performance of a network are mandatory to ensure seamless workflows. Network Performance Management refers to the full suite of techniques that help an organization monitor, optimize the quality of its network as experienced by its stakeholders. It is generally measured by collecting and analyzing performance metrics of the network.
Network performance monitoring is measured based on a plethora of metrics. Some of them are:
Packet Losses: This refers to the number of data packets that did not reach their intended destination. It can be due to many reasons like software errors or network overloading.
Delays: Network delays or latency refers to the amount of time it takes for data to reach from one network to the other. An ideal scenario is when the network latency is almost zero.
Error Rates: This refers to the amount of data packets with erroneous information due to some alteration during transmission.
Let us look at how network performance management can benefit your enterprise:
- Delivering business-critical services: Constantly monitoring the network and ensuring consistent network performance will enable enterprises to reduce unwarranted interruptions in service and provide best-in-class services to clients.
- Reducing downtime: Network performance management results in reducing the impact caused by unwarranted downtime. This ensures better productivity and customer experience.
- Ensuring scalability: The growth of any enterprise is accompanied by increasing complexities in its network infrastructure. Monitoring networks continuously will determine whether network upgrades can be performed seamlessly.
- Preparing for cloud adoption: When enterprises prepare for cloud adoption or migration, gauging network performance levels will ensure seamless performance.
- Planning effective updates: Perpetual monitoring also ensures that the network is prepped for any upgrades that it may need.
As networks become increasingly complex, industry leaders must plan for a continually evolving network infrastructure model. Enterprises must adopt industry-standard best practices for network monitoring based on your network’s specific needs. The most crucial part of network performance management has the right data to analyze and bridge the gaps. The data must be exhaustive and must include parameters like dropped network packets, bandwidth usage, and network outages. Additionally, all performance-related issues must be logged carefully, including the date and time. It will also be prudent to equip the network monitoring tool to find any possible threats or malware in the network.
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