Network Modernization & Optimization

After COVID, most businesses adopted hybrid and remote work models — marking a significant shift in their networking requirements. To adapt to this new reality and stay competitive, organizations must modernize and optimize their networks.

• Network modernization involves upgrading and enhancing existing network infrastructure to support emerging technologies and security requirements.
• Network optimization ensures that the available network resources are utilized efficiently.

In this article, we'll see how businesses can benefit from modernizing and optimizing their existing networks by adopting these initiatives. 

What is network modernization?      

Network modernization refers to upgrading the current network infrastructure and keeping up with modern technology demands. To modernize networks, organizations should shift towards hybrid multi-cloud models so they can have infrastructure nearer users' locations. 

According to the Google Cloud Pulse Survey, 32.8% of cloud leaders were willing to shift from on-premises workloads to cloud models, which highlights the growing trend of cloud adoption. However, this transition requires network modernization to seamlessly integrate and perform across multiple cloud environments.

Important, too, is another context: the average global cost of a single data breach is US $4.35 million, which indicates that security attacks are certainly not going away. If organizations rely on outdated network technologies, you may suffer from severe security attacks, both from insider threats and external threat actors.

By modernizing your networks, you can mitigate these security risks and protect their sensitive data and operations.

(Related reading: how a NOC works & network monitoring.)

How to modernize networks

There are different ways to modernize existing networks. It’s a costly and resource-heavy process, so you must choose the way that best aligns with your needs. To help you with this, here’s a list of common ways to modernize your current network:

Network function virtualization (NFV)

If your existing network relies on costly and complicated hardware solutions, you should modernize to Network function virtualization (NFV). This shift allows you to deploy new services faster and scale existing ones to meet customer demand.

You can also manage and scale your infrastructure without new hardware installations, making NFV a more flexible and cost-efficient option over traditional networks.

SD-WAN

Traditional WAN is a hardware-based network that requires manual changes but it's not scalable. So, if your business grows, you should move to software-defined WAN. It is a flexible network architecture that uses software to manage and optimize connectivity across various hardware and connection types.

Since SD-WAN lowers operational costs and improves resource usage for multisite deployments — its demand among businesses increased — generating revenue of more than $13 billion.

Network slicing

Network slicing allows you to design multiple networks on a single shared infrastructure. This network modernization type caters to users with diverse needs. For instance, you can build one network slice to deliver high latency and another to deliver low latency.

What is network optimization?

The remote workforce increased from 20% to 28% between 2020 and 2023. This shows that working from home is more flexible for employees. However, it has its own challenges. 

With employees using various devices and internet connections to work seamlessly, there is a heightened need for faster and more resilient networks. That’s where network optimization is required.

Optimizing your network involves employing tools, techniques, and best practices to maintain and improve the performance of an existing network infrastructure. By optimizing your networks, organizations can ensure that data travels smoothly across their network without interruptions or bottlenecks, even with the increased demands of a remote workforce.

Effective network optimization strategies allow organizations to adapt to their employees' changing needs, ensuring seamless connectivity and optimal performance regardless of their location or the devices they use.

Network optimization metrics

Optimizing an existing network eliminates potential risks. But it's only possible when you can identify the problems in your network by noticing its key metrics.

Here are some key metrics to notice when optimizing your network:

• Packet loss is the failure of data sent to a defined destination which slows down the network performance. It allows you to identify issues such as hardware failures and optimize that area.
• Latency is the time data packets take to travel from source to destination. It helps optimize networks for real-time applications like games. Lower latency ensures smooth performance.
• High jitter refers to significant variations in latency. Sometimes, network devices fail to handle the traffic, which delays packet delivery. Monitoring this metric allows you to maintain network reliability. 
• A high error rate is the increased frequency of errors in data transmission, which slows down data transfer. Optimize your existing error rate to keep it as low as possible because a low error rate ensures fast and reliable data transmission.

(Related reading: how network traffic works & RED monitoring.)

Benefits of network modernization and optimization

Here are some key benefits of upgrading and optimizing your current networks:

Scalability

As of March 2024, 11% of small businesses plan to hire new employees in the next three months. This simply means their network size and traffic will also increase, so they should adjust their networks to accommodate the increasing number of employees. 

Upgrading their current network will help them:  

• Expand network capacity.
• Accommodate new users seamlessly.
• Integrate emerging technologies without concerns.

(Read our complete guide to scalability.)

Reduced downtime 

Networks can act up and stop working anytime — also known as downtime. Hardware failures, network congestion, and security threats are potential sources of this downtime.

In 2022, the average downtime length in the US was 24 days. Out of all outages, over two-thirds cost more than $100,000. To avoid this, organizations modernize their networks so they can get real-time alerts and insights into network activity. This way, it becomes easier to detect and address the issues before they occur. 

Better security

Your network is always at risk of unauthorized access and data misuse. As it grows, the chances of cyberattacks increase. In 2023, 82% of data breaches occurred with data stored in the cloud. But it doesn't mean your on-premises data is safe. The average cost of these attacks hit 4.45 million US dollars in 2023.

This survey indicates the diverse range of incidents that took place in 2023 (Source).

With network modernization and optimization, organizations can ensure the security of networks in the cloud and on-premises. They can also automate the vulnerability identification and addressing process.

Improved productivity

Employee productivity relies on improved collaboration, faster response times, and better-informed decisions. Any delay in data transmission can negatively affect that productivity. 

The desirable latency ranges between 30 and 40 ms, and it is achievable only when you optimize or modernize your network. Once you optimize your current network, you can eliminate bottlenecks, reconfigure hardware, and compress data.

Best practices for modernizing and optimizing networks

As technology advances and business demands evolve, teams should follow the best networking practices that align with their organization's goals. By implementing strategic improvements, you can:

• Futureproof your network.
• Reduce operational costs.
• Enhance overall efficiency. 

Try pilot projects

You should start network modernization with a small pilot project — this is a low-risk way to test new ideas. This will allow you to try out technologies in a controlled environment and help you identify potential problems earlier.

The best part of starting small? You can optimize processes before a full rollout and there's no risk of large-scale failures.

Promote team collaboration

Protecting a network against all potential threats requires team collaboration. No single individual can make strategies to secure an organization's network. That’s why you should invest in your team's skills as you modernize and develop.

Improve your internet speed & bandwidth

Since a network consists of various access points, good-speed internet is required to connect those points. Your network deals with a large amount of data transmission, therefore you should also aim for higher bandwidth. Here's how you can boost internet speed and bandwidth:

• Install wireless signal repeaters.
• Optimize access points.
• Enhance signal strength and connectivity speed.  

Regular maintenance and updates

Regularly maintaining and updating your network is key to network modernization and optimization. That’s why you should schedule regular backups to ensure quick recovery from failures. Here's how to do this:

• Resolve regular network problems.
• Install and configure new hardware and software.
• Plan for future network expansion.
• Protect the network from security incidents.

Prepare your network for future unknowns

Network modernization starts with assessing your current infrastructure. From there, virtualize network functions and implement software-defined networking for better agility and programmability.

By doing so, you can migrate to cloud computing to scale as needed. But upgrading doesn’t stop here — optimize existing networks by layering on intent-based networking, AI/ML analytics, and other emerging innovations. The result: an overall secure and cost-efficient network prepared for the future.