5 reasons to modernize your SMB network
By TerryAnn Fitzgerald, SMB Solutions Marketing Manager, HP Networking
Impress your boss: Modernize your network and help staff be more productive
If you’re still running a legacy network built with proprietary technologies, you won’t have much success leveraging the latest software and technology innovations for your business. And that’s not good for your growing business.
A modern network built on open technologies will allow you to support many of the latest productivity-enhancing technologies, including mobility, unified communications and collaboration, virtualization and the cloud.
But that’s not all. Here are five reasons to modernize your network. And for an in-depth exploration of how network modernization can help your business, read our white paper, “Modernize your network and advance your midsize business.” See the link at the end of this post.
1. Mobility and “BYOD”
Mobility is no longer for large enterprises only. Employees expect to be able to use their own smartphones and tablets on your network. It’s the “BYOD” or bring-your-own-device trend. By modernizing your network you can support different types of devices, while at the same time providing secure wireless access. It also provides you the bandwidth to enable consistent performance of more demanding applications.
2. Unified communications & collaboration (UC&C)
Leveraging technology to help your employees work more efficiently and effectively is probably high on your list of priorities. A single, integrated UC&C solution is the best way to do this. A UC&C solution can enable a range of cost-saving and productivity-enhancing applications, including video collaboration, e-learning and voice over IP (VoIP). A modern network is key to enabling UC&C.
3. Growth and expansion
As your business grows, it’s important that any new locations offer the same technology experience and capabilities as your main office. Whether it’s a retail location, remote office, or new warehouse, you’ll want the ability to offer the same productivity-enhancing applications as your headquarters. And you’ll most definitely want to enforce the same information security policies. A modern network lets you deploy standardized IT environments across geographically dispersed locations.
4. Reap the benefits of being multivendor
Network design, which for many years favored a single-vendor approach, whereby your components came from one vendor, is being reconsidered. Many experts now think that modern multivendor network architecture actually offers more operational advantages, including reduced complexity and cost-savings. IT research firm Gartner explores this topic in its report “Debunking the Myth of the Single-Vendor Network.” An open standards-based, modern network is designed to support multiple vendors, allowing you to take a best-of-breed technology approach.
5. Virtualization and the cloud
Virtualization and the cloud offer businesses greater flexibility and agility. One of the critical building blocks for supporting virtualization and the cloud is the integration of servers, storage and networking based on open standards. The benefit of such converged infrastructures is common management, which helps make deploying and managing cloud platforms an easier job. The first step to building this environment is a modern standards-based network.
These of course, aren’t the only reasons to modernize your network. A modern network will also offer improved security, scalability and agility—all critical to your business.
So, if taking advantage of current and future technology innovations is part of your strategy, begin by modernizing your network.
>> Read our white paper “Modernize your network and advance your midsize business” for more details on the business benefits of network modernization and to find out how HP can help.
>> Learn more about HP Converged Infrastructure and HP Networking products and solutions.
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