 Do
I need an Annual Network Audit?
A thorough network audit, measuring and understanding the business impact of
current network performance and usage, is the critical first step in any network
initiative, be it an application rollout, a data center consolidation, or the
transition to a new technology such as VoIP or MPLS. Who is using critical
applications? What kind of performance are they getting? Who will be most
affected by proposed changes? What effect will it have on critical business
services?
But what if you aren’t radically adding to or changing your network
infrastructure? Do you still need an annual Network Audit. The answer is a
resounding YES!
Data Protection
Every day that your business operates results in an increase in the amount of
data stored on your PCs and servers. Every day your valuable data is being
threatened by a myriad of sources. Some threats come electronically, such as
viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, spam, phishing and/or pharming. Some threats
come from deliberate acts like theft or sabotage. Some threats are just
unintended human accidents like, “I deleted the files by mistake.” There are
threats from the environment, from hardware failures, as well as from natural
disasters like fire, floods, or hurricanes.
Consider the condition your business would be in if you lost your data. Safe
yesterday, does not necessarily mean safe today.
Your annual network audit should include an review of your data protection. IT
security products like anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, firewalls and VPNs
are designed and continuously enhanced to protect critical data from
unauthorized access, corruption and destruction. Additionally, a data backup and
disaster recovery review should be initiated to make sure you can recover your
data in case your original data becomes unusable or unavailable for some reason.
Even if you have a backup system in place, it needs to be periodically tested.
Performance
There are ever increasing demands on your current infrastructure. Even if you
are not adding employees, your current staff is using more bandwidth, more
storage, and more system resources than they did last year. An annual network
audit can assess any performance deficiencies and make recommendations to
improve network performance, allocate resources, and protect “uptime.”
Total cost of ownership
New technology is entering the market at an alarming rate. These entrants are
generally more efficient and provide a lower total cost of ownership than more
antiqued technology. Often you can get newer technology, with all its
performance and security advantages, that costs substantially less than keeping
your existing technology. An annual network audit would highlight where there
would be potential cost savings.
Regulations
New regulations are coming at us from all directions. Many regulations are based
around securing personal, customer or employee data such as HIPAA, GLBA,
CA-SB1386, CA-AB1950, Sarbanes Oxley and others. Others test the processes you
have in place and require clear audit trails. If you are required to abide by a
new set of government regulations, a network audit can help you document
processes, find security holes, and suggest solutions.
While you may know that copying and/or distributing copyrighted software
illegally is considered piracy, you may not be aware that even
possession of
software that has been illegally copied is piracy. A network audit can help you
monitor software licenses and protect your yourself and your business from hefty
fines.
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