Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/4636
ILTA White Paper Infrastructure Technologies 38 networks that transport data, which can mean slower response times and lead to a drop in service levels, which frustrates employees. This is especially true if it has been assumed that performance in the remote and branch locations will be on par with network speeds and reliability at the main headquarters. While most IT people agree that 10 seconds is too long for any remote worker to wait for an application such as a Web browser to respond, there is typically a clear understanding that moving documents around takes longer with the inclusion of remote offices. The external users are likely to be less understanding when problems crop up. The medium of delivery is not their concern, and the service level they receive is the only applicable yardstick. Organizations that rely on the Internet for both internal and external transactions have to make sure that acceptable end user performance is being delivered across it, and understand that the Internet alone cannot guarantee a good user experience. ENSURING PERFORMANCE OF REMOTE AND BRANCH OFFICE USERS Enabling workers means giving them access to the applications they need to do their jobs. Today, this translates to software applications and numerous, large data files running in centralized data centers. Apart from the overriding priority given to data security, ensuring access to these applications is a priority for any organization's IT department and particularly relevant for the legal industry, given that these files are the backbone of the work product. It comes as no surprise that the more highly distributed an organization, the more the workforce is impacted if either network performance or mission-critical applications become unavailable. The principal enablers for a distributed organization are communications tools, connectivity and information technology. There is no organization of any size today that does not deploy networking and connectivity to some extent, and if it is also supporting a remote or branch office configuration, whether with two sites or 200, then continuous and reliable connectivity is critical. Assuming that the organization has the basics of network connectivity and infrastructure already in place, let's examine the top culprits of poor performance in remote and branch networks, assuming a well-built infrastructure. END USER ACTIVITY Above all else, end user activity impacts network performance, especially in remote locations that are typically lightly managed from a network perspective. There is nowhere else in the environment that the struggle between performance and access manifests itself more clearly than a small office with "thinner" connectivity. The desire to give end users unfettered access to the Internet, the network and applications puts tremendous strain on the remote network. Further aggravating the situation is non essential network activity, such as Web browsing, iTunes downloads and more. Whether driven by policy enforcement or purely from the need for better performance, many organizations are realizing that in terms of bandwidth and network performance, tighter enforcement of end user behavior is a significant step towards getting more out of less. SEEN AND UNSEEN NETWORK THREATS Most organizations are aware that remote offices are often the originating point of spyware, malware