Abstract

There are certain benefits in having a well set up and thought out infrastructure within a company. However when setting up an infrastructure or changing an existing infrastructure there are a number of things a company should conceder in order to end up with the infrastructure that best works for them and their company.

Business infrastructures usually consist of booth LAN and WAN area networks. Businesses will use a LAN to connect network devices over a short distance, such as an office building or school. Occasionally one building will contain a few small LANs, and sometimes a LAN will span a group of nearby buildings. LANs are usually owned, controlled, and managed by a single person or organization. It’s also much easier and more efficient to manage multiple computers from a single platform than it is to manage each of them individually (Kichu, NA). Servers designed to support a LAN network are usually optimized for better performance and can increase application and data availability, ultimately leading to more productive employees. Also data backups done over a LAN network can be centrally managed and scheduled, which makes them more reliable, and also allows them to be saved to an off-site location (Mitchell, 2012). LAN’s also help reduced operating costs by allowing employees to share office equipment, like printers, faxes, and storage devices. Basically, a company can buy just one or two shared printers for the entire office to use rather than individual printers for each computer. This also makes it possible for the office to share internet access (Kichu, NA). Another advantage is that data, including sales figures, incoming orders and more, are able to be immediately accessed when stored on a LAN. Giving management insight into what is happening across the business when it happens, leading to better decision making. On the other hand a WAN spans a large physical distance, such as the internet. And unlike LANs most WANs are not owned by any one organization but rather exist under collective or distributed ownership and management. WAN networks basically connect two or more LAN networks (Woodcock, 1999). There for a company can benefit from using a WAN network when they have offices in different cities, states, or countries. It is important for a business to understand how they plan on using LAN and WAN networks when designing an infrastructure that will work best for them. A business infrastructure is generally made up of the processes, procedures, and systems within a company. And if a company is to maintain a competitive edge and stay a step or two ahead of its competitors, it will need to have and maintain a solid infrastructure. When a company has a solid infrastructure they are more likely to see an ongoing improvement with the efficiency of their employees (Hughes & Kaplan, 2009). This is because a solid infrastructure allows employees to better communicate and work more effectively. In order for a company to create or build an infrastructure that will work best for them, there are a few things in which they should address. One thing they should do is to consult with outside resources and customers as well as employees in order to determine what type of infrastructure will best address their company’s needs. The company should be sure to define how they would like the infrastructure to help them in achieving their goals. Find out what it is that their customers need from the business infrastructure, along with what their employees and management will need for the infrastructure to accomplish. Be sure to make it clear on how much resource can be committed to developing the business infrastructure. While the new infrastructure is being implemented make sure to keep all the employees informed on the progress and up to date with any changes that may occur. Also make sure that all employees are properly trained and are able to work effectively with the new infrastructure (Hughes & Kaplan, 2009).

References

Mitchell, B. (2012). Introduction to network types. Retrieved from http://compnetworking.about.com/od/basicnetworkingconcepts/a/network_types.htm

Kichu. (NA). Knowing the main differences between lan and wan. Retrieved from http://www.computer-realm.net/lan-wan/

Camp, M. (2009, June 11). Fucus. Retrieved from http://www.focus.com/questions/what-are-advantages-lan-vs-wan-disadvantages/

Woodcock, J. (1999). Wan technologies. Retrieved from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727043.aspx

Hughes, J., & Kaplan, J. (2009, May). Where it infrastructure and business strategy meet. Retrieved from http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Where_IT_infrastructure_and_business_strategy_meet_2355