Network performance as a business criterion: the benefits of a proactive Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) strategy

Gusztáv Krékity

Discover why proactive Network Performance Monitoring is vital for business success—boost uptime, optimize apps, and support digital transformation with tools like Flowmon.

In today's digitalized world, the network is not just a technical infrastructure, it is the central nervous system of companies. Every business process, communication, data exchange and interaction take place over this network. That's why the reliability and performance of your network has a direct impact on your company's efficiency, productivity, customer experience and ultimately your bottom line. That's the strategic importance of Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) solutions: they provide proactive insight into network operations, enabling you to prevent problems, optimize and ensure continuous, seamless business operations.

This blog article explores why a proactive Network Performance Monitoring strategy is critical for modern enterprises. We will highlight how it prevents costly downtime, optimizes application performance, improves end-user satisfaction, and supports strategic business objectives. We will look at how a well-implemented NPM strategy can help management to plan and allocate network resources more efficiently, successfully implement digital transformation projects, and maintain competitive advantage. Examples include the capabilities of Flowmon (now Progress Flowmon), showing how it can provide comprehensive insight into network performance and support strategic decision making in IT infrastructure development.

Direct impact of network performance on business results

Many managers tend to treat network performance as merely an IT problem. But the reality is that network slowness, interruptions or poor application performance can have a direct and negative impact on a company's bottom line:

Productivity loss: slow networks or unavailable applications mean that workers cannot do their jobs effectively, leading to a significant loss of productivity. Delays, waiting times and frustration all contribute to a loss of efficiency.
Deterioration of customer experience: slow or non-functioning websites, online services or applications can lead to a poor user experience, which can lead to customer dissatisfaction, loss of customers, and the spread of negative feedback. In today's competitive market, excellent customer experience is key to success.
Loss of revenue: downtime of e-commerce sites, failure of payment systems, or unavailability of critical business applications can cause a direct loss of revenue for the company. Failure of transactions and lost business opportunities can generate significant financial losses.
Reputational damage: frequent network problems or service outages can negatively affect a company's reputation and brand image. The image of an unreliable service provider can discourage potential customers and damage existing relationships.
Increased operational costs: network troubleshooting and reactive troubleshooting can consume significant resources from the IT team. Emergency repairs, backlogs due to lost time, and unplanned hardware replacements all increase operational costs.
Barriers to digital transformation: unreliable network infrastructure can be a barrier to the introduction of new technologies and the successful implementation of digital transformation projects. Cloud services, IoT devices, and other modern technologies require a stable and high-performance network.

Benefits of a proactive Network Performance Monitoring strategy

Rather than reactive troubleshooting, a proactive Network Performance Monitoring strategy has a number of significant benefits for your business:

Prevent costly downtime: continuous network performance monitoring allows early identification of potential problems before they lead to critical failures or downtime. Proactive intervention minimizes downtime and associated costs.
Optimize application performance: NPM solutions provide detailed insight into the network interactions of applications, allowing you to identify the causes of slow or inefficient operation and help maximize performance. This improves the user experience and increases productivity.
Better end-user satisfaction: fast and reliable network access and optimally functioning applications directly contribute to end-user satisfaction (both internal employees and external customers).
More efficient resource planning and allocation: NPM data provides a realistic picture of network resource utilization and future capacity needs. This allows managers to make informed decisions on upgrading and expanding network infrastructure, avoiding unnecessary investments or problems due to capacity shortages.
Faster troubleshooting: if a problem does occur, NPM solutions provide detailed diagnostic data that significantly speeds up the identification of the cause of the problem and the repair process. This minimizes lost time and the business impact of the problem.
Better visibility and control: NPM provides comprehensive insight into network traffic, application performance, and infrastructure health. This gives managers better control over network operations and helps them make informed strategic decisions.
Supporting digital transformation projects: a stable and high-performance network is essential for successful digital transformation. NPM provides the visibility and control needed to introduce new technologies and optimize existing infrastructure.
Maintaining a competitive edge: a reliable and high-performance network infrastructure can provide a competitive advantage in the market, especially in industries where speed, availability and excellent user experience are critical.

The role of Flowmon in a proactive NPM strategy

Flowmon is an advanced Network Performance Monitoring and Security Analytics platform that provides comprehensive visibility and in-depth insight into network traffic and performance. It is based on the collection and analysis of network flow data (e.g. NetFlow, IPFIX), optionally complemented by packet analysis and security analytics.

Its capabilities can contribute significantly to the implementation of a proactive NPM strategy:

Real-time network performance monitoring: Monitors network traffic and key performance indicators (KPIs) such as latency, packet loss, jitter and throughput in real-time. This allows for immediate detection of problems.
Application performance monitoring: Provides detailed insight into the network behavior and performance of individual applications, helping to identify and optimize slow or inefficient applications.
Anomaly Detection and Behavior Analysis: Its advanced analytical capabilities can identify anomalies in network behavior that may indicate performance problems or even security incidents.
Network visibility and diagnostics: Provides detailed visualizations and reports on network traffic and performance, making it easier to identify the cause of problems and troubleshoot effectively.
Security analytics: It is not only designed to monitor performance but also offers security analytics capabilities to detect network threats and respond to security incidents.
Integration with other systems: It can be integrated with other IT management and security systems (e.g. SIEM, NMS), providing a more comprehensive view of the state of your IT infrastructure.

The comprehensive insight and analytical capabilities provided by Flowmon enable managers to make informed decisions about network infrastructure upgrades, optimize network resource utilization, and ensure continued high-performance business operations.

Conclusion

Network performance is no longer just a technical issue, but a critical business driver. A proactive Network Performance Monitoring strategy is essential to prevent costly downtime, optimize application performance, improve end-user satisfaction and achieve strategic business goals. Flowmon and other advanced NPM solutions provide comprehensive insight and analytical capabilities that enable managers to effectively manage the network and make informed decisions in IT infrastructure development. Investing in the network and proactively monitoring it is not just a cost, but a strategic step to ensure the long-term success and competitiveness of your business in the digital age.