Technology

Every modern day business that aims to be able to effectively satisfy its customer base, stay competitive, and experience growth requires at least three things; finances, vision, and technology. Without technology, a business is simply ill-equipped to survive, much less compete in the modern world. This is why it is generally advised that businesses take their technology as seriously as they do legal practices and taxes.

Technology is what makes it possible for a business to accomplish its objectives quickly and efficiently. But technology can only deliver such results if it is sufficient. This is why it is important that a business draws up an effective technology plan to match its short and long term goals. If you want to get started on drawing up your technology plan, the best place to start are the three steps listed below for analysing your small business’ technology needs.

1. Draw up a technology inventory for your small business.

Create a Technology Inventory and Audit Worksheet which will contain all the various technological aspects that your business currently has and uses. This inventory will also state if your currently owned technologies are leased or fully owned by the business.

2. Carry out a SWOT analysis for your small business.

A SWOT analysis analyses the Strengths and Weaknesses of your small business as well as the Opportunities and Threats currently facing it. Your business’ strengths might revolve around your high quality customer service or low prices, or even your market location. Your weaknesses on the other hand might include ineffective sourcing of materials or poorly trained staff. Whatever the case might be, draw up a list of your top strengths and weaknesses.

A similar list should be drawn up concerning the opportunities and risks facing your business.

3. Align your primary business goals with appropriate technology tools.

Based on your SWOT analysis, identify your business’ top three business goals. Next step is to consider your list of available technologies and look at which can help your business achieve the listed goals. If your available technologies are insufficient, you can develop a list of technologies which are capable of helping you accomplish the defined goals. These new technologies can then be acquired by your company.

Various innovative technology tools are available to help with a variety of business circumstances. The important thing is to understand which can deliver the best results that match your business’ goals. Once you discover which technologies you need but do not have available, you can then go about acquiring what is needed by budgeting funds, and allocating time as well as man power towards facilitating the creation of your technology plan whilst ensuring the protection of your business. This will then be followed by the actual acquisition of necessary technologies that best match your business’ immediate or long term goals.

To run an office in this century, file sharing and network communication have become a necessity. It’s rare to find an office where there isn’t a network of computers working on a given function to keep the business going. However, when there’s a network, there’s a possibility that hackers will find a weak spot where they can get in and steal sensitive information. To protect yourself and your business from hackers, you need a virtual local area network or vLAN.

Memset offers a virtual LAN (vLAN) service that allows you to secure multiple server connections via a private network. Here’s everything you need to know about vLAN, from how it works to its benefits.

How vLAN Works

Let’s break down what vLAN actually is. Before anything else, LAN means local area network, which pertains to a network of computers that are connected through a single server via a cable or wire, which is why the computers need to be contained within one small area. With a virtual LAN or vLAN, you’re given more flexibility because you’re not constrained by physical limitations. You can connect one or more LANs within the network while also isolating each LAN into broadcast domains so that the hosts don’t communicate directly to each other, keeping each secure on its own.

vLAN Components

To change a current LAN structure to a vLAN, with the latest architecture, you need five main components: 1) high-performance switches, 2) inter-switch trunking protocols, 3) layer-3 routing solutions, 4) compatibility with your existing LAN system, and 5) network management solutions. With the help of Memset, you can easily establish these components to enjoy the benefits of a vLAN.

Benefits of Memset’s vLAN

Speaking of benefits, here are three advantages that you will get to experience if you trust Memset and their vLAN services:

1. No physical restrictions

A vLAN does not restrict end-stations to the same physical area, so moving end-stations isn’t a problem. You can move a component of your network and not need to have it reconfigured. At the same time, if an end-station changes its function, there’s no need to move it to a different location because a vLAN makes it easy to localize this end-station to its new network.

2. Better network performance

A vLAN will improve network performance because public and private traffic are segregated. Therefore, you can secure and share data within an isolated environment, giving you the opportunity to maximise the performance of your dedicated servers.

3. Year-round support

Memset gives its clients year-round support. All dedicated vLANs are always monitored by Memset and are protected by their superior network security.

The age of technology is upon us. It is constantly changing the way the world works—even businesses and government agencies have to cope with it. A virtual LAN is just one way to stay on top of your game. If you want to keep your files and data secure over your local area network without the physical restrictions, then you should definitely look into vLAN and the benefits it will bring into your work network.