There’s a great article at www.cbronline.com/opinion/office-365-networking-zscaler. We’re not going to get too far into it, just hit a couple of highlights as they relate to network performance monitoring. It’s a bit more technical than we try to be in our blog but if your company is using, or thinking about moving to, cloud applications (the article is specific to Microsoft Office 365, but much of it pertains to most cloud based applications) it’s a good read.

The article is good news for JitterWorks, or any company providing network performance monitoring to SMBs, looking to validate the importance of their services. Microsoft is recommending that any company planning on migrating to cloud services (in this case Office 365) proactively consider the wellness of their current network before hand.

In writing about cloud migration, the article’s author states “…data streams are shifting out of the company network, increasing network utilisation often by a factor of five. Therefore, high-performance Internet access is mission-critical for the user experience.”

The author stresses the importance of high bandwidth and low latency. If you’ve been following our blog, you are familiar with these terms and how they affect company productivity.

This article is about Microsoft Office 365 and how they encourage any business to do their due diligence and make sure their network is up to the task of doing business in the cloud.

But the article could easily be about Amazon Web Services or the Google Cloud Platform or any of the aaS products that deliver service in the sky. Because their success is dependent on your business running a fast, consistent, reliable network. If you have low bandwidth and high latency, you’re not going to be happy with the performance of your cloud based applications, whether it’s from Microsoft, Amazon, Google or Schmitty.

It’s like putting regular gas in a Ferrari. It’s still going to start, and you’ll still be able to get on the highway with it, but the high performance machine that you paid top dollar for is not going to run the way you expect. We’re sure Ferrari would recommend you use a high octane gasoline in order to get the best experience. If you don’t, you’re not going to be happy.

We are certainly glad to see Microsoft recognizes that this new technology requires a diligence to network performance monitoring. It’s that important. Especially now that your company is so dependent on it. 

We’re going to address other aspects of this article next week because there are so many different ways your company can meet or exceed the requirements necessary for a smooth, consistent cloud experience.