We want to touch on a few more points the author made in the article we referenced at www.cbronline.com/opinion/office-365-networking-zscaler in our last blog.  And no, we’re not being compensated in any way to link to their site.

Here’s the first point: Local Internet. The author writes “Microsoft recommends local Internet transitions…” It has more to do with enterprise businesses but is still relevant to all SMBs with multiple offices or with employees that work from home. Basically any company that uses a Wide Area Network (WAN).

When a business has all their data on a server in a central location, everybody that needs access to that data has to connect to that server. Security is a premium so they are going through (if the company is worth its salt) a top notch firewall. Makes sense.

Here’s what Microsoft is recommending – in this case with Office 365 – but the sentiment is the same for any cloud-based service. If the data no longer resides on a central server in an office somewhere that employees elsewhere have to access; If now all your data and applications reside in the cloud; It’s no longer necessary for Bill, working from home, to connect to the central office server in order to access the data and applications he needs. He can and should reach for the clouds on his own.

And now we’re back to, want to take a guess? Anybody? Latency. We’ve written about latency a lot in our blogs so if you’re paying attention, you know its importance. So does Microsoft. That’s why they recommend local Internet.

The closer you are to the cloud, the shorter the route is to get to the data and applications you need, the more productive your company is going to be. So to summarize, when your data and applications are in the cloud, WAN doesn’t work.

The author touches on “direct peering with Microsoft.” In a nutshell, peering is when one service provider passes off traffic to another, and in most cases, another in order for it to get to its final destination. Your cloud service. The more peers it takes, the longer it takes. Every peer adds to the latency you will experience.

Another great reason to consistently monitor network performance. JitterWorks, and other companies, can track the number of peers it takes to get from your network to the cloud service you are using. With this information, you can decide if you need a provider with the capability to get you where you need to go faster. And with historical data at your fingertips, hold them accountable when they don’t.