A network built with next-generation technologies helps you stay competitive, save money

Whether you’re building a new network or upgrading your existing one, are you giving any thought to your future needs? A secure, reliable network is a business necessity—not a nice-to-have. If you’re building the right network for your business, your network will not only meet your current requirements but will also accommodate your company’s future needs.

A network that’s built with the future in mind can meet changing demands, such as expanding to new locations, supporting mobile workers, addressing new security threats, and an increasing number of devices. The right network will also support future technologies such as cloud, virtualization, and bandwidth-intensive applications such as video and voice.

The benefits of building a network that can grow with your business are many. For example, building a network with next-generation technologies allows you to focus on your business and can help your company stay competitive, allowing you to better engage with customers and partners. In addition, building your network for the future provides investment protection, helping your company save money over time. Keep in mind: Even though a network built with low-cost point products may provide short-term cost savings, it could end up costing your company 20-35 percent more over a three-year period.

Read More »

Tags: investment protection, networking, right network, small business network, small_business

Looking to connect your business to the world? These resources can help

They’re small, often kept out of view, and rarely thought about beyond the purchase. However, without a reliable router, you can’t securely connect to the Internet. Whether wired or wireless, a router is critical to connecting your company to your world of employees, partners, and customers. A router is also your first line of defense for protecting your network resources against malicious attacks. So choosing the best routing and wireless solutions for your business are key to ensuring that you’re building the right network to support your business today and tomorrow.

In this third installment of our Technology Roundup series, we offer some resources to help you understand routers and wireless networks and make the best decision for your small business network.

Read More »

Tags: routers, small business, small business network, wireless

Building a network from scratch for your small business? These resources can help

There’s a lot involved in starting a small business—from setting up financial accounts and determining your legal structure to finding a location and hiring employees.  There’s also the issue of your technology infrastructure; set it up right and it can make your business. Set it up wrong and it could hamper your ability to support employees and customers, inhibit your growth, and create security risks.

Building a network is no small task, especially if you’re not technically inclined. In that case, you might want to consider enlisting the help of a local reseller. Whether you do it yourself or hire outside help, you still need to know what to do, what not to do, and what to consider before putting together your network.

Read More »

Tags: networking, small business network, small_business

These devices can better accommodate a growing network and, therefore, your growing business.

As your business grows is your network prepared to grow with you?  When building your small business network, you undoubtedly used stand-alone switches to connect employees to the resources they needed. But as a burgeoning small business, you may be finding that managing individual switches and adding new switches is a complex process. If that’s the case, it may be time to consider implementing stackable switches.

Read More »

Tags: small business, small business network, stackable switches, switching

We’ve said it before, small business is big business.  Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has proclaimed National Small Business Week to recognize the contributions of small businesses to the economic well-being of America. They make invaluable contributions to the country’s economy in many ways, including creating 60-80 percent of new jobs. This week celebrates National Small Business Week and Cisco celebrates Small Business too.  Small businesses are a driving force of innovation, and technology plays a big part in enabling those efforts.  All week, on our Small Business blog we’ll be shining the spotlight on small businesses that have put technology to work for them to help them succeed. Take a look at these stories and videos!

Tags: Cisco Small Business, small business, small business network, small medium business, smb