Can your computer network catch a cold?

Your company network runs slowly one day and faster the next. Yesterday, customers were put on hold while your customer service reps rebooted their computers. A server went down two days ago and the cause was never found. A sales rep brought a worm into the network three weeks ago and you think it was dealt with: corrupted files were repaired. You had the network running at peak performance just last month.

Can your network really get sick? The answer is “Yes!”

We are already comfortable with the notion that we can inoculate our computers against viruses. Intuitively, we know that a network that is healthy – operating at peak efficiency, free from the ravages of unknown systems and infected machines – ensures greater productivity, higher customer satisfaction, and profitability.

When we were pioneering the firewall market at WatchGuard in the late 1990’s, customers talked about the threat of hackers defacing websites and stashing pirated software. The corporate firewall was the solution to stop the malevolent forces lurking at the network threshold. With the rise of a multi-billion dollar cybercrime empire stretching across the globe, the threat was real. But, once your network was up-and-running, and a firewall was in place and updated regularly and automatically, you could sleep better knowing that the “door” was locked tight.

But, today, the rules of the game have changed dramatically. Locking the door too tightly can interfere with corporate productivity.

Today’s mobile information workers expect network access. Every computer has built-in wireless capabilities and every mobile device expects to find a network. The modern enterprise relies on connectivity everywhere. Employees access resources via home, hotel, airport and coffee shop networks that didn’t exist ten years ago.

In 2006, we met with IT managers at small and medium sized companies to understand the networking challenges they faced in the 21st century. Today, even small enterprises have multiple firewalls and Internet connections. But they have lots of mobile workers, too, and workforces that expect the most flexibility from their networks. We found that the IT managers in these companies are searching for a solution to the challenge of enabling mobility and communication at every level of their companies, without compromising security and suffering ill effects on the network. These IT managers are asking: “How do you allow people to access the network, yet still protect its health?”

Clearly, it’s time to start thinking about network health, and devising ways to protect it. That’s where our minds and creative energy are focused now.

I’ll post more about what customers told us – and what we plan to do about it – in the next few days.