Making Your Network Resolutions Last

by Jan 26, 2018

Eighty percent of all New Year’s resolutions fail by the second week of February. These were the findings of a piece that appeared in U.S. News, authored by Dr. Joseph J. Luciani, a clinical psychologist with nearly four decades of practice experience. His premise? All change entails some degree of emotional friction, which in turn generates a “heated state” we call stress. More simply put, while we may set out with the best intentions, everyday circumstances often intervene to sabotage our efforts.

can help make your job easier, every day.

We at NetBrain have identified seven likely resolutions that network engineers may have made heading into 2018. Do any of these sound like you? If so, how are you holding up?

1. This is the year I finally document my network the right way. Why? Because it’s a crucial step for important workflows such as troubleshooting, security practices, considering design changes, and audits.

2. In 2018, I will test and validate my network changes. Why? Because 50% of outages are the direct result of some network change. Validating them beforehand means I can more proactively ensure maximum uptime.

3. I will begin automating everyday network tasks. Why? Because network teams are stretched thin. Automation can make us less reactive to problems and create more time for proactive network improvements.

4. I shall commit to getting more benefit out of my existing tools. Why? Because tools are being used consistently across the team, it makes sense to maximize their value and ensure the highest possible return.

5. I will work to ensure better collaboration with my own team and across teams from other functional areas. Why? Without collaboration, most decisions are made in silos and efforts are duplicated across the organization.

6. This is the year we reduce our mean time to repair (MTTR). Why? We need to find ways to isolate issues and resolve them faster to minimize disruption to the end user.

7. I will be more proactive when it comes to network security. Why? Threats are everywhere. It becomes increasingly difficult to access-harden a network which is always changing. Getting ahead of threats needs to be the goal.

Resolutions are hard, and as the stats bear out, most of us won’t make it through February. However, unlike personal resolutions like laying off the junk food or hitting the gym several nights a week, all the issues above can be addressed through technology.

While we may not be able to help you in your ongoing battle with the scale, NetBrain can help make your job easier, every day. If you are falling short with your network resolutions, check out us out.