When we are introduced to a new client, we often hear reports of their network performing slowly. It usually goes something like:
- “Staff have time to get a coffee whilst they wait for their computer to log in”
- “When using IT applications, a common report is that typing becomes delayed”
- “When I am trying to open a file or print it seems really slow”
There can be many reasons for slowness, and a competent IT consultant should be engaged to investigate, but some of the recurrent causes we have seen are:
- Old logon scripts that reference out of date network locations.
- Incomplete decommissioning of previous servers. Would you believe that the slow experience in logging in or trying to browse can be the result of not cleaning up fully after a migration? If the old systems’ information is not removed it can lead to your device looking for an old server or object and once it can’t find it anymore it then proceeds. 15 minutes of work can make all the difference here.
- Slow Internet connection. With so many applications now running in a web browser, your office Internet connection may not have kept pace with demand and be due for an upgrade.
- Aged Wi-Fi infrastructure. The access points you installed years ago may have worked well at the time, but with more mobile devices, greater bandwidth demands, and increased competition for spectrum, it might be time to upgrade.
- The server roles may not be appropriately tuned for the required demand. Ageing hardware is a leading contributor to poor performance.
