User satisfaction is certainly something you’re aware of as it relates to your internet network.
However, if you need a more statistics-based discussion about why investing in your network infrastructure is important, you should discuss the ROI.
The KR Group knows that budget is a top concern for many of our customers. So as we’ve worked with customers to help them update their network, we’ve looked for cost-effective options to make their WAN work better.
We’ve found that a well-planned network is an invaluable asset for businesses of all sizes.
If you’re looking to make a noticeable difference in how your users can perform internet-reliant activities, taking the time to craft an impeccable network is paramount.
Some of the ways you can show the value of a network include:
- How much downtime costs you
- The ROI of avoiding downtime
- Reducing costs with proper sizing
Investing in networking architecture comes with an initial cost. However, using the above three points, you should clearly demonstrate why that investment is best in the long term.
How Much Downtime Costs You
Many companies have services in the cloud. If you don’t have a well-planned WAN connection — including your internet connection, firewall, and the programming on the firewall — you leave yourself vulnerable to the risk of downtime.
Calculating the cost of user downtime is relatively straightforward. You take the hourly payroll rate for affected employees and multiply it by the length of the outage. If the outage doesn’t stop production completely, you can multiply the number from the above equation by the percentage of the affected users.
So, if you have 30 employees and their combined hourly payroll rate is $500. An outage of two and a half hours would cost you $1,250 in payroll alone.
Depending on your industry, there are other numbers you should add to calculate the cost of downtime, such as hourly sales or production.
The Cost of Avoiding Downtime
Now that you have an estimate of how much downtime will cost you, let’s look at the cost of avoiding downtime.
The best antidote to downtime is redundancy; wherever there is a single point of failure, you’re susceptible to an outage.
For your network, you’ll want to implement redundancy in two key areas:
1. The firewall
This is one of the first layers of defense in your network. It is a physical or virtual solution between your network and the internet to filter incoming and outgoing traffic.
Regardless of how big or small your business is, a firewall is a crucial component of your network and security.
If your physical firewall fails, you should not use your network until a firewall is operating and filtering your internet traffic.
Many firewall vendors offer licensing or support contracts for replacement parts in case of a hardware failure.
However, it will still take time for the replacement to arrive at your business. In the meantime, you are racking up downtime expenses.
Having a spare on-site drastically reduces the amount of downtime. Additionally, if you opt for an active-active configuration, you may not even experience any.
Financially, you can calculate the value by taking the cost of a secondary firewall and subtracting it from the cost of downtime for the anticipated outage.
We’ll go back to our example of a 30-user business. One of the firewalls an IT consulting company would recommend to a company this size is the MX85, which costs around $2,000 plus licensing.
Suppose you end up waiting 8 business hours for replacement hardware to arrive on site. During that time you’ve spent $4,000 on payroll, which would have more than paid for the spare firewall.
2. Internet circuit
The other area you’ll want to implement redundancy is with your internet circuit. 
If you think of all the tasks and systems that require internet circuits, it quickly becomes evident why redundancy is essential.
With an internet outage, you have minimal control when the circuit is restored. Your contract may include an SLA, but you can’t guarantee how soon an outage will end.
You’ll want to use two different circuits from separate internet service providers (ISPs). This also means checking that the lines aren’t shared. You can implement load balancing to spread your internet needs across multiple circuits.
Often, you don’t need to double your minimum bandwidth, but you should check that you have enough bandwidth on each circuit for your essential internet needs.
Like calculating the value of a redundant firewall, you’ll find a secondary internet circuit is a worthwhile investment by looking at the cost of downtime compared to the cost of another internet connection.
Again, think of the example of a 30-user organization. A business this size generally needs a 1 Gbps fiber connection at around $1,500 per month. For redundancy, you’d want to supplement with a broadband connection at around $250 per month.
Taking your hourly payroll of $500 for 30 users, the secondary connection would pay for itself if your primary circuit goes down an average of 30 minutes per month.
Reducing Extra Costs Through Proper Sizing
While an improperly sized WAN doesn’t affect the costs of your network, it can affect productivity.
The best network is one you don’t actively think about but instead connects your users without problems.
You may need to pay for a faster internet circuit or a different firewall that matches your needs. And if you’re unsure of the problem, you’ll want to consider a layer 7 analysis to determine your network needs.
There are associated costs with all of the above options, but they’ll bring productivity and help you avoid problems.
The Value of Investing in Your Network
No matter how you look at it, having a well-planned WAN is integral to your business’s success.
While there are costs associated with setting it up, the ROI makes each measure worth it.
- A backup firewall ensures your network has security in case of a hardware failure
- A second internet circuit keeps your business online during an outage
- A layer 7 analysis helps you understand what size circuits and firewalls your business needs.
There are costs associated with each of the above actions, but generally, it is offset by the ROI on avoiding downtime or increasing productivity.
If you’re looking for more tips and tricks on planning your network, check out “Bandwidth Load Balancing with Multiple ISPs” or “Using a Layer 7 Analysis to Assess Internet Traffic.”