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Our networks are beginning to bow under the pressure of the colossal data volumes that industry, government and consumers are now handling and transmitting. IDC predicts that the world’s data doubles every two years, with 1.8 zettabytes of data being created during 2011 alone.

Many providers have recently - and very publicly - felt the impact of severe outages, causing millions worldwide to go without access to services, despite ploughing extensive budgets into business continuity to protect from server or data centre downtime.

One of the primary challenges for technology-dependent organizations is that the network manager, or team, typically has little visibility with business managers. Network managers find themselves in a bind as they are driven by sourcing and maintaining reliable, robust technology; but the board is driven by budgets. Senior management often doesn’t see the need to throw money at a problem that doesn’t appear to exist, until it is too late.

Planning, testing and simulation modelling ensures that business applications are resilient against stress and aren’t close to falling over anytime soon.

Network managers are concerned about what the network is doing, while not necessarily knowing, or being able to do anything about it. Knowing about bottlenecks and where they are, whether the network is near its limits, and whether a component is near the end of its useful life, are key to keeping the network working efficiently.

Business change is also a key variable and determining factor as to the capability of the network – whether this is a large influx of new employees, a merger, or a new service or product reliant on delivery by the network.

The network should be robust enough to cope with today’s demands, as well as those of the future. This is particularly true of those organizations that rely on the network to deliver products and services to customers.

Systems upgrades, new business applications and anything else that consumes network bandwidth should be prepared for. Changes can cascade throughout the business, and these situations can be difficult to work back from.

Given the widespread adoption of cloud computing, enterprise mobility and virtualization, it is important to understand if the network is ready to support the planned growth of the business and respond quickly to the unexpected opportunity without time-consuming and expensive architectural changes. Whilst cloud computing and virtualization deliver considerable efficiencies, this has only added to the demands imposed on the corporate network infrastructure.

The business case for the network does not end here; business leaders need to recognize it for the foundation on which all progressive businesses depend; along with its role in underpinning future business growth. Being able to flex and react to change without affecting performance – whether it is to increase capacity within 24 hours, or simply add a few more users – will give an organization a core edge on competitors.

Recognizing the business value of the network in 2012 will see more emphasis placed on essential monitoring tools and greater efforts made to reconcile the various elements of businesses which share vested, if not wholly different interests in the network.

Read the original piece titled 2012: The year of the network online now, and sign up for future editions of FOCUS magazine here.