Are your staff constantly troubleshooting individual issues like ‘Why is my connection so slow?’
Or does everyone in your office complain about slow computers?
General Manager of R & G Technologies, Jason Neville says IT systems slow down “often when what you’re trying to do and what you have aren’t aligned.”
Simply put, you need to keep your IT running efficiently to avoid slow computers.
So what are the three most common reasons causing a slow IT system?
- You don’t have an Internet connection with sufficient bandwidth to support the amount of data you’re trying to transmit.
- Your IT infrastructure is outdated, irrelevantor there are insufficient resources for what your business is trying to achieve.
- Your poorly configured IT systems impede optimal performance.
1. Insufficient Bandwidth
If the bandwidth of your Internet connection is insufficient for your IT system, it can make your applications, programs and terminal services seem slower than they really are. While many people cast the blame on faulty hardware and software, it’s important to acknowledge the possibility what you’re actually experiencing are the limiting effects of insufficient bandwidth.
What does bandwidth have to do with the speed of computers on your network? Try to think of your bandwidth as a pipe and your data as water. Now imagine draining an Olympic size swimming pool with a narrow pipe. The same problem occurs when you try to transmit too much data with an Internet connection with insufficient bandwidth. It takes forever.
Problems really start to appear with multi-site organisations that don’t have an Internet connection with high enough bandwidth to support quality terminal services, also known as remote desktop. This is when you’re using another computer or device to access a computer via the Internet. According to Neville, insufficient bandwidth during remote access can cause data to queue.
“The screen display data you’re trying to see is sitting in a pool somewhere, so you’re going to have to wait longer to see the result of your action. The application itself may be running perfectly fast, but you’re not seeing the result of what you’re doing immediately” - Neville.
His experience in the field of IT has led him to believe this can occur when IT is not forefront in an organisation’s mind, when undertaking certain decisions.
“For example, someone decides to open another siteand they place it in some regional part of Australia or even in town, but in a particularly bad spot of the suburb, where they find out internet’s not appropriate but they have a huge dependency on it” - Neville.
The organisation’s only choices are to either fork out the finances for premium Internet, or to deal with insufficient bandwidth and the slow IT processes that come with it.
Thus, whether you’re out in the middle of the desert, or in a corporate hub, you need to ensure the pipe is big enough to fit the maximum amount of data traffic your organisation is likely to encounter.
“You need to ensure that there is a sufficient buffer in internet bandwidth requirements to ensure you always have more than you need to avoid the “queuing” effect” - Neville.
When you have a higher bandwidth than you need on an average day, your Internet connection can handle the peaks and troughs of data transmission, ensuring you won’t get stuck waiting for your computer to respond.
2. Aged Infrastructure
When I talk about ‘aged infrastructure’, I’m not just talking about old age. I’m referring to components that are no longer relevant, or sufficient for smooth operation of your IT system. This problem often rears its ugly head during periods of growth, when you’ve failed to continuously adapt your IT infrastructure to suit your business needs.IT infrastructure refers to everything from operating systems and software, to hardware and equipment. Since businesses are never static, you need to plan your IT infrastructure in light of business growth and development.
Gordon Tan, Director of R & G Technologies says, “It’s not black and white when it comes to refreshing your IT infrastructure, but it helps to know what your company’s goals are for the future.”
Without forward IT planning, your physical and intangible resources may not be sufficient for the desired outcome, and you could be left with a slow or problematic IT system.
Therefore, forget ritualistically replacing and renewing hardware, as whether your infrastructure has ‘aged’ is dependent on the state of your company's requirements.
For example, Senior Systems Engineer, Ryan Tucker points out, “If a system was designed and implemented well, and the businesses requirements and usage haven't changed, you could get quite 5 or more years out of the same infrastructure.”
So before you go and start throwing out your old servers and laptops, get your IT provider to help you determine what needs to be replaced, what additional software features you require, and what needs to be reinvented from the ground up.
3. Poor Configuration
It might be simple configuring a lone PC, but when it comes to configuring IT for an organisation, things can get complex. Configuration essentially refers to how you’re getting all your computers, servers, programs and Internet to work together. When all the components making up your IT system haven’t been assembled optimally, that’s when you run into speed and performance issues.
“It’s important to configure your IT systems to best practice standards, because the less issues you have, the less downtime and loss of productivity to your business” - Tan.
Not only this, while your IT system may seem to be functioning perfectly fine for the moment, you could encounter problems further down the road. In the later stages, having a poorly configured IT system is an extremely difficult and expensive problem to fix.
“Poor design and misconfiguration are major causes of performance and stability issues.” -Tucker.
So what should you do if you suspect your IT system has been improperly configured?
Gordon Tan’s advice is “don’t try and band aid fix it as this too can contribute to poor performance. It’s best in this situation to seek professional advice”
Rather than tackling this intricate problem alone, enlist the help of an IT advisor or independent consulting company, whether that’s someone internally in your organisation, or an external provider.Get them to perform an audit or get a second opinion. Many organisations have the mentality, ‘if it isn't broken, don’t fix it’, but I’m going to argue in favour of identifying issues before they impede business operation. Proper configuration could mean enjoying the benefits of optimal performance and diminishes the chance of future conflicts
Why is my IT System Slow?
Rather than taking continuous coffee breaks waiting for your computer to respond to simple commands, look into whether your problem might be not enough Internet, aged infrastructure or poor configuration. While it may take some effort to rectify these shortcomings, doing so dramatically outweighs the long-term pains of an agonisingly slow IT system.