In today's highly digitalized work environment, spotty connectivity could lead to lost productivity, missed opportunities, inefficient teamwork, and frustrated employees.
Yet, maintaining fast and reliable connections is more challenging than ever. During the past decade, businesses have grown from simply needing a handful of access points for wireless hotspots to having to provide Wi-Fi with complete enterprise-wide coverage to hundreds, if not thousands, of users.
Managing an increasingly complex network requires dedicated and specialized resources. That's why more organizations are using managed Wi-Fi services to help them maintain a top-performing network.
What's Managed Wi-Fi?
Also called managed WLAN (wireless local area network), managed Wi-Fi is a business solution that outsources network design, equipment procurement and installation, ongoing upgrade and maintenance, and/or monitoring of a company's Wi-Fi network to a third-party vendor, with the goal of providing seamless access and strong connections.
Many vendors also offer cloud-managed Wi-Fi services with a flexible subscription-based pricing model. The centralized management and monitoring of networks can further improve efficiency while lowering costs for the clients.
The Benefits of Using Managed Wi-Fi
As network infrastructure becomes more complex, you need specialized knowledge and expertise to ensure that your enterprise Wi-Fi solution is running optimally and you're getting the most of your IT investment. Here are the advantages of using a managed Wi-Fi service:
1. Improve IT Cost-Efficiency
A team of trained professionals can design and install a Wi-Fi solution to achieve your business objectives, provide seamless access, and meet your budget requirements so you can get the highest ROI from your investment.
2. Navigate Licensing and Support
Enterprise Wi-Fi solutions often require annual licensing and support. A professional team understands various manufacturer requirements and helps ensure that you not only get the best pricing for long-term licenses but also avoid the expenses associated with interrupted services caused by a lapse in license renewal.
3. Reduce IT Overhead
Managed Wi-Fi helps improve network performance in an enterprise setting while minimizing the cost associated with hiring a large IT team. It can also remove the burden of day-to-day maintenance tasks from your internal IT department so it can focus on strategic initiatives.
4. Avoid Costly Mistakes
A Wi-Fi system that's configured incorrectly initially could fester into larger problems as your organization grows and the network expands. A reputable managed Wi-Fi vendor has the knowledge and expertise to help you set up your system right the first time to avoid issues down the road.
5. Improve Employee Productivity
Slow or spotty connectivity prevents employees from working efficiently. In particular, with various digital communication and collaboration tools requiring strong signals and seamless connections, a disruption could hold up business processes and impact customer communications.