Networking

What Is Network Provisioning?

Network provisioning is an increasingly common practice among businesses and focuses on ensuring that only certain users have access to a system. The process starts when initially starting the network and authorizing users for specific devices and servers.

Provisioning typically focuses on security and connectivity. As a result, there’s a heavy emphasis on identity management and device management.

What Does Provisioning Mean?

In IT, when something is ‘provisioned,’ it means that it’s ready for use. When someone’s device has been connected to wi-fi, for example, they’re provisioned with wi-fi. The same can be said for numerous other IT-related duties. Provisioning is the act of carrying these out.

How Does Network Provision Benefit A Company?

There can be multiple benefits to network provisioning for a company. The majority of these focus on keeping a computer network secure. That’s because only authorized personnel can access certain devices and data, mitigating the most risk associated with computer networks. It should also cut down on the likelihood of cybercrimes.

Coupled with this is an increased efficiency, provided everything has been provisioned correctly. Once employees have been set up in an appropriate way, they’re better able to do their jobs. That streamlined approach will mean that the company itself can increase its output and become more productive.

What Are The Biggest Challenges Of Network Provision?

There are multiple challenges associated with provisioning. The largest of these is the increase of remote work, coupled with overall scalability. The larger a network is, and the further apart users and devices are, the more complex provisioning is.

High activity can also be a challenge, as a network will need to carry this load effectively without any issues. These issues combined could make scaling up or down difficult, which could be a risk for high-growth companies.

What Can Automation Do To Improve Network Provisioning?

Automation has become increasingly prominent across IT. That can have significant implications on network provisioning, primarily when it comes to improving. Typically, this will be seen with cutting down on the time needed for specific tasks.

Administrators should no longer need to assign IPs and conduct other tasks, as these can be automated. That speeds up the process significantly while also cutting down on any potential mistakes. The same will be said for monitoring your network.

As a result, automation can cut down on the number of people needed to oversee the network, which could provide cost benefits.

Server Provisioning

Server provisioning is one of the more prominent types of network provisioning. That’s because your network will need to be provisioned with the right data, which is where networks come in.

Companies often use web-based servers, in which case the process is the same. The main difference is seen in the interface that will be used.

Device Provisioning

Quite a lot needs to be done before any hardware can be deployed. This will usually revolve around customizing, configuring, securing, and verifying the device. These devices will then need to be assigned to specific users. In doing so, keeping the device and user identities separate is a common best practice.

Taking this approach allows for greater flexibility, better device management, and the sharing of devices.

Internet-Access Provisioning

Internet-access provisioning might seem easy, as it simply means providing internet access to users and devices. There’s much more involved in this, however, as it also entails installing firewalls, cybersecurity tools, malware protection, editing software, and much more.

Alongside this, everything will need to be configured correctly, which may take time. For larger networks, this is especially true, as a greater degree of security will need to be implemented.

User Provisioning

User provisioning is one of the main aspects where the IT department will need to work closely with the human resources department. There are quite a few reasons why this will need to be done, such as new employees, promotions, transfers, and much more.

In many of these cases, changes will need to be made to their network provisions and other areas, which is where user provisioning comes in. That’s especially true of database access, among other things.

One of the more important aspects of this is when an employee is dismissed. In this case, their permissions will have to be removed for security reasons.

Employees aren’t the only users you’ll need to consider for this. Contractors, suppliers, and many others might need to have provisioned access to your system.