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Establishing global connectivity is a significant hurdle for enterprises with an international presence, especially regarding expansion.
Most in-house teams don’t have the resources or expertise to navigate conflicts with different vendors, technology and regulations across a global network.
Examine enterprise IT needs for global expansion below to understand how to build an expansion strategy, identify internal resource limitations, and assess partners to support your enterprise’s specific needs.
1. Evaluate global connectivity needs
Every business expects fast networks and seamless connectivity, but these solutions can become convoluted and expensive when planned globally.
To determine network bandwidth, latency, and speed requirements, audit the number of users—including employees, partners, vendors, and customers. Factor in the technologies needed for hybrid working and the additional secure connections that remote work necessitates. For example, companies need site-to-site and remote access VPNs to support multinational operations and a disparate workforce.
Keep evaluations conservative as scalable connectivity management is imperative to enterprise business growth.
2. Establish a global network design
IT infrastructures are the backbone of your enterprise. Establishing a global network involves considerations that can make or break your productivity. Aside from the number of offices and the bandwidth requirements of users, you also need to define your budget and resources before choosing the hardware and software elements of your architecture.
Every component of a global network has strengths and weaknesses—often boiling down to the complexity, resiliency, and scalability you’re looking for. Choosing an on-premise, cloud, or hybrid approach to your network infrastructure is one of the biggest decisions.
3. Develop a sourcing strategy for connectivity solutions
Managing vendor relationships in-house isn’t cost-effective when the company has multiple locations. An alternative is to partner with numerous third-party managed service providers (MSPs).
Due to their volume of business and industry relationships, MSPs can offer better negotiating power and leverage than a single company. However, each MSP may charge fees and provide a limited scope of services, leading to a fragmented IT service model that still requires significant in-house management and coordination.
The most efficient strategy is to partner with experts that service the entire scope of your enterprise connectivity needs. These partners are not just about bringing different ISPs under one roof; they're about streamlining the whole process, from negotiations to day-to-day management.
4. Plan for cost-effective connectivity management
The two primary ways to maintain cost-effective connectivity management are budgeting for international data plans and implementing tools to monitor and control usage.
Analyze your enterprise’s historical data usage to establish baselines, then negotiate data plan pricing and volume discounts with your ISP. Leverage expense management solutions for real-time insights into data usage across office locations and users. A centralized platform allows individual user account management and restrictions to stay within budgetary limitations.
5. Create an implementation plan for connectivity infrastructure
A smooth, comprehensive implementation plan will factor in site assessment, procurement, and collaboration with local service providers. Minimize downtime by scheduling installations and upgrades strategically—ideally at off-peak times when operations at other locations won’t be affected.
Many traditional managed service providers (MSPs) don’t include implementation oversight in their standard offerings. Watch out for this limitation in your MSP assessment.
6. Implement a unified communication (UC) system
Choose UC platforms that include a suite of features for voice calls, video conferencing, instant messaging, and file sharing. Cloud-based platforms are typical favorites because of their native scalability and location-agnostic functionalities. This level of compatibility fosters collaboration, overcoming geographical boundaries that may impede users from deploying their preferred communication methods.
Committing to an upgrade is necessary for a future-proof system. Expanding will ultimately require a migration away from outdated legacy systems to the new technology.
7. Ensure compliance with international data laws
Lack of adherence to international data laws can lead to hefty fines, damaged reputations, and business downtime. The cost of a data breach is at an all-time high, reaching $4.45 million for the average organization. Remember that these costs can be even higher for highly regulated industries like healthcare and finance.
Stay compliant by understanding the regulations in each country where your enterprise operates a location. Any data collection should have complete transparency and allow users to manage control over their personal information. Clear privacy policies and user consent functionality must be operational at all times.
8. Set up a global IT support framework
Providing support in different time zones and multiple languages is crucial in a global IT environment. You can achieve this through various means: forming in-house support teams capable of offering multilingual assistance, engaging a specialized managed service provider that provides support in several languages, or using language translation services to bridge communication gaps.
While offering troubleshooting resources and user guides can help reduce the volume of support requests, maintaining an ongoing 24-hour enterprise IT support system is imperative for addressing more complex issues promptly. Additionally, remote monitoring and management tools can help you proactively identify and solve connectivity issues, preventing them from affecting the user experience.
9. Monitor and optimize network performance
Network speed, latency, and reliability must be regularly assessed across all your locations. Networking monitoring tools will identify performance bottlenecks and potential issues before they become major problems.
Changes in bandwidth capacities, data protection needs, and emerging technologies will drive infrastructure updates. As you approach these upgrades, consider your scalability and resilience goals.
If you rely on manual reporting and data sheets, consider saving time and resources with an advanced network management platform that will monitor all your locations and associated costs.
10. Review and adjust the connectivity strategy
A global connectivity strategy requires continuous adaptation to meet your enterprise's and employees' evolving needs. Some ways to maintain effectiveness include gathering feedback across locations, adjusting to accommodate the latest requirements and technologies, and utilizing lifecycle optimization services.
Optimizing costs, improving performance, and ensuring your connectivity solutions align with ongoing strategic goals are achievable through a culture built on perpetual improvement and communication.
What are the strategic considerations for global expansion?
When planning for global expansion, begin strategic considerations by assessing your enterprise's in-house resources against the specific needs of adding new locations. Relying on limited or inexperienced staff to patchwork services from various providers can stunt growth and increase operating costs.
Success in global expansion hinges on partnering with experts adept in the complete lifecycle of global connectivity. Look for providers offering comprehensive solutions, including implementation oversight support and real-time oversight, which are critical for enterprises aiming to grow their footprint in new areas.
Conclusion: Partner with Advantage to cover everything IT
By following this checklist, you will ensure your global workforce stays connected, efficient, and empowered to drive enterprise growth.
In addition to meticulous planning, strategic execution, and a commitment to ongoing improvement, success hinges on choosing the right partner to navigate the nuances of global expansion.
Advantage Communications Group is a connectivity solutions partner that will guide your enterprise expansion to success. Speak to the experts at Advantage to discover how much you’ll save optimizing connectivity for your global enterprise.