For mid-sized enterprises utilizing legacy VPN, Active Directory (AD), and simple VLANs as the backbone of their IT infrastructure, several challenges and pain points can arise, particularly when they’re attempting to lower costs, heighten security, and manage IT operations more effectively. Here’s a breakdown:
Legacy VPN Challenges:
- Cost: Maintaining older VPN hardware or licenses can be expensive.
- Performance: Older VPN solutions might not support the increased remote workforce demands of today.
- Scalability: As the business grows, so do the demands on the VPN. Legacy solutions might not scale efficiently or economically.
- Complexity: Older VPNs may not integrate easily with newer technologies, requiring patchwork solutions.
- Security: Legacy solutions might not support the latest encryption standards, multi-factor authentication, or other security measures, potentially leaving the enterprise exposed.
Active Directory Challenges:
- Maintenance Costs: Running and maintaining AD servers, especially on-premises, can be costly.
- Security Vulnerabilities: As a critical component of network security, AD servers can be a prime target for attackers. Ensuring they’re secure requires continuous monitoring and frequent patching.
- Integration with Cloud: As businesses move to the cloud, integrating on-premises AD with cloud services can be tricky.
- Backup and Recovery: Ensuring that AD data is safely backed up and can be restored quickly after a failure is a challenge.
- Scalability and Replication: As businesses expand, ensuring that AD services are available and consistent across multiple sites and geographies becomes more complex.
VLAN Challenges:
- Management Overhead: Configuring and maintaining VLANs require skilled personnel. Misconfigurations can result in outages or security vulnerabilities.
- Scalability: As the network grows, managing multiple VLANs and ensuring they interact correctly becomes more complex.
- Inter-VLAN Routing: Traffic between VLANs needs to be carefully managed, which can introduce performance and security issues.
- Limited Segmentation: VLANs offer basic segmentation, but they can’t provide the granular, user-level controls that modern network solutions can offer.
General IT Operations Challenges:
- Integration Issues: Integrating legacy systems with newer technologies can be complex, often requiring custom solutions.
- Lack of Visibility: Older systems might not offer the same level of visibility or monitoring capabilities as newer solutions, making it harder to detect and respond to issues.
- Talent Acquisition and Retention: As the industry moves away from these older technologies, finding and retaining personnel skilled in them becomes more difficult.
- Vendor Lock-in: Legacy solutions might have been sourced from vendors that no longer support or update their products, forcing enterprises to stick with outdated tech or face costly migrations.
- Compliance Concerns: Ensuring that the entire IT infrastructure is compliant with industry regulations can be challenging, especially when working with legacy systems that might not meet newer standards.
Addressing these challenges often requires a combination of modernizing IT infrastructure, investing in training and upskilling for IT personnel, and exploring hybrid solutions that allow for a gradual transition away from legacy systems.
Are you searching for a new way to address pain points in your IT ecosystem? Reach out to sales@sidechannel.com to discuss Enclave.
