The cloud plays an integral role in how many organizations handle their daily operations, and with remote work and school becoming more prominent than ever, the demand for cloud services is only set to increase.

As more business activities move to the cloud, routing and switching may seem like antiquated components for outdated solutions, but both routers and switches continue to play an integral role in the cloud.

Routing & Switching: A Brief Introduction

Routers are used to tie multiple networks together, such as connecting your internal company network to the internet and are responsible for dictating which devices on your internal network are able to access the internet. The router acts like a dispatcher, directing traffic so that each user can send and receive data as quickly as possible, and it decides which devices need their traffic prioritized. They also play a critical role in safeguarding your network. Routers are responsible for analyzing all the data being sent over your network, dictating how it is packaged and ensuring that data makes it to its destination network.

Switches act like routers on a smaller scale and are used to connect multiple devices on the same network. For example, a company’s internal network relies on switches to connect user devices as well as printers, servers, and any IoT devices, creating a shared network of resources and determining how resources are allocated. Switches play a critical role, and their ability to direct internal traffic increases network productivity.

Routers and switches allow workers on your network to access business applications (such as sales tracking applications or financial applications, such as payroll software) whether they are located in the same office or spread out over multiple locations. Keeping everyone connected and ensuring everyone is able to quickly access the business applications, information, and tools they need to do their jobs is critical for productivity. This especially holds true in the era of remote work, when workers are more likely to be accessing business resources from home. Your network needs to be able to support remote workers to help keep your organization running.

The Cloud Still Needs Routing & Switching

Even if you already rely on the cloud or are looking to switch to the cloud, your organization is still going to need routers and switches to direct traffic within your network and between your network and external networks like the internet.

Many cloud-based organizations rely on hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments, both of which need routers and switches to support connectivity to and from the cloud or clouds, and within each cloud. Hybrid cloud solutions combine private clouds with one or more public cloud services such as AWS.

How Routing & Switching Have Evolved in the Cloud Era

When it comes to technology, innovation is critical for remaining relevant. There have been quite a few innovations regarding virtual routing and switching to support cloud-based networks. Recent innovations have also made it easier than ever to migrate to the cloud and support ongoing operations.

How InterVision Can Help You Turn Your Vision into a Concrete Solution

The InterVision team has extensive cloud experience and we pride ourselves on solving crucial IT challenges by helping our customers select, deploy, and manage technology to support their business goals. Our long history of datacenter experience and professional services, partnered with our extensive knowledge of the cloud and data science, gives us the tools and experience we need to turn your long-term strategic vision into a short-term reality.

The InterVision Advantage

Our team of trained and certified engineers is here to help you design technology solutions to support your business and help you achieve your goals.

Our customer-focused transformative approach to business and technology can help you transform your datacenter and achieve a purpose-driven cloud strategy while modernizing your communications so you can optimize your UX and keep your employees connected.

Our managed services, including AWS managed services, grants you access to an experienced team, allowing you and your employees to focus on your core business. We’re proud to be a certified APN Premier Consulting Partner and a Microsoft Gold Partner – designations that recognize our expertise at assisting organizations in migrating to the cloud, securing and optimizing their cloud operations, and assisting with deployment cycles for application environments.

Leveraging the Cloud: Case Studies

We’ve helped companies and organizations in a wide variety of verticals embrace the cloud and use this powerful tool to support their goals, including:

• K-12 Schools
• Post-secondary Institutions
• Utility Companies
• Housing Finance Authorities
• Engineering and Manufacturing Companies

For more information, or to start transforming your IT vision into a concrete solution, please contact us today.