Businesses are challenged to stay ahead of the latest trends and competitive developments while building a responsive and agile IT capability to support growth. However, since everyone has access to the same tools, technology alone does not offer a competitive advantage. Organizations of all sizes, industries, and regions are using networking technology to help increase productivity, reduce costs, and create new revenue sources. A computer network or data network is a telecommunications network which allows computers to exchange data. In computer networks, networked computing devices exchange data with each other using a data link. The connections between nodes are established using either cable media or wireless media.

Client-server networks feature centralized server computers that store email, Web pages, files and or applications. On a peer-to-peer network, conversely, all computers tend to support the same functions. Client-server networks are much more common in business and peer-to-peer networks much more common in homes. Home networks have increased in capability with each generation of new technology. Years ago, people commonly set up their home network just to connect a few PCs, share some documents and perhaps a printer. Now its common for households to also network game consoles, digital video recorders, and smartphones for streaming sound and video. Home automation systems have also existed for many years, but these too have grown in popularity more recently with practical systems for controlling lights, digital thermostats and appliances.