By: John Shepler
Almost every business is currently undergoing some form of digital transformation, which involves transitioning from traditional, paper-based methods to digital and online processes. This shift promises faster, more efficient operations that can reduce costs and expand customer reach. However, establishing the necessary infrastructure to support this digital transformation is crucial.
Conducting Business Primarily Online
While most products and services aren’t inherently digital, the tools supporting them are. From identifying potential customers to converting them into buyers, serving those customers, and maintaining product flow, every aspect has a digital element. For many businesses, the internet has become the central hub of operations. Local and walk-in businesses, while relying on physical presence, often maintain an online presence and utilize cloud-based accounting or other processes.
The internet’s appeal stems from its widespread availability, established infrastructure, and decades of development. Even individuals without bank accounts use smartphones with internet apps for buying, selling, and transactions. While challenges remain, particularly in security, the internet is indispensable for most businesses.
Prioritizing High-Speed, Reliable Internet Access
A robust connection to the online world is paramount. It needs to be fast and seamless for both you and your customers, consistently available, and with minimal latency, jitter, and packet loss. The ideal connections operate so smoothly that they become unnoticeable, making interactions with customers across town or globally feel as close as those in the next room.
Broadband connections generally fall into two categories: Dedicated Internet Access and Shared Internet Access.
Dedicated Internet Access, especially with symmetrical bandwidth offering equal upload and download speeds, represents the gold standard. While the internet is inherently a shared resource, most congestion and outages arise in the “last mile” between your location and the service provider. Dedicated connections provide a private pathway to the internet, ensuring consistent bandwidth availability regardless of usage.
Shared Internet Access involves a service provider leasing a dedicated access line and dividing it among multiple users. If the speed is sufficient and simultaneous bandwidth demands are low, sharing might go unnoticed. However, activities like video or large file downloads can strain the shared bandwidth, causing slowdowns that eventually resolve as demand fluctuates.
Dedicated access prioritizes performance, while shared access emphasizes cost savings. Shared options like cellular and cable broadband can be significantly cheaper than comparable speed dedicated fiber or fixed wireless access services.
A Hybrid Approach: Enhancing Reliability and Cost-Effectiveness
A recent development presents a third option: Software Defined Network (SDN) or Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN). These systems aggregate multiple internet connections to create a single, higher-capacity, lower-latency, and more reliable connection. An SD-WAN box can combine cable broadband, a cellular broadband modem, and a small fiber optic service, even accommodating satellite and landlines. The controller’s software continuously monitors each line, selecting the optimal one for each packet.
With SD-WAN, critical applications like telephone and conference calls receive the highest priority for speed, latency, and jitter. Business processes follow, while less sensitive tasks like remote backups are assigned lower priority. SD-WAN can be more cost-effective than a single, underutilized large fiber line and offers a lifeline during accidental line cuts or equipment failures by seamlessly switching to other connections.
Cloud Connection Considerations
Beyond the primary office, store, or factory connection, connections for cloud-based operations are equally vital. Once servers and applications move off-premises to colocation centers or public/hybrid clouds, they require the same reliable and seamless connectivity as in-house systems.
Two key connections warrant attention. The connection between you and the cloud might be your primary internet access; however, for critical operations, a dedicated private line between your office and the colocation center or cloud provider is worth considering. This bypasses the public internet, offering greater control over traffic by eliminating external sharing.
The second crucial connection is between remote servers in the colocation center or cloud and the outside world. High-performance internet access with ample bandwidth, low latency, and minimal jitter and packet loss is essential. Fortunately, colocation centers and cloud providers readily offer this quality of service due to their handling of massive bandwidth volumes.
Evaluating your connection’s suitability for digital transformation is crucial. Outdated DSL lines or bandwidth-limited T1 connections may no longer be adequate. Upgrading to highly reliable fiber or wireless broadband is a worthwhile consideration, especially given recent infrastructure expansions that have made these options more affordable than expected.
