What Can Businesses Do with Gigabit Internet? Part 1: Sheer Speed

CRMs, video collaboration and streaming, cloud computing and analytic programs – these are some of the daily applications businesses are using to meet the demands of the connected economy. As technology continues to open new doors to innovation, these programs get more sophisticated and require more bandwidth. And the need to be able to do more and do it faster is a priority for all businesses. Accessing and moving data in a matter of seconds is not a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity. Faster bandwidth determines how a business can consume these applications.  Without high-capacity broadband a business can not reap the benefits the technology was intended for.

Your business’ broadband delivery method matters.  Antiquated technologies will leave you waiting for files to upload/download and there is a definite cap on the speed you can achieve.  Mediacom Business built a broadband infrastructure that delivers 1 Gigabit speeds to businesses of all sizes.  With reliable, fast business internet, bandwidth is never a bottleneck to productivity.

Nielsen's “Law of Internet Bandwidth” states that a high-end users' connection speed grows by 50% per year.  This "observation" has held true for over 30 years and continues to drive innovation and investment for business.  Well-connected companies should begin to assume that this "law" will hold true for them and that HD video conferencing, virtual reality tools, cloud computing and data capabilities will increase their bandwidth needs 50% per year.

With a movement towards remote employees, businesses need to support the infrastructure with fast internet, so collaboration can flourish. Technology can make us feel like we are in the room with each other and build a highly relational experience in the same manner (if not better!) as if we were face-to-face. Connectivity is instrumental in promoting that type of work environment. High-capacity bandwidth promotes workplace collaboration. Colleagues can work for hours a day on the same piece of data while in different states. Many believe working virtually in this manner can increase the amount of work produced by employees in the same building. 

The Need for Speed

Bandwidth speed is a crucial part of your network. When your internet speeds are slow, you lose more than just load time:

Reduced productivity – a study by Sandisk from 2013 showed users lost a full working week every year because of slow internet connections. When time is taken out of an employee’s day waiting for files to upload or download, that’s time they are unable to be productive. This reduction can lead to decreased morale and worse, disengagement.

Lost profits – when your employees aren’t productive, your business loses revenue for that period of time. But this can also happen on the customer facing side as well – if your business offers services to customers that rely on your internet connection, your customer’s perception of your ability will not fare well if that connection keeps them from reaching a destination.

Unreachable cloud – many businesses have turned to use cloud services and resources to better optimize their organizations; in fact, 87% of businesses use the cloud. CRMs, backup and recovery services, collaboration sites, POS systems, and more are now accessible via the cloud. However, with a slow connection, trying to connect to these services can be difficult. 

Consider your cloud environment – employees view, download, or upload files for collaboration, review, edits, etc. The cloud can be a great avenue to foster innovation within a business, making it easier to retrieve, save, and backup files. But the path to the cloud requires speed to access data, especially when multiple users are working within this method.

We unpack some of the applications and programs that can cause bottlenecks on the network in our Does Your Business Have Enough Bandwidth? blog series.

What can your business do with Gigabit level internet speeds?

We already know slow internet speed is a game stopper for businesses.  But what type of boost does your business need?  Is 1 Gigabit capacity too much speed?  Not at all.

Small businesses benefit from faster and more reliable internet speeds. Instead of long wait times, users can easily retrieve any file or video needed in a matter of seconds. Mediacom Business is helping businesses usher in a new revolution of data speeds, the type of speeds that help businesses in rural America lead the growing digital world. Our new business internet menu of 60, 100, 300 Mbps and 1 Gigabit speeds provides a better direction for your business. As a technology company we know we need to evolve as well because the business world moves fast.  When a business has higher levels of broadband, there are less restrictions on the applications or online programs they can venture into. 

Found a program that can better push productivity or manage your accounts receivable? Those require bandwidth and when businesses have adequate speed levels it doesn’t stifle your normal every day operations of hosting your website e-commerce or employees accessing their email. No one likes hiccups or buffering – and when these interruptions happen its time to revisit your bandwidth speed.

Businesses are changing to meet the demands of employees and customers; Mediacom Business has made sure we are doing the same and increasing speed levels across the board so that the businesses in our areas can not only meet the demand today but will be well situated for those that tomorrow bring.    

Resources

Why Slow Internet Costs Companies Money

Nielsen's Law of Internet Bandwidth