Could Fibre Connectivity be the Next Basic Need?
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a psychological theory which details the basic human needs in order of importance. From the very basics of food, water, and air, we climb the pyramid to include more complex needs such as self-esteem, status, and freedom.
What seems to be lacking on his list is fibre connectivity.
Of course, we’re not for one second assuming that fibre connectivity is as necessary as food or water (although some teens may disagree). What we are seeing though, is that a fibre internet connection is as critical to a business as food and water to a human.
Why is this the case, and does it apply to you?
Why is fibre connectivity an essential service?
The days of giant server rooms with a million cables and a dedicated hardware team are drawing to a close as many businesses are choosing to store their information in the cloud. As a secure managed environment, the cloud is the go-to for businesses looking for a safe place to store, send and retrieve their valuable data.
Having said that, the real benefits of cloud use only become apparent when your connectivity speeds align with your business needs. You need that information, and you need it now, which makes a fibre connection critical.
The need for speed
On this note, it’s worth mentioning the speed of your business connection versus the productivity of your team.
“A new study, commissioned by memory and storage specialists Sandisk, has quantified the amount of time the average computer and laptop user wastes in a year – just waiting for slow computers to respond. Around the world, the average computer user loses about one working week.
“The research was undertaken worldwide with around 8,000 participants. The US had the best times for loss of productivity amounting to 4.9 days, the UK fared a little worse at 5.5 days and the Italians were the most frustrated with 6.8 days of tedious, life-force sapping wasted computer time.
“The study found that in the UK the most common and time-consuming delays were caused by waiting for necessary file uploads and downloads to complete.” (Source)
It’s clear that slow internet equals lower staff productivity levels through no fault of their own.
When you think about it, the average staff member spends their days checking emails, downloading or uploading files, sending or transferring data to colleagues, visiting websites, making online purchases or sales, chatting with customers, attending online conferences or group Zoom meetings. Every single one of these activities, as well as several which we haven’t mentioned, require a fast and solid internet connection.
Benefits of fibre
We’ve sung the praises of fibre before but let’s recap:
Reliable
Unlike its copper counterpart, fibre is not affected by weather, cable theft or electromagnetic interference and requires far less maintenance and upkeep and fewer disruptions.
Fast
A fibre connection is the fastest internet option available to businesses.
Secure
A fibre connection has proven to be a far more secure option that either mobile or copper.
Strong signal
Data travelling at the speed of light along optical fibre cables do not lose signal strength over distance the same way copper cables do.
Symmetric speeds
ADSL and mobile connections may have improved over the years, but fibre is the king of symmetric speeds. This means that your upload and download speed are the same as the system uses dedicated lines for each. Therefore… no bottlenecks.
Who needs fibre?
Still not convinced? Here’s what one news article has to say on the subject of speed and business productivity:
“Consultant services encompass a wide range of small businesses, including insurance offices, advertising and creative agencies, architectural firms, local banks, and law offices. Architectural firms rely on costly CADD software packages to service their customers. Ad and creative agencies move vast amounts of data including streaming Flash media, files created by Adobe InDesign, Dreamweaver, photo-realistic rendering, and web content management systems.
“Financial services depend on a wide variety of analysis software include trading and business intelligent applications, like S&P or Thomson Reuters, and other web-enabled tools.” (Source)
Who are you going to call?
Besides the fact that ADSL is being phased out in South Africa, and mobile data is still fairly costly, if you haven’t yet looked into a fibre connection for your business then we’d like to suggest you do so.
Yes, there are several options available to you and a lot of acronyms and technical jargon to wade through. However, a call to the Huge Connect team will answer your questions and put you on the right road to fast and efficient connectivity.
