5 Reasons High-Speed Internet Is Crucial for Business
The number of online businesses, at the moment, is at its all-time high, however, even offline businesses need to have a strong digital presence to survive. There’s a statistic that claims that about 78 percent of local mobile searches result in offline sales. With that in mind, it’s clear that the internet might just be your main tool for making it in the business world.
While how you use the tool in question may be a far more important question, there’s also the issue of just how sophisticated the tool actually is. When it comes to the internet, the first thing that everyone inquires about is the speed. There’s a reason for this… well, several of them actually. Here are the top five that we decided to include in the list.
Unlocking the full potential of the cloud
The first major reason why high-speed internet is vital for your business is due to the fact that a lot of businesses tend to leverage the concept of cloud computing in order to get a competitive edge. Even those businesses that aren’t as committed to this cause are, at least, using various cloud-based apps or services. This is especially true due to two major trends that are taking over the present-day workplace.
The first one is the trend of remote workers and the second one is the BYOD phenomenon. For this to blend seamlessly into your enterprise, what you need to do is have a connection that’s reliable enough so that it makes the response feel like it’s in real-time. With the help of high-speed internet, you’ll be able to do just that.
Protecting your data
One of the things that have taken the opposite turn is the idea that in order for your data to be secure it needs to be kept on-site. The problem with this lies in the fact that your headquarters aren’t a fortress, digital nor physical one. You lack the security investments, not to mention cybersecurity investments to get the most protection for your business.
So, what you need to do here is protect your valuable files offsite. While this is more secure, nowadays, the problem is that it might be somewhat harder for you to access these files. That is unless you have a high-speed internet connection. This way, in practice, you won’t even be able to tell the difference.
You have so many options
As a business in 2019, you have so many options for high-speed access to the internet and all you have to do is choose which suits your needs the best. The three most popular choices are broadband cable, DSL internet and fiber cable. The first option is a middle ground between the two (both in terms of performance and speed), the second is a frugal option while the latter is the superior one in terms of speed.
In other words, depending on your industry, you get to make a choice but those who favor performance above all else will look if there’s a fiber internet provider available in their area. Then, you can look for the package that suits your needs and your budget the best.
The future of IoT
The next thing you need to keep in mind is the fact that the trend of IoT is already a dominant force in the business world. Why wouldn’t it be, seeing as how it provides both the manufacturer and the retailer with information about their product and their customers’ use of it even after the sale? In order to keep track of this, you need a connection that can withstand such a thing.
Needless to say, this is easier said than done. Receiving so much feedback at the same time is far from simple and sometimes you might find yourself fighting an uphill battle. In order to gather all this data, as well as process and analyze it in real-time, you need an adequate connection.
Video conferencing
Previously, we’ve talked about remote working, which is definitely a positive trend but it does create a peculiar problem. You see, an average office worker spends about 31 hours in meetings every single month, which is a massive waste of time; however, some of these meetings are incredibly important.
Other than this, you might have partners that are half-a-world away. What do you do every time you need to talk to them, buy a plane ticket and schedule a business trip? No, of course not! Video conferences are more than a suitable replacement but in order for this system to work, you need to ensure that your connection is stable and fast enough.
Conclusion
As you can see, the benefits are numerous and the only possible con can lie in the fact that a faster internet usually tends to be a more expensive one. Nevertheless, the cost is more than justified, seeing as how it’s one of the most important business expenses that you could possibly get.