“It’s the network, stupid”
“It’s the economy, stupid” was a phrase Bill Clinton used during the 1992 Presidential Campaign. I often think of it when I hear all the requests we’re getting for more and more speed when companies are searching for business internet services. Most I.T. administrators and System Integrators, however, recognize that it’s not just about speed, but instead it’s often about the quality of the network.
Low cost high speed Internet services like Cable and ADSL are “best efforts”: cable has latency issues and the Upstream connection on ADSL is simply not enough for important applications like Voice over IP and Video. On top of this, more and more applications are running “in the cloud”, so security and reliability have become more important.
BC and Alberta business with multiple locations (and remote users) are stepping up and are ready to invest in Premium Internet Services like Symmetrical Full Duplex Fibre and Ethernet over Copper. These Premium Services have the lowest latency, jitter and packet loss. These Premium Internet Services such as Fibre are perfect for your sensitive applications like VoIP, video conferencing and virtual private networks or when your requirements call for raw upload speed for off-site backups.
We still recommend ADSL and Cable at your branch offices. If your business cannot tolerate any down time, we recommend both, configured to automatically fail over one to the other. Or, you can bond multiple connections to get additional bandwidth, but at the corporate headquarters there is usually a requirement for more Upstream bandwidth. If applications are hosted for remote users at your Head Office, the need is for bandwidth that is guaranteed, not simply a best effort.
If you manage a Wide Area Network you might want to take two minutes and check out our PowerPoint at www.WideAreaNetwork.info. Give us a call or email us, and we can investigate what Internet options are available for you at any of our Canadian locations.
Chris Miles | 604-484-5257 | cmiles@skywaywest.com