Be realistic. How long could your business stay alive and functioning without an internet connection?
Half an hour? Maybe a week? Possibly a year?
For many of us, being without an internet connection at work for longer than 30 minutes would be like trying to survive with our air supply slowly running out.
Off the top of my head, I can’t honestly think of a business that doesn’t rely on an internet connection to function and provide the service their customers and clients expect and need.
Whether you work in retail, agriculture, manufacturing, or education, an internet connection is a fundamental tool; one that is vital to you achieving your business objectives.
So, imagine the unthinkable…
Your internet connection has failed.
How much would that cost your business in terms of money, time, and general reputation? Whatever the cause, a break in this connection can have a huge impact on your business.
Why does this happen?
Internet connection issues can happen for various reasons, such as network issues, repair work, extreme weather, outdated equipment, or an overloaded network.
So, wouldn’t it be amazing peace of mind for your business if you knew that your internet connection would always be there, no matter what?
That’s where a redundancy solution comes in.
Internet redundancy (or network redundancy) involves having additional internet connections to ensure your business remains online at all times, even when your primary source fails.
Let’s look at the benefits…
It pays to have a backup…
Your customers and clients expect a seamless service at all times, and your employees expect to be provided with functional and reliable tools so that they can do their job.
If customers don’t feel like they’re getting the service that’s been promised and paid for, they may just take their business elsewhere. In fact, 54% of CEOs see customer experience as a competitive differentiator for their business. Whether your customers are buying online, looking for information from your customer support team, or making a digital transaction in your store, a great customer experience often requires a reliable and uninterrupted internet connection.
Have you ever tried to make an in-store purchase only to be told the store couldn’t accept mobile payments that day due to internet issues? Did you ever go back?
Mobile payments services, such as Apple Pay, are growing in the UK. Data shows that nearly nine in ten (89%) of UK consumers make a mobile payment purchase at least monthly, and 43% do so weekly.
In 2022, 30% of the adult population were registered for at least one mobile payment service, with younger people more likely to be making use of mobile wallets.
Who carries a physical wallet around these days?
What will it cost you…?
A loss of internet connection won’t just stop money streaming into your business through loss of sales, it will also cause it to stream out, quite rapidly.
Obviously, the size of your business, the industry you are in and how much you rely on online and digital sales, will determine how vulnerable your business is when it comes to internet connection issues.
You may wince when you learn that when Facebook faced a 14-hour outage in March 2019, it cost them an estimated $90 million. A 12-hour outage of Apple’s iTunes Store and App Store in March 2015, on the other hand, cost about $25 million in lost sales. Ouch!
Without an internet redundancy solution, it’s not just loss of sales that can cost your business money, avoidable costs can also include having to still pay staff who can only fulfil their role with an internet connection, paying people overtime to finish projects once the connection is reinstated, or reimbursing employees if they have had to use personal data to establish an internet connection whilst at work. Embarrassing…
Your business may also incur the financial implications of missing legal/statutory deadlines, or having to pay compensation to customers who didn’t get the service you promised them.
In addition, recovery costs associated with the emergency fixing of internet issues, can add up to be more expensive than instating a redundancy solution right from the start. Prevention is usually better than… having to pay someone external to fix it.
Where’s the trust?
Without a backup internet connection, the always-there service that your customer trusts and relies upon; the service that your business is proud to give and usually excels in, could suddenly stop, and without a backup in place, it will be your fault.
Without an internet connection, your sales team may need to cancel video calls or presentations with prospective clients. Your customer support team may not be able to access the answers they need to respond to clients’ questions.
Without sounding too dramatic, an interrupted internet connection could prove to be a matter of life and death for people who need medication or health advice.
With a backup internet connection, your employees will also have more confidence in the management of the business and their role within it. With the reassurance that they will not lose data and documents, or miss deals and opportunities, your team will feel more secure and protected knowing that they have continuous connection.
Stay secure…
To keep your network safe from cyberattack or other threats, monitoring, network maintenance and data backup are key.
But depending on the processes you have in place, it may be hard to keep up with those processes if your internet goes down, and that puts your business at risk.
Some businesses also rely on an internet connection to secure the physical space their business inhabits, such as entry systems, CCTV, or intruder alarms.
A secure backup connection, therefore, can keep those security protocols running as usual, which is good news for the safety of your business.
Who said downtime was good for you?
Internet downtime is never good for your business, no matter how long it lasts. It disrupts productivity, costs you money, damages trust, and leaves your business less secure.
So, with your sights set on a redundancy solution that is right for your business, how do you know you’re choosing the right backup connection? What should you even look for in a redundancy solution? We’ll be back with another blog…
