Internet redundancy

In today’s world, internet connectivity is crucial for business operations. You can’t afford even a minute of downtime. Does your business continuity plan include internet connectivity?
 

$12,900 per minute — Average cost of an IT outage.¹

Expectations are high when it comes to internet availability. Customers, employees and partners expect business services to always be available, no matter what. The cost of an IT outage can average $12,900 per minute.² Losing connectivity often means losing business opportunities, interrupting service for existing customers and enduring business impacts that last well after an outage is resolved.
 

The toll of internet downtime

The ramifications of a disruption can be substantial as internet downtime triggers a chain reaction of negative effects that create challenges for your business. In e-commerce, for example, nearly two-thirds of businesses in one survey said even small disruptions can cause their customers to stop the purchasing process.³ That’s just the start. In addition to lost revenue, 64% said internet disruptions have damaged their brands’ reputation and reduced consumer confidence.⁴

Downtime has substantial consequences for business operations. For many organizations, access to business and customer data is critical to conduct day-to-day activities. Productivity can grind to a halt for employees who rely on cloud-based business applications that require an internet connection. Transactions conducted online or through point-of-sale systems must be put on hold. Interrupted communication between headquarters, remote locations and other organizations can impact business functions from supply chain management to accounting.
 

64% of e-commerce businesses said internet disruptions have damaged their brands’ reputation and reduced consumer confidence.⁵ 

Negative customer experiences

Customers have little tolerance for poor experiences. When a prospect or new customer can’t access your products or use your services because of an internet outage, they may seek solutions elsewhere. You can not only lose customers’ trust but also risk having them share their poor experience with others, which can compound the loss to your business.

To better understand the possible revenue loss from an unplanned outage, it helps to know your average revenue per hour. To do this, start by calculating your business’s revenue per week divided by your operational hours. Knowing this figure can help you form a strong business case that shows the value of diversity and redundancy of your internet connections, as it demonstrates the risk of revenue lost from an internet disruption.
 

Ensuring business continuity

How long can your business function without the internet? Odds are, you need connectivity that is always available to maintain business continuity. One of the best ways to ensure this is to diversify your internet connections, which will keep your business up and running.
 

Redundant internet connectivity supports business continuity. 

Network redundancy supports business continuity by responding to, and reducing, the effects of a point of failure anywhere along the critical data path. It provides continuity via redundant devices and equipment across your network infrastructure. For example, redundancy can help your business stay connected to the internet by immediately switching to an identical device if one suddenly goes offline and becomes unavailable.

The key to surviving an internet disruption with limited impact is to prepare for it. This can be achieved by having various points of internet connectivity provided by Dedicated Fiber Internet and Wireless Internet from Spectrum Enterprise®. With this design for diversity, which uses multiple access connections and technologies, the risk of internet downtime is reduced.
 

Maintain internet connectivity

You can begin to mitigate your risk by designing your disaster recovery plan with the help of a trusted network service provider. Building redundancy and diversity into your internet service now is one of the best decisions you can make to help ensure continuous internet availability in the event of an outage to your primary circuit. With the right plan in place, you can rest assured that if a service interruption does occur, your business will continue.

Wireless Internet is cost-effective and provides a diverse network that helps you stay connected whether you need to rapidly connect to an internet service, implement temporary internet access or deploy redundant internet connections.

Learn more about Wireless Internet from Spectrum Enterprise and connect to the internet with a simple, all-inclusive wireless solution.

 

Sources

^1. Mohan Kompella, “Avoid at All Costs: IT Outages Are Pricier Than You Think,” Spiceworks, February 2, 2023.
^2. Ibid.
^3. “Internet Disruptions Cost E-Commerce Retailers Millions Annually,” Catchpoint, March 28, 2023.
^4. Ibid.
^5. Ibid.