Internet connectivity is the lifeblood of every business and SMEs are no exception to this. In order to stay competitive in your market and deliver a quality service which your customers expect, reviewing whether your Internet connection is hindering or enhancing your business, is absolutely vital. Here’s why:

Digitalisation

Over the last 6 months every business in every sector has very quickly had to review their digital roadmap and make significant changes in order to compete online, in what is now a very crowded virtual marketplace. This has driven SMEs to put their ‘Cloud First’ strategy as a business priority. Whether it’s through the deployment of Office 365 and Teams for better collaboration and communication between colleagues, or cloud solutions such as Salesforce, to ensure your CRM is accessible anytime, anywhere and on any device. SMEs are embracing the benefits of being Cloud ready, but this has put tremendous strain on to their internet connectivity, which is ultimately responsible for powering all of these new hungry applications.

Migrating your business to the Cloud has become vital to the success of your business but doing so with a slow or insufficient bandwidth line is counterproductive. Today, you can access business grade, fast, reliable and robust connectivity at very affordable prices, no matter your location, home or office. So, if you’re applications aren’t performing as they should, make sure your connectivity isn’t to blame.

Meeting Expectations

Whether it’s a client expecting to be able to reach you day or night with instant responses, or employees expecting to log on to your systems with ease to get their job done, a fast internet connection is essential to meet both staff and client needs.

Consumers and employees enjoy fast and reliable connectivity in their homes and with applications like Netflix at their fingertips, they’re used to on demand, responsive services. SMEs need to be able to replicate this on-demand service environment at work to demonstrate their commitment innovation and forward-thinking culture.

Employees who experience slow network speeds, will soon get frustrated and despondent in their roles. They won’t be able to communicate sufficiently via video call with colleagues and clients, they’ll sit their waiting for systems and applications to load, meaning they can easily become distracted by other non-work activities, such as checking their phones and social media.

Companies who recognise and invest in reliable connectivity will attract and retain the best candidates in the marketplace; they’ll also enjoy the benefits of more productive and happier staff.

Supporting the bottom line

SMEs have a great opportunity to make huge cost saving measures by moving to monthly subscription-based models across their technology stack. Whether that’s for Cloud applications like Office 365 and or Cloud CRMs, or by moving their data to the private or public Cloud, eliminating the need for costly in-house servers. Or even leasing hardware such as laptops and screens.

In fact, this model has a name; Technology as a Service (TaaS) which enables customers to access technology on demand, instead of investing in large IT assets that will outgrow and depreciate over time. By removing the time and effort spent on managing and maintaining bulky hardware in house, you free up resource to put to other business projects. Whilst also enjoying frequent software and device updates at no extra cost.

These changes offer businesses a completely different financial model; the move from CapEx to OpEx. By reducing the amount of large upfront outlays a business makes, they will become more agile. Meaning they can respond and react on their feet, without the need for time consuming sign off procedures from senior stakeholders. This responsive nature is even more important in today’s uncertain and ever changing wold.

With a predictable per user per month fee, SMEs can more easily plan for the future too. They’ll enjoy a simple per user per month technology cost per head, so forecasting for new recruits becomes a breeze.

Choosing the right connectivity now means you’re in an immediate position to take advantage of cost-effective subscription-based Cloud solutions for the future, without any impact on productivity.

Don’t be left buffering

If you’re concerned that your connectivity is slowing your business down, the good news is that there’s going to be an affordable option that’s right for you. Whether that’s the popular FTTC (Fibre to the cabinet) connection starting with average speeds of 66MB download and 17MB upload for just £30.00 per month. Or even faster Fibre optic straight to your door with FTTP (Fibre to the Premise) starting at just £40.00 per month for up to 80MB download and 20MB upload.

Perhaps you’ve decided that Internet connectivity is so crucial to your success that you need a dedicated leased line delivering two-way speeds of up to 1GB, offering you complete peace of mind.

If you’re not sure which option is right for you, give one of our experts a call on 01392 796 779 and start enjoying the benefits of great business connectivity today.