Upping The Game

04/05/2010

By Chris Stening, MD of Easynet Connect

The way that businesses use their internet connection is evolving, and what they need from an internet service is changing along with it. Tools such as IP telephony, video conferencing, and cloud computing services are now familiar features of the typical workplace, with employees regularly logging on to services like Skype for conference calling, Salesforce for managing relationships with customers, and online sharing software to transfer large files to colleagues or clients.

Businesses need to make sure they have the necessary upload speed to support these changes in working practises, without getting carried...

...away by download speeds.

For most companies, a symmetrical connection is what is now needed to ensure a fast flow of data both in and out, rather than the big headline download speeds more commonly promoted for consumer use. To understand why, we need to look in more detail at how the internet is being used professionally, compared to how we tend to use it at home.


Sharing the load

The most recognisable instance where the importance of upload speeds becomes apparent is when we are sharing files. The sending and sharing of large files is no longer the domain of design agencies, and many of us now often need to pass documents quickly between networks.

Collaborative working has also increased use of online storage, such as Dropbox, or online file sharing software like YouSendIt. If you are using these services with a slow upload speed, you will find that it can mean a wait of up to it 30 minutes to send a short video. This is just one example of how just having a high download speed is fine when you are only ‘pulling’ information from the internet, but it is useless when you need to... continued on page two >

 

 

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