BackWilliam Newton, EMEA Director, will often reference one anecdote to explain the importance of connectivity. The story revolves around a company in New York which was the victim of poor connectivity in its first few weeks of business.
During the first week the air-conditioning system failed in the middle of a heatwave. During the second week the sewage system broke adding a bad smell to the sweltering offices. And yet, the tenants grinned and bore it.
It was only in the third week when a builder cut through the building’s only communications intake and in doing so cut off the WiFi, that the staff accepted defeat and were forced to work from coffee shops until connectivity was restored .
While this is a great example of how poor connectivity infrastructure can impact the user experience, what it doesn’t account for is the potential cost that an internet outage can have on a company.
And the cost is staggering.
Research from Ontrack recently identified that one hour of interruption of a website generates financial losses of up to 6.5 million euros for an online bank, 2.6 million euros for credit card payment system, 110,000 euros for a mail order company, and 90,000 euros for a ticket booking office.
These costs can have a lasting impact on a company’s profitability. The same source found that 93 per cent of companies that lost access to their database for 10 days or more went bankrupt the same year.
For customer-facing organisations, the cost can not only impact the sale missed in the moment that your services weren’t accessible, but it can also damage the company’s brand significantly - with some potential customers unmotivated to return to the site.
With digital technology permeating businesses of all sizes and across all industries, every company needs to ensure the stability, availability and performance of connectivity in their office space.
These are the characteristics that guarantee the best level of connectivity and every company is entitled to demand reliable internet.
Internet connectivity is the fifth utility. In this respect, as with electricity or telecommunications, it must become subject to certification standards, in order to guarantee tenants of office buildings an optimal and continuous internet service.
